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15 Jul 2004 : Column 1275W—continued
Young People (Summer Activities)
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's funded programme of summer activities for young people. [183338]
Mr. Caborn: The Department plays a key role in the management of Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP), a programme funded by The Big Lottery Fund (£12.5 million), Department for Education and Skills (£23.75 million), Home Office (£1.5 million) and the Youth Justice Board (£1 million). It was launched in spring 2003 and offers diversionary activities aimed at young people who are most at risk of offending. The programme provides the opportunity for them to participate in positive activities (throughout school holiday periods) that will both reduce their chances of offending and enable them to fulfil their potential in education, training or employment. The programme aims to provide 22,500 full-time equivalent places with key worker support for up to 7,500 young people. Success is measured by subsequent entry into education, training and employment.
TRANSPORT
Micro-light Aircraft
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will investigate the noise nuisance caused by micro-light aircraft; [183705]
(2) what complaints his Department has received about noise problems caused by the operation of micro-light aircraft in rural areas. [183706]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 13 July 2004]: The Department receives very few complaints about noise nuisance from micro-light aircraft, The Government have no plans to commission specific work into noise nuisance caused by micro-light aircraft. The policy on noise from micro-lights is the same as that for noise from other light aircraft, local solutions for local problems.
Air Passengers (Consumer Protection)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the consumer protection available to travellers by air who pay (a) with a credit card and (b) with a debit card if travelling on a scheduled airline. [182802]
Mr. Darling:
There is no statutory obligation for airlines to provide financial protection. Air travel organisers offering air travel packages or, in certain circumstances, seat-only flights have to hold an ATOL and secure a financial bond. The protection travellers enjoy when using a credit card in certain circumstances arises from the 1974 Consumer Credit Act rather than the ATOL scheme. The Act provides financial protection for purchases over £100 made using a credit card, but there are certain exclusions. There is no protection if the payment is made to an agent rather
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than directly to the airline, nor if payment is made on behalf of a third party such as a non-family member, nor in relation to groups of more than 19 people. There is no protection when a debit card is used.
British Transport Police
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what plans he has to provide direct funding for the British Transport Police from the Department of Transport; [181328]
(2) what evaluation he has made of the appropriateness and effectiveness of funding arrangements for the British Transport Police. [181330]
Mr. McNulty: The Government are currently reviewing the funding arrangements for the BTP and considering future funding options for the force as part of the rail review.
Harmonisation
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with EU partners in the last 12 months on the subject of harmonisation; and if he will make a statement. [179715]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 22 June 2004]: The degree of harmonisation is often an issue in Council negotiations on proposed legislation.
Inner-city Rail Services
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has collated about the punctuality of inner-city rail services; and if he will make a statement. [183499]
Mr. McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) publishes performance data by train operating company in its quarterly National Rail Trends (NRT). The latest publication covers performance to the year ending 31 March 2004 and is available in the Library of the House.
International Ship and Port Facility Security Code
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether all (a) UK flagged ships and (b) British ports are compliant with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code. [184169]
Mr. Jamieson: All but one of the UK flagged ships that fall within the scope of the ISPS Code, is in possession of an International Ship Security Certificate. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency expects to inspect the one remaining ship shortly.
All major and high risk ports that fall within the scope of the ISPS Code handling international shipping are compliant. A small number of low risk ports have yet to have their plans approved, either because of very late submission or not meeting the required standard. We expect that these will all be approved within the next few weeks.
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London Underground
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reason was for his Department's agreement to the aspect of the public-private partnership contract for the London Underground which allows for the completion of 50 per cent. of a given length of track renewal work in the time allotted; if he will undertake to meet the shortfall through grant allocations; and if he will make a statement. [183262]
Mr. McNulty: The PPP contracts for the modernisation of the London Underground require the private companies to deliver increased capacity and reliability from track, signalling and trains by set dates for each line. The contracts do not specify how much work should be done in a single possession: if the infracos achieve less, they will face increased costs and abatement of the infrastructure service charge paid by London Underground.
The Government have provided the underground with an unprecedented level of stable funding of, on average, more than £1 billion a year for the first seven and a half years of the PPP contracts. This is sufficient for LU to meet the infrastructure service charge paid to the infracos and, in turn, enable them to meet their contractual commitments.
Motoring Infringements
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) drivers without insurance and (b) cars (i) without MOT certificates and (ii) for which vehicle excise duty had not been paid in each year since 1997. [182165]
Mr. Jamieson: The information is as follows.
Estimates from the insurance industry are that about 5 per cent. (approximately 1.25 million) motorists drive while uninsured.
It is estimated that approximately 10 per cent. of vehicles do not have a valid MOT certificate. However, the actual level of MOT evasion will be lower as the estimate includes vehicles for which a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) has been registered. Evasion levels should reduce further next year when the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) roll out the
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MOT database which, when combined with the DVLA vehicle register, will allow enforcement authorities to detect vehicles without a valid MOT instantly.
Figures are not available oh an annualised basis. A Roadside Survey on Vehicle Excise Duty evasion is conducted periodically. The headline figures based on observation of vehicles in traffic for the most recent three surveys are as follows:
| Vehicle stock, percentage evasion in traffic | |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 3.0 |
| 1999 | 2.3 |
| 2002 | 2.7 |
From 2004 this survey will be conducted annually and the recent introduction of continuous registration is empowering the DVLA to take targeted action against evaders on the face of the vehicle record.
Rail Travel
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment her Department has made of the environmental impact of rail travel. [181672]
Mr. McNulty: The environmental impact of rail travel is presented in the following tabular form. The data come from the 2002–03 National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). It is based on work carried out by the NAEI to analyse train emissions on specific routes. The values of emissions per passenger kilometre are representative of those particular types of trains. They are based on best estimates of train emission factors (g/kWh) from various industry sources.
Average UK figures for both electric and diesel passenger rail are presented as well as detailed data for specific types of trains with passenger loadings of 33 per cent. and 66 per cent. occupancy rates.
| Passenger rail (average UK—electric and diesel) | |
|---|---|
| CO 2 | 63 |
| PM 1 0 | 0.016 |
| CO | 0.08 |
| NOx | 0.32 |
| SO 2 | 0.2 |
| VOC | 0.029 |
| CO 2 | PM 1 0 | CO | NOx | SO 2 | VOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 357 Electric (commuter service) | 34 | 0.002 | 0.02 | 0.08 | n/k | 0.002 |
| HST Inter-city 125 | 96 | 0.033 | 0.38 | 1.27 | n/k | 0.141 |
| Class 180 Adelante | 80 | 0.013 | 0.36 | 0.63 | n/k | 0.099 |
| Class 150 Sprinter DMU | 46 | n/k | 0.05 | 0.63 | n/k | 0.031 |
| Class 168 Turbostar DMU | 75 | 0.013 | 0.11 | 0.64 | n/k | 0.027 |
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Emissions from electric trains have been estimated by applying NAEI emission factors for total emissions from power stations (all types) to the energy consumption of each train. Emissions from electric rail are therefore calculated by multiplying the emission factors by the amount of electricity used for traction. Electricity consumption for rail is taken from the Department of Trade and Industry's Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2003.
The implied power generation mix taken from DUKES is.
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| Gas | 39 |
| Nuclear | 22 |
| Coal | 32 |
| Hydro | 1 |
| Oil | 1 |
| Other fuels | 3 |
| Imports | 2 |
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