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Libya

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to encourage British businesses to invest in Libya; and what the current level of UK investment in Libya is. [184051]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Following my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's visit in March 2004 and his commitment to strengthen political and economic ties, I visited Libya in April 2004 accompanied by a high level business delegation.

Over 50 UK-based companies have established branch offices in Libya in order to pursue their trade and investment interests. UK Trade and Investment is actively assisting these and other companies in their efforts to develop their business interests in that market and there is an on-going programme of activity in support of strengthening trade links with Libya. However there are no official figures on the financial level of the investment in Libya.

Nuclear Power/Security

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to extend the responsibilities of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security to deal with nuclear materials transported from UK licensed nuclear sites to nuclear sites abroad. [184401]

Mr. Timms: None. The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) already has the power to regulate the security of nuclear material carried on board UK-flagged vessels anywhere in the world. Where nuclear material is exported from UK ports on foreign-flagged vessels, OCNS's regulatory powers cannot extend beyond UK territorial waters. Once in international waters, sole responsibility for the security of the nuclear material rests with the government of the carrier concerned.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which organisations provided information used by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) to construct its design basis threat (DBT) for plants and
 
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operations of civil nuclear companies; and whether the OCNS shares information on the United Kingdom DBT with its United States counterpart. [184403]

Mr. Timms: The Design Basis Threat is a planning tool that draws principally on assessments produced by the Security Service and the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), of which OCNS is a member.

OCNS discusses the processes involved in the production and use of a Design Basis Threat with many member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including the United States, but does not exchange analyses or conclusions that are protectively marked.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance the Office of Civil Nuclear Security offers to new carriers in designing a transport security plan. [184593]

Mr. Timms: The Office for Civil Nuclear Security offers advice on the procedures and standards necessary for new carriers to obtain regulatory approval for a transport security plan.

TRANSPORT

British Merchant Navy Officers (Employment)

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of British Merchant Navy officers employed on British registered and flagged vessels. [184136]

Mr. Jamieson: We are currently considering whether or not to include additional measures to enhance UK seafarer employment opportunities within tonnage tax and have invited proposals from our social partners, including the maritime trades unions. The proposals will be given careful consideration. Tonnage tax is flag neutral so any revisions to the scheme would not apply solely to British registered vessels.

A30/A303

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce whether the dualling of the A30/A303 is to be added to the targeted programme of improvements of the Highways Agency. [182586]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 6 July 2004]: The Secretary of State is currently considering two route options for improving the section of this road between Ilminster and Exeter.

Accountancy Advice

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contracts have been let by his Department in each financial year since 2001–02 to (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public-private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case. [182258]

Mr. McNulty: For work on the London Underground PPP, the Department for Transport (or its predecessors) employed Ernst and Young to provide
 
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advice. The contract was let in 2000–01 and about £884,000 was paid in fees. London Regional Transport, who were letting the LU PPP contracts, employed its own advisers, whose advice was shared with the Department, which included PricewaterhouseCoopers from early in 1999. PricewaterhouseCoopers received £21.4 million in fees. LRT also took advice from their auditors KPMG, who received about £2.4 million.

Advertising

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money was spent on advertising and promotional literature for his Department's initiatives, broken down by year since 1997. [183803]

Mr. McNulty: The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002. The Department spent £2.5 million in 2002–03 and £1.5 million in 2003–04 on the production of free literature. These figures include advertising and promotional literature plus items such as consultation reports. Separating out the figures for consultation reports could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Airports

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will issue guidance to airport operators in respect of the appropriate access plans referred to on page 11 of the White Paper, "The Future of Air Transport". [183761]

Mr. McNulty: The Department published Guidance on Airport Transport Forums and Airport Surface Access Strategies in July 1999. We will look to airport operators to take this guidance into account in assessing surface access proposals as part of their master plan preparation. Guidance on the preparation of master plans was published by DfT on 12 July and copies were placed in the Libraries of the House.

Aviation (State Aid)

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the impact of state aid on (a) the European aviation industry and (b) competition. [183295]

Mr. McNulty: As the Secretary of State explained to the Informal Transport Council in Amsterdam on 9 July during discussion of developments in aviation, state aid to EU airlines has been damaging in the past because it inhibits desirable structural change in the industry, discourages innovation and enterprise, and puts airlines which do not receive Government support at an unfair commercial disadvantage. This is why the Government have consistently supported the European Commission in its efforts over recent years to eliminate state aid in the aviation sector, efforts which have been largely successful.

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has made to the European Commission on the issues of state aid for (a) Alitalia and (b) other European airlines. [183296]

Mr. McNulty: Officials are in contact with the European Commission about a proposed rescue package for Alitalia to be underwritten by the Italian
 
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Government. We have made no recent representations to the Commission about aid for other European airlines. We have no reason to believe that the Commission will be other than firm in its application of state aid rules in the aviation sector.

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost per mile is of constructing the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link from St. Pancras; and if he will make a statement. [183270]

Mr. McNulty: Based on a projected cost of £5.2 billion and a route mileage of 70 miles, the implied unit cost of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is £74 million per mile. The link includes 16 route miles in tunnel and is engineered to a maximum line speed of 186 mph. Care needs to be taken in comparing the unit costs of different projects, given the widely different scope of works and the different characteristics and geography of lines.

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