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7 Sept 2004 : Column 1129W—continued
PFI/PPP Contracts
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contracts his Department had with (a) Barclays, (b) the Royal Bank of Scotland, (c) UBS Warburg and (d) the Bank of Scotland for advice on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts in each financial year since 2001–02; and what fees were paid in each case. [186659]
Mr. McNulty: The Department was formed in May 2002. The Department has not awarded contracts to any of these banks for advice on private finance initiative and public-private partnership contracts.
Rail Services
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to paragraph 5.3.5 of The Future of Rail, Cm.6233, what estimate he has made of the total amount of money elected regional assemblies would be able to spend on improving rail services in (a) the North East, (b) the North West and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber. [186154]
Mr. McNulty: Elected regional assemblies will be given flexibility to decide how much money to spend on rail passenger improvements within the resources available to them. The level of government funding available to assemblies will be determined in due course.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the Leonard Cheshire Foundation regarding equal access for disabled people to the rail network. [186971]
Mr. McNulty: The Department regularly meets with major disability organisations including the Leonard Cheshire Foundation and frequently consults and corresponds with them, both directly and through correspondence with Members. We have recently responded to a number of inquiries generated by the Foundation's "All Aboard" campaign.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has commissioned regarding the Government's rail end date of 2055 and the viability of alternatives proposed by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation. [186972]
Mr. McNulty: The Government first consulted on an 'end date', by which time all rail vehicles must comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations, last November, as part of a consultation on our proposals for amending the rail provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act. Various dates were considered, looking both at the needs of disabled people and at the financial implications for the rail industry, and we indicated that we favoured 2025.
The consultation included a draft regulatory impact assessment which was based on an independent economic appraisal of the various options. We are committed to further consultation before a final date is set in regulations. This will take full account of the responses to the November consultation, including that received from the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, and the recommendation of the Joint Scrutiny Committee on the draft Disability Discrimination Bill.
7 Sept 2004 : Column 1130W
Roads
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list planned road resurfacing projects broken down by the number of houses affected by above 68dB of noise that will benefit from noise reduction; and how many of these projects will be financed from the £5 million ringfenced sum. [186728]
Mr. Jamieson: In general, priorities for resurfacing sections of the strategic road network are assessed according to maintenance need rather than noise criteria. Detailed information on the numbers of houses exposed to more than 68dB that are expected to benefit from this resurfacing programme is not available.
An assessment of the number of houses exposed to more than 68dB is only made for sites meeting the criteria for noise announced on 22 March 1999 in connection with the £5 million ringfenced sum. This ringfenced sum was specifically aimed at funding noise mitigation measures at sites where the noise problems were serious and pressing and where resurfacing with quieter materials could not be justified on normal maintenance grounds.
In the majority of cases, the ringfenced sum has funded the provision of noise barriers at locations identified on the list published on 11 November 1999. There is only one resurfacing scheme in the 2004–05 programme with funding from, the ringfenced sum. This will deal with the problem identified on M6 junctions 34–35, Camforth and should provide a significant noise reduction for approximately 300 houses currently exposed to more than 68dB of noise.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent in each year since 1997 installing speed humps on roads. [186761]
Mr. Darling: The installation of speed humps is a matter for individual Highway Authorities. As such this information is not held centrally.
Local authorities are solely responsible for the implementation of all traffic calming schemes, including the installation of road humps.
Funding is allocated via the Single Capital Pot based on the Road Safety Strategy contained within their Local Transport Plans.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 130W, on road safety, how many people died as a result of crashes that occurred on hard shoulders of English trunk motorways in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [187058]
Mr. McNulty: The number of people who have died as a result of crashes that occurred on English trunk road motorways where at least one vehicle was on, entering or leaving the hard shoulder in (a) 2002 was 22 and in (b) 2003 was 11.
Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road schemes have been started in Northampton in each year since 1992. [186517]
7 Sept 2004 : Column 1131W
Mr. McNulty: The number of road improvements, costing over £l million, and excluding maintenance schemes, started in Northampton for each year since 1992 is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 1 |
| 1993 | 0 |
| 1994 | 0 |
| 1995 | 0 |
| 1996 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 |
| 1998 | 1 |
| 1999 | 2 |
| 2000 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2003 | 2 |
Richard Younger-Ross:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Government are on track to achieve its target of delivering (a) 100 new bypasses on trunk and local roads and (b) 130 major local road schemes by 2010; and what the (i) construction costs,
7 Sept 2004 : Column 1132W
(ii) scheduled date for start of construction, (iii) expected completion date and (iv) status at 1 April is for each currently identified scheme. [186168]
Mr. Jamieson: The Government are on track to deliver 32 new bypasses on the strategic road network by the end of 2010–11. The following table gives the relevant detail on these bypasses which have either been completed, or are contained within the current Targeted Programme of Improvements (TPI).
Firm decisions have yet to be made on start of works for the remainder of the current programme so no forecast dates of opening are possible but the latest estimated outturn costs and status report for these schemes has been provided.
On local roads it is too soon to say whether the quoted number of local road schemes will be delivered. This depends largely on how quickly local authorities bring their schemes to completion. 79 road schemes have been fully or provisionally approved by the Government since 2000; these schemes are now at various stages of delivery. A local authority's progress in delivering a local road scheme is a matter for the local authority concerned. The Government are considering a number of other road scheme proposals from local authorities.
| Scheme | Latest estimated outturn cost (£ million) | Start of works | Date of completion |
|---|---|---|---|
| A5 Nesscliffe Bypass | 20 | March 2002 | March 2003 |
| A6 Great Glen Bypass | 21 | April 2001 | February 2003 |
| A6 Rushden and Higham Ferrers Bypass | 16 | April 2002 | August 2003 |
| A6 Rothwell-Desborough Bypass | 19 | April 2002 | August 2003 |
| A6 Clapham Bypass | 44 | May 2001 | December 2002 |
| A6 Alvaston | 22 | September 2002 | December 2003 |
| A27 Pplegate Bypass | 29 | October 2000 | June 2002 |
| A41 Aston Clinton Bypass | 44 | August 2001 | October 2003 |
| A43 Towcester-M40 Dualling (including A43 Silverstone Bypass) | 97 | February 2001 | September 2002 |
| A63 Selby Bypass | 65 | October 2001 | June 2004 |
| A66 Stainburn and Great Clifton Bypass | 12 | July 2001 | December 2002 |
| A500 Basford, Hough, Shavington Bypass | 54 | June 2001 | May 2003 |
| A650 Bingley Relief Road | 91 | July 2001 | December 2003 |
| M6 Toll (accelerated Roads Review scheme) | (63)Toll Road | March 2001 | December 2003 |
(63) The M6 Toll Road is privately funded. There is some publicly funded expenditure, which is currently estimated to outturn at £41 million.
| Scheme | Latest Estimated Outturn cost (£ million) | Actual/Estimated Start of Works | Estimated date of completion | Status at 1 April 2004 (2004–05 Business Plan Key/Critical Event) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A10 Wadesmill Colliers End | 39 | April 2002 | 2004–05 | Road Open |
| A21 Lamberhurst Bypass | 19 | June 2003 | 2004–05 | Road Open |
| A5 Weeford-Fazeley Improvement | 38 | April 2004 | 2005–06 | Start of Works (achieved) |
| A421 Great Barford Bypass | 43 | 2004–05 | 2006–07 | Start of Works |
| A47 Thorney Bypass | 28 | 2004–05 | 2006–07 | Start of Works |
7 Sept 2004 : Column 1133W
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