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27 Oct 2004 : Column 1227W—continued

Motorways

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which elements of the M6 toll road scheme have incurred public cost, broken down by amount. [192081]

Mr. Jamieson: Under the concession agreement with Midland Expressway Ltd. (MEL) the costs and risks of constructing the M6 Toll fell to MEL. Costs involved in promoting the privately financed scheme fell to central Government.

The total cost to date to the public sector for selecting the private promoter, negotiating the concession agreement and preparing the statutory Orders required is estimated at £15 million.

Further costs to the public purse have resulted from changes to the concession agreement, such as revised engineering standards, during the preparation of the scheme. The present estimate for such changes is £4.55 million.

An agreed sum of £18 million has been paid to MEL to cover the cost of widening the M42 and improvements to the local road network.

Land acquisition/compensation and management costs, currently estimated at between £80 million and £110 million, were initially borne by the public purse are being recovered from the concessionaire.

Navigation Services

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to charge users of global positioning systems in road vehicles for navigation services; and if he will make a statement. [193030]

Mr. Jamieson: We have no plans to charge drivers for using in-vehicle navigation services.

Off-road Number Plates

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what penalties are in place to penalise companies which break the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's regulations by producing off-road number plates. [194031]

Mr. Jamieson: The penalty for failure to comply with regulations relating to keeping records of the sales of number plates and obtaining prescribed documentation is a fine of up to £1,000, and/or suspension from the register of number plate suppliers scheme for up to five years. These regulations apply to plates that display a registration number and are designed to be fitted to a vehicle or trailer irrespective of whether they are for off-road use.

The penalty for selling a "counterfeit" plate is a fine of up to £2,500. A counterfeit plate is one that purports to be a number plate but is not, e.g. one bearing a non-existent registration number.

Road Haulage (Emissions)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the level of carbon emissions from road haulage in each year from 1990 to date. [193079]

 
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Mr. Jamieson: The main source of data on carbon emissions from road transport is the NAEI (National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory) produced by NETCEN. Their figures for road haulage are as follows.
UK road transport HGVs—emissions of carbon

	Million tonnes carbon
1990	6.1
1991	5.8
1992	5.9
1993	6.0
1994	6.5
1995	6.7
1996	7.1
1997	7.3
1998	7.4
1999	7.3
2000	7.2
2001	7.5
2002	8.0

Ship Inspections

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 11 October 2004, Official Report, column 6W, on ship inspections, for what reason it is his Department's policy not to comment on details of (a) the number of ships his Department inspects and (b) how many ships have been denied entry, expelled or detained at UK ports. [192121]

Mr. Jamieson: We do not provide information about the security performance of individual ships nor provide details on enforcement policy for very good security reasons.

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many ships entering UK ports in September failed to meet the International Ship and Port Facility Code; and how many of these ships were (a) denied entry, (b) expelled from port and (c) detained; [190684]

(2) how many ships were inspected at UK ports in September to assess whether they met International Ship and Port Facility Security Code standards. [190685]

Mr. Jamieson: It is not our policy to comment in detail on ships we inspect for security compliance. However, during September, 17 ships were found to be non-compliant with the requirements of the ISPS Code. It was not appropriate to impose formal Control Measures as there were no serious deficiencies and the failings were quickly rectified by the ship's crews.

Strategic Rail Authority

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the daily cost of the operations of the Strategic Rail Authority is (a) in total and (b) excluding subsidies to train operating companies. [192597]

Mr. McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority's total annual budget for 2004–05 is £3,378 million, £1,143 million of which relates to subsidies to train operating companies. So, daily costs are (a) £9 million in total and (b) £6 million excluding subsidies to train
 
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operating companies. The authority's 2004–05 budget for running costs is £89 million, equivalent to £244,000 per day.

Travel-related Accidents

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) fatal and (b) serious travel-related accidents there were in (i) the City of York and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 1992. [192417]

Mr. Jamieson: The available information relates to road accidents, and is shown in the table. Providing the information requested for railways would entail disproportionate costs.
Fatal and serious road accidents in the city of York and Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office Region: 1992 to 2003

	City of York		Yorkshire and the Humber
	Fatal	Serious	Fatal	Serious
1992	4	110	373	3,858
1993	4	84	351	3,459
1994	2	67	294	3,333
1995	3	69	313	3,396
1996	3	59	292	3,220
1997	7	111	295	3,175
1998	4	70	286	3,001
1999	8	106	285	2,922
2000	12	73	288	2,800
2001	6	108	299	2,858
2002	8	103	294	2,893
2003	8	70	296	2,808

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact the possible redeployment of UK troops in Iraq will have on the planned increased deployment of UK troops in Afghanistan. [193479]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 25 October 2004]: As I announced to the House on 21 October 2004, Official Report, columns 1035–51, the redeployment of some of our forces in Iraq is limited in scope, time, and space and does not represent a significant permanent additional commitment of forces. It has no impact upon our plans to increase our military commitment in Afghanistan, which is not due to occur until 2006 when the Headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps is planned to deploy to lead the International Security Assistance Force.

Black Watch

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department asked (a) Perth and Kinross district council, (b) The Black Watch and (c) other organisations to prepare for a welcome back home parade in Perth in November or December. [193243]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 25 October 2004]: A series of parades had been planned during the period 29 November to 4 December 2004 throughout the Regimental area, including Perth, in order to celebrate
 
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1st Battalion The Black Watch return from Iraq. These parades have now been postponed until the return date of the Regiment is confirmed.

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he first received the request from the United States to redeploy UK troops. [193244]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 25 October 2004]: A formal request from the US military in Iraq was made on 10 October 2004 to General Officer Commanding MND(SE), for one UK Battlegroup to deploy in support of coalition operations.

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he expects the Black Watch to end their tour of duty in Iraq. [193245]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The Black Watch will be back in the United Kingdom by Christmas; the precise date cannot be confirmed at this stage for operational reasons.

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what instructions have been given to Black Watch soldiers regarding redeployment in Iraq. [193246]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The battle group deploying from MND(SE) consisting predominantly of the 1st Battalion the Black Watch, were issued with an Operational Order on 23 October 2004, the details of which cannot be supplied for reasons of operational security. I am therefore withholding that information under Exemption 1a of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

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