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14 Dec 2004 : Column 1010W—continued
Royal Irish Regiment
Mr. Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average weekly working hours for the junior ranks of the full-time Home Service Royal Irish Regiment were between October 2003 and October 2004. [203546]
Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.
While some information on working patterns for full-time members of the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment is held by individual battalions, the information is not held in the format requested.
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Stair Lifts
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients who have been listed as high priority are on the waiting list for a stair lift, broken down by health trust area. [204113]
Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
TRANSPORT
A1 Improvements
Mr. Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the revised start dates are of construction of (a) the A1 Dishforth to Barton upgrade and (b) the Haydon Bridge bypass. [204998]
Mr. Jamieson: The information is as follows.
Al Dishforth to Barton upgrade
This scheme is included in a list of 33 schemes announced by the Highways Agency on 1 December 2004 that are planned to start construction by April 2008.
The A69 Haydon Bridge bypass and 13 other schemes are identified as being on routes of predominantly regional rather than national importance. Ministers wish to engage with regional and local stakeholders in identifying priorities for these schemes within overall transport investment. Subject to regional priorities and funding, these schemes should be considered for a start of works from 2008 onwards.
A14
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he plans to launch the public consultation on plans to widen the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon; [204540]
(2) for what reasons the public consultation on plans to widen the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon has been delayed. [204541]
Mr. Jamieson: Public consultation on proposals for the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton improvement is now expected to start in spring 2005.
The public consultation has been put back to allow more time for the Highways Agency to consider an alternative proposal to the scheme recommended by
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the Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi Modal Study (CHUMMS). The alternative has been put forward as a result of consultations with local authorities in preparation for the public consultation.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total external spending by his Department was on private finance initiative (PFI) consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [202419]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport (including Executive Agencies) expenditure on external Private Finance consultants was £12,571,700 in 2003–04 and £7,595,500 to date in 2004–05.
The Department does not retain information on the full-time equivalent consultants these figures represent, or on the number of billed consultant hours. Consultants are appointed on a variety of terms only some of which are based on staff numbers or time. These reasons also prevent us from calculating an average cost per consultant.
The firms employed by the Department over this period were:
Atis Real Weatherall, Atkins Management Consultants, WS Atkins, Aukett, Berwin Leighton Painser, Bullen, Carl Bro IBI, Close Resources, Deloitte, Denton Wilde Sapte, Ernst and Young, Flint and Neill, Halcrow, Hays Accountancy Personnel, Hedra, IBM UK, Jacobs, JKL and Hide Recruitment, John Matchett, Mott MacDonald, MVM Recruitment, Nabarro Nathanson, Office of Government Commerce, Owen Williams, Panell Kerr Forster, Partnerships UK, Pell Frischmann, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Project Management Recruitment, Qinetiq, Turner and Townsend, Willis, Yale Consulting and Yale Data Management Consultants.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total external spending by his Department was on public-private partnership (PPP) consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PPP consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [202429]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport (including Executive Agencies) expenditure on external PPP consultants was £23,995,700 in 2003–04 and £14,377,300 to date in 2004–05. This total includes expenditure on PFI consultants.
The Department does not retain information on the full time equivalent consultants these figures represent, or on the number of billed consultant hours. Consultants are appointed on a variety of terms only some of which are based on staff numbers or time. These reasons also prevent us from calculating an average cost per consultant.
14 Dec 2004 : Column 1013W
The firms employed by the Department over this period were:
Atis Real Weatherall, Atkins Management Consultants, WS Atkins, Aukett, Berwin Leighton Painser, Bullen, Carl Bro IBI, Citigroup, Close Resources, CMS Cameron McKenna, Credit Suisse First Boston, CTRL Discretionary Purchase Auditor, CTRL Technical Disputes Panel, Deloitte, Denton Wilde Sapte, Dresdener Kleinwort, Ernst & Young, Flint & Neill, Halcrow, Michael Hamilton, Hays Accountancy Personnel, Hedra, Hyder Consulting, IBM UK, KHHD, Jacobs, JKL & Hide Recruitment, John Matchett, Mott MacDonald, Mott Parsons Gibb, MVM Recruitment, Nabarro Nathanson, Office of Government Commerce, Owen Williams, Panell Kerr Forster, Partnerships UK, Pell Frischmann, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Project Management Recruitment, Qinetiq, Turner & Townsend, Willis, Yale Consulting and Yale Data Management Consultants.
Driving (Drugs)
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he takes to advise the public on the possible effects on driving whilst taking (a) benzodiazepines, (b) tricyclic antidepressants and (c) anti histamines; and if he will make a statement. [204022]
Mr. Jamieson: Doctors and pharmacists should provide information on the effects on driving when dispensing prescriptions or other medicines. The current licensing system places a legal obligation on the applicant/licence holder to notify The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any medical condition which may affect their fitness to drive.
DVLA provides advice to medical professionals through its "At a Glance Guide to the Current Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive", which is available on the Agency's website ( www.dvla.gov.uk).
The Department is presently researching the attitudes of UK health professionals about providing 'fitness-to-drive' advice to the public. This includes an examination of advice given in relation to medication.
European Railway Agency
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met the Chairman of the Board of the European Railway Agency; and if he will make a statement on (a) the work of the Agency and (b) its relationship to the work of (i) the Strategic Rail Authority, (ii) the Office of the Rail Regulator and (iii) other bodies working within the railway industry which have statutory powers. [204124]
Mr. McNulty: There are no plans to meet the Chairman of the Board of the European Rail Agency.
The principal roles of the European Rail Agency established under Council Regulation 881/2004 are:
to propose draft Technical Specifications on Interoperability (TSIs) (taking over from an industry co-ordinated process);
to propose Common Safety Measures (CSMs) and Common Safety Targets (CSTs) which are brought into force through a comitology process;
to undertake technical examinations on request from the Commission, on the compatibility of new national safety rules with TSIs or CSMs, and to submit an opinion to the Commission if it considers that any rule is incompatible with TSIs or CSMs, or does not allow CSTs to be reached;
to provide, on request, technical opinions on safety-related matters referred to it by national regulatory bodies.
The Agency was effectively only established in May 2004, following the adoption of Regulation 881/2004 on 29 April 2004, and has yet to start work. It is established as an advisory body for the European Commission with no autonomous executive powers, and therefore has no regulatory or statutory role in the UK.
The TSIs, CSMs and CSTs replace existing industry-developed standards methods and targets rather than UK statutory provisions or regulatory roles. Enforcement of compliance with TSIs is the responsibility of the national Safety Authority.
David Waboso from the Strategic Rail Authority is the UK Government's representative on the Administrative Board of the Agency.
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