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22 Feb 2005 : Column 508W—continued
Noise Pollution (Maidenhead)
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies his Department has conducted of the effect at different times of day of noise pollution from Heathrow airport in Maidenhead and the surrounding area. [213495]
Charlotte Atkins [pursuant to the reply, 8 February 2005, Official Report, c. 1450–1W]: I am advised that noise at Heathrow is continually monitored by BAA using 10 permanent monitors. These are situated close to the airport, but none is situated in Maidenhead. Mobile monitors have been used for specific studies in the past at Dorney and Shurlock but there are no monitors in the surrounding area at present.
Rail Freight
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to continue the Strategic Rail Authority's policies towards large-scale Railfreight interchanges. [217265]
Mr. McNulty: The Government continue to believe that railfreight interchanges play an important role in supporting the sustainable transport of goods. Decisions about individual railfreight terminals will be taken at the regional and local level, but the Government have given guidance on the development of Regional Transport Strategies that says
Particular consideration should be given to the spatial issues, such as identifying the broad location of new multi-modal freight interchanges which include regional rail freight interchanges as set out in the SRA's Strategic Rail Freight Interchange Policy and distribution centres of regional or sub-regional significance to encourage modal shift of freight from road to rail".
Rail Services
Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trains on the West Coast Main Line from Manchester to London (a) were cancelled, (b) broke down during the journey and (c) arrived over 30 minutes late during the first six weeks of 2005. [216517]
Mr. McNulty: In the first six weeks of 2005 (to 11 February), Virgin Trains planned to run 2,658 services on the Manchester to London route. Of these services 152 trains did not run or failed to complete their journey and 169 were late by 30 minutes or more. Precise data on trains breaking down mid-journey are not readily available.
Railway Stations
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many railway stations have closed since 1 May 1997. [216336]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 21 February 2005]: Five stations have been permanently closed since 1997 (Sinfin North, Sinfin Central, Pendleton, Croxley Green and Watford West). Three other station closures (Filton, Wrexham Central and Mountain Ash) were associated with facilitating new stations. The Secretary of State is also considering a decision to close Etruria station, part of the West Coast Route Modernisation project.
Staff Surveys
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much was paid to consultants carrying out staff surveys in the Department and its predecessors in each year since 1997; [213654]
(2) what the cost of staff surveys in the Department and its predecessors was in each year since 1997. [213682]
Charlotte Atkins: Since the creation of the Department for Transport in May 2002, the costs incurred by the Department and its Executive Agencies for consultants conducting staff surveys are as follows:
| 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DfT(C) | 0 | 34.2 | 0 |
| HA | 15.5 | 9.4 | 17.3 |
| DVLA | 0 | 0 | 40.0 |
| 15DSA | 18.0 | 0 | 0 |
| VGA | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VOSA | 2.4 | 0 | 0 |
| MCA | 3.4 | 47.2 | 15.6 |
| Total | 39.3 | 90.8 | 72.9 |
Internal costs arising from staff surveys are not identified separately and are included in the Department's and agencies' administrative budgets. Copies of the annual reports are deposited in the Library of the House.
Staff surveys are an important measure of how people feel about working in the Department. They help to provide focus on areas for improvement such as performance management, development and
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leadership. Surveys also allow a better overview when staff are spread over numerous locations, as with the agencies.
Stationery
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Department and its predecessors spent on (a) stationery and (b) office supplies in each year since 1997. [213854]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department was formed in May 2002. The information for the central Department and its agencies is set out in the following table.
(27) This expenditure also includes the stationery which the Agency uses for its core business i.e. print on tax discs, V5s, V11s etc.
(28) Office supplies included in figure for stationery.
(29) Office supplies not recorded separately under previous accounting system.
(30) VOSA was created in April 2003.
(31) Figures exclude some IT and reprographics consumables as these had not been recorded separately from operating and capital costs.
Targets
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many targets have been set in each year since 1997 by the Department; and, of these, which have been (a) met, (b) nearly met, (c) not met, (d) changed and (e) dropped. [215836]
Charlotte Atkins: I refer to the answer given by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 75W.
ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Armed Services
Mr. Robathan:
To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral
22 Feb 2005 : Column 511W
Commission how much was spent by the Electoral Commission on raising voting awareness among service voters in each year since 2000. [216367]
Mr. Viggers: Section 13 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, under which the Electoral Commission acts to raise voter awareness, came into force on 19 January 2001. The Electoral Commission informs me that it has spent £11,000 in the current financial year on measures specifically aimed at raising awareness of registration among service voters, most of it on the production and distribution to Ministry of Defence units of a leaflet providing electoral information for members of the armed forces. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for all aspects of distribution within units. In 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 the Commission incurred only staff costs, which cannot be separately identified, in respect of media relations activity specifically to highlight registration amongst service voters.
Commission programmes aimed at raising voter awareness generally are also likely to have made some contribution to raising voter awareness among service voters.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Racial Hatred
Ross Cranston: To ask the Solicitor-General how many people have been charged with offences relating to the stirring-up of racial hatred; how many files on such cases have been put to the Attorney-General; in how many of those cases prosecutions were approved; in which years; how many of those prosecutions were successful; and what the nature was of the issues in successful cases. [215121]
The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General's consent to prosecute a person for offences relating to the stirring-up of racial hatred has been sought, to date, on 80 occasions. In total, consent to prosecute was given in relation to 73 of those persons. A table showing those consent decisions is as follows.
| Consent given | |
|---|---|
| 1988 | 2 |
| 1989 | 1 |
| 1990 | 2 |
| 1991 | 3 |
| 1992 | 4 |
| 1993 | 2 |
| 1994 | 2 |
| 1995 | 7 |
| 1996 | 12 |
| 1997 | 9 |
| 1998 | 1 |
| 1999 | 4 |
| 2000 | 4 |
| 2001 | 8 |
| 2002 | 2 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| Total | 73 |
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Seventy-two of those persons have been charged with offences relating to the stirring-up of racial hatred. One person absconded before charge.
The 72 prosecutions have resulted in 44 convictions, five acquittals, six cases dropped by the prosecution and 17 other outcomes.
The seventeen other outcomes" are as follows: two cases in which the defendant was bound over, one case where the defendant absconded, 10 cases that are on-going, one case where the defendant died before completion of the proceedings, one case where a nolle prosequi was entered, one case where the proceedings were stayed on the ground that the defendant was medically unfit to be tried and one case where the outcome is unknown.
It is not possible to say what the nature of the issues was in the successful cases, as the prosecution statistics relating to incitement to racial hatred do not record information of this nature.
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