---

23 Feb 2005 : Column 633W—continued

TRANSPORT

A39

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured on the A39 in each of the last five years. [217406]

Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.
Fatal and seriously injured casualties on the A39: 1999–2003

	Casualties
	Killed	Serious
1999	6	52
2000	8	59
2001	5	46
2002	11	62
2003	7	53

 
23 Feb 2005 : Column 634W
 

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of congestion on the A39 in Bridgwater. [217407]

Mr. Jamieson: The A39 through Bridgwater is not part of the Trunk Road network, and consequently my Department has not undertaken an assessment of the level of congestion in Bridgwater.

The road in question is the responsibility of Somerset county council, the local highway authority. It is understood that journey speeds on the A39 in Bridgwater have been monitored twice, in 2001 and 2004. The results showed a 7 per cent. and 11 per cent. decrease in peak and off-peak speeds respectively. However, partly as a result of the completion in January 2003 of the Bridgwater Northern Relief Road, these decreases were considerably lower than on other routes in the town.

Leigh Guided Busway

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement with regard to the outstanding planning issues related to the Leigh Guided Busway. [217060]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department has just finished exchanging written representations between Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and interested parties on the extensive additional environmental information provided by the GMPTE last October. GMPTE have also recently provided clarification of some detailed drafting points on their proposed Transport and Works Act Order. We have concluded in the light of all this further information that it is not necessary to re-open the earlier public inquiry into this scheme. We are now considering the substantial amount of new information that has been submitted since the inquiry, in the light of the earlier Inspector's report, and intend to decide this application as soon as we reasonably can.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much City of York Council has received in (a) block grant and (b) specific grants for transport purposes in each year since it became a unitary authority; and if he will make a statement on investment in public transport in York. [217622]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has approved nearly £34 million of block grant to City of York council for transport capital between April 1996 and March 2005. Of this £34 million, £7.724 million was for maintenance and £26.151 million for integrated transport improvements. Also £3.239 million was provided for the B1228 Peasholme Bridge scheme, along with a further £1.06 million in targeted bus grants. The annual amounts of funding are listed in the following table.

The investment in public transport made in York has contributed towards a substantial increase in bus patronage—up by nearly a quarter in three years—and the development of a high quality set of park and ride services. The Department designated the council as a
 
23 Feb 2005 : Column 635W
 
centre of excellence for transport planning (specifically for cycling and park and ride) back in 2001. It has recently invited the council to apply to be a centre of
 
23 Feb 2005 : Column 636W
 
excellence for local transport delivery. This recognises the council's proven track record in delivering transport improvements on the ground.
£ million

City of York Nature of Funding	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Capital maintenance	0.306	0.435	0.378	0.900	0.712
Integrated block	0.772	0.880	0.770	1.195	1.550
Major schemes(3)	2.262	0.977	0	0	0
Targeted bus grants (2)	n/a	n/a	0.250	0.070	0.310
Total	3.34	2.292	1.398	2.165	2.572

£ million

	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
Capital Maintenance	1.095	1.155	1.281	1.462
Integrated Block	4.900	5.000	6.600	4.484
Major Schemes(3)	0	0	0	0
Targeted Bus Grants(2)	0.090	0.110	0.110	0.120
Total	6.085	6.265	7.991	6.066

n/a=Not available.
⁽²⁾Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, and Bus Challenge funding.
⁽³⁾Funding for Major Scheme B1228 Peasholme Green Bridge

M60

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in discovering the reasons for flooding on the M60 between Denton and Hollingwood, Oldham. [216516]

Mr. Jamieson: The surface water problems that occur at specific areas on the M60 result from a combination of wide carriageways and the road alignment and crossfall. These cause rainwater to have a long and slow path off the carriageway to the drains, resulting in the formation of a continuous water film on the road surface in heavy rain.

The design of the motorway complied with the Highways Agency's standards current at the time of its design. Changes in drainage design guidance to deal with wide carriageways were subsequently issued by the Agency in 1999.

Remedial overnight works to reduce surface water on the section of the motorway between Junction 24 at Denton and the Medlock River, south of Junction 22, are planned for spring/summer 2005. Further assessment is being carried out on the section between the Medlock River and Junction 19, following which the necessary remedial works will be undertaken.

Meridian Trains

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has held concerning the future use of the Meridian trains built for Midland Mainline which have now been declared surplus to requirements. [217114]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 21 February 2005]: I understand that sixteen four-car Meridian trains have been successfully introduced into service on Midland Mainline and will continue to operate throughout the life of the franchise. There are also seven nine-car Meridians which are not yet in service. Discussions about them continue between the owning Rolling Stock Company and Midland Mainline. Careful consideration will be given to any proposal for their possible future use.

Parking

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on (a) provision of parking spaces for civil servants and (b) parking tickets and penalties incurred by civil servants in the Department and its predecessors in each year since 1997. [213838]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002.

The cost of providing parking for DfT civil servants in the Department's agencies in 2002–03 was £86,291 and in 2003–04 was £92,733. These costs represent the cost of any additional parking provided for staff over any spaces that may be provided as part of the lease of a building where identifying these figures would involve disproportionate cost. DfT Central did not incur any expenditure on providing parking spaces in either year.

It is departmental policy that staff are personally responsible for meeting the costs of parking tickets or penalties and these details would not be separately recorded.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what initiatives his Department is taking to reduce the numbers of sick days taken by staff in the Department. [216641]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department and its Agencies are committed to managing sickness absence effectively and are taking action on the recommendations made in the Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector" report published in November 2004.
 
23 Feb 2005 : Column 637W
 

Initiatives that are being pursued include more robust recording and monitoring of absence levels and reasons for absence, better provision of management information and training for managers, earlier involvement of occupational health advisers and a review of current policies and procedures.

---