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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 9 June 2005

WALES

Council Tax Subsidy

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what balancing adjustments have been made to reflect changes in the cost of council tax subsidy for Wales in each year since 1997. [1283]

Mr. Hain: The following council tax benefit adjustments have been made to the Wales departmental expenditure limit.

A reduction of £0.56 million in 2001–02 in respect of 2000–01, and an increase of £1.957 million in 2003–04 in respect of 2001–02 and 2002–03 net of rate relief adjustment.

Ministerial Duties

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many hours he spent on ministerial duties during the week commencing Monday 9 May 2005 in his capacity as (a) Secretary of State for Wales and (b) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. [1151]

Mr. Hain: I have spent as much time as is necessary to fulfil my responsibilities as Secretary of State for Wales and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, including spending the same proportion of time in Wales as has been the case previously.

Ministerial Visits (Public Funds)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he used public funds to attend the Monaco Grand Prix. [1534]

Mr. Hain: No.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

UK Presidency (EU)

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what communication activities are planned in relation to the policy areas covered by her Department during the UK Presidency of the EU; and what budget has been allocated for these activities. [1659]

Tessa Jowell: External communications activities for the UK presidency of the EU are being co-ordinated centrally by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Any communication activities planned by my Department are an integral part of preparations for events related to the conduct of the residency, such as events on broadcasting, intellectual property and sport planned for the period of the presidency. I have no
 
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proposals for communication activities separate from these events, and therefore no specific budget provision has been made.

TRANSPORT

Air Transport (Public Subsidies)

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total amount of public subsidy given to passenger air services was in the United Kingdom in the last financial year. [2332]

Ms Buck: The total amount of subsidy for passenger air services in the UK in the last financial year was £2,320,720. All of this was in support of lifeline air services in Scotland and was provided either by the Scottish Executive or the Islands Councils.

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what restrictions his Department applies to the use of public subsidy to support air transport services in the United Kingdom. [2348]

Ms Buck: The Department only authorises subsidy of air transport services through the use of Public Service Obligations (PSOs). The imposition of PSOs is governed by European legislation laid out in Regulation 2408/92. This Regulation sets out a number of criteria which must be met in order for a PSO to be imposed.

The Department would consider any PSO application it received against these criteria and the Secretary of State for Transport will then decide whether to impose a PSO on that route.

Air Travel (Consumer Protection)

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to impose a levy on outbound UK air passengers, in the form proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority, to fund a consumer protection regime. [2165]

Ms Buck [holding answer 8 June 2005]: The Department is considering the Civil Aviation Authority's economic analysis and assessment of the likely regulatory impact of a range of options for the future financial protection of air travellers.

Drink-driving

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Government have any plans to implement random breath-testing of drivers. [2404]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government have no plans to introduce random breath-testing of drivers.

The police may test any driver involved in a road traffic collision and aim to test all drivers at injury collisions they attend. They may also test any driver they consider to have committed a moving traffic offence or where there is any suspicion of alcohol consumption.

These are broad powers and we believe they are sufficient to enable the police to deal with drink-drive offenders.
 
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Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to bring the drink-drive limit in the UK into line with those of other EU member states. [2465]

Dr. Ladyman: There are no plans at present to reduce the legal alcohol limit for drivers to bring this country into line with other EU member states. The Government's priority for reducing drink-related crashes and casualties is through effective enforcement of existing controls and national publicity campaigns.

North London Line

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of noise vibrations from trains on the North London Line on residential properties; and if he will make a statement. [2505]

Derek Twigg: Measures to mitigate the effects of noise vibration from trains are a matter for the railway industry. In response to concerns raised by residents who live near the North London Line, Network Rail has undertaken to carry out a number of measures to reduce noise vibration on this line. This will include carrying out grinding and joint removal work to improve the track surface. Network Rail will also look at a number of potential contributory factors in the area, including the speed of trains and local environmental conditions and will continue to engage in discussions with freight operators and the local authority to keep them advised of any relevant findings.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trains operate between midnight and 7 am on the North London Line. [2532]

Derek Twigg: An average of 86 trains operate between midnight and 7 am on weekdays on the North London Line.

Road Traffic Accidents

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his strategy is for reducing the number of deaths in road traffic accidents. [3591]

Dr. Ladyman: We continue to develop and implement our wide-ranging road safety strategy. The provisional 2004 casualty figures show we are now over halfway towards our 2010 target of a 40 per cent. reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured, and over three-quarters towards our 50 per cent. target for children.

The first review of the road safety strategy identified that, while we are making good progress toward meeting our overall casualty reduction targets, the number of fatal casualties has levelled off. This is a complex issue, affecting other European countries, and it is receiving in-depth analysis and special focus as we develop the strategy further.

Speed Cameras

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras have operated since 6 December 2004, broken down by (a) region and (b) class of road. [2174]


 
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Dr. Ladyman: Information on the number of speed camera sites, broken down by partnership and class of road, within the safety camera programme as at 31 December 2004 is shown in the table. This information is provided to the Department by the safety camera partnerships.
Safety cameras in England and Wales by region and class of road for 2005

PA NameCamera typeRoad typeNumber
Avon and SomersetFixedRural30
Avon and SomersetFixedUrban67
Avon and SomersetMobileRural39
Avon and SomersetMobileUrban196
BedfordshireFixedRural22
BedfordshireFixedUrban29
BedfordshireMobileRural13
BedfordshireMobileUrban46
CambridgeshireFixedRural24
CambridgeshireFixedUrban41
CambridgeshireMobileRural20
CambridgeshireMobileUrban6
CheshireFixedRural12
CheshireFixedUrban19
CheshireMobileRural2
CheshireMobileUrban32
ClevelandFixedRural1
ClevelandFixedUrban1
ClevelandMobileRural7
ClevelandMobileUrban51
CumbriaMobileRural28
CumbriaMobileUrban14
DerbyshireFixedRural2
DerbyshireFixedUrban45
DerbyshireMobileRural20
DerbyshireMobileUrban56
Devon and CornwallFixedRural3
Devon and CornwallFixedUrban80
Devon and CornwallMobileRural16
Devon and CornwallMobileUrban65
DorsetFixedRural3
DorsetFixedUrban42
DorsetMobileRural24
DorsetMobileUrban38
EssexFixedRural1
EssexFixedUrban92
EssexMobileUrban123
Greater ManchesterFixedRural3
Greater ManchesterFixedUrban65
Greater ManchesterMobileRural2
Greater ManchesterMobileUrban75
HampshireFixedRural4
HampshireFixedUrban23
HampshireMobileRural4
HampshireMobileUrban37
HertfordshireFixedRural5
HertfordshireFixedUrban47
HertfordshireMobileUrban24
HumbersideMobileRural9
HumbersideMobileUrban70
Kent and MedwayFixedRural6
Kent and MedwayFixedUrban66
Kent and MedwayMobileRural18
Kent and MedwayMobileUrban32
LancashireFixedRural19
LancashireFixedUrban272
LancashireMobileRural15
LancashireMobileUrban46
LeicestershireFixedRural2
LeicestershireFixedUrban15
LeicestershireMobileRural26
LeicestershireMobileUrban48
LincolnshireFixedRural22
LincolnshireFixedUrban24
LincolnshireMobileRural16
LincolnshireMobileUrban2
LondonFixedRural58
LondonFixedUrban265
NorfolkFixedRural2
NorfolkFixedUrban12
NorfolkMobileRural50
NorfolkMobileUrban11
North WalesFixedUrban12
North WalesMobileRural11
North WalesMobileUrban50
NorthamptonshireFixedRural12
NorthamptonshireFixedUrban31
NorthamptonshireMobileRural16
NorthamptonshireMobileUrban19
NorthumbriaFixedRural15
NorthumbriaFixedUrban30
NorthumbriaMobileRural14
NorthumbriaMobileUrban66
NottinghamshireFixedRural2
NottinghamshireFixedUrban11
NottinghamshireMobileRural13
NottinghamshireMobileUrban34
South Wales (new 2002)FixedRural4
South Wales (new 2002)FixedUrban139
South Wales (new 2002)MobileRural60
South Wales (new 2002)MobileUrban226
South YorkshireFixedRural6
South YorkshireFixedUrban52
South YorkshireMobileRural1
South YorkshireMobileUrban62
StaffordshireFixedRural42
StaffordshireFixedUrban181
StaffordshireMobileRural11
StaffordshireMobileUrban22
SuffolkFixedRural3
SuffolkFixedUrban5
SuffolkMobileRural26
SuffolkMobileUrban74
SussexFixedRural3
SussexFixedUrban46
SussexMobileUrban36
Thames ValleyFixedRural1
Thames ValleyFixedUrban30
Thames ValleyMobileRural3
Thames ValleyMobileUrban6
WarwickshireFixedRural11
WarwickshireFixedUrban11
WarwickshireMobileRural22
WarwickshireMobileUrban14
West MerciaFixedUrban14
West MerciaMobileRural15
West MerciaMobileUrban36
West MidlandsFixedRural13
West MidlandsFixedUrban115
West YorkshireFixedRural30
West YorkshireFixedUrban218
West YorkshireMobileRural14
West YorkshireMobileUrban133
WiltshireFixedRural6
WiltshireFixedUrban5
WiltshireMobileRural31
WiltshireMobileUrban37

 
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Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras there were in (a) Brent East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997. [2544]

Dr. Ladyman: The information broken down as requested is not held centrally by the Department. The London Safety Camera Partnership publishes details of the number of safety camera sites, by London borough, available through its website www.lscp.org.uk


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