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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]
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.
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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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