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11 Jul 2005 : Column 670W—continued

Lancaster Link Road

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what objections his Department has made to Lancashire county council's proposals to build a link road to the motorway south of Lancaster. [10151]

Dr. Ladyman: In 2001 the Department for Transport considered the western bypass, a major scheme proposal to link Heysham with the M6. The Department's view, as expressed in the local transport capital expenditure letter, was that the proposal should be compatible with the Lancaster local plan. I understand that Lancashire county council are preparing new proposals as part of the local transport plan process. It would be inappropriate to comment further until the Department has received the authority's proposals and considered the scheme in accordance with our major scheme guidance.

Merchant Navy

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the size of the UK merchant marine was by (a) tonnage and (b) number of ships in each year between 1994 and 2004. [9961]

Dr. Ladyman: The tonnage and number of trading vessels of 500 gt and over registered in the UK at the end of each year between 1994 and 2004 were as follows:

End of year	Gross tonnage (Thousand)	Deadweight tonnage (Thousand)	Number
1994	3,637	3,889	282
1995	3,729	3,981	271
1996	3,260	3,285	257
1997	2,791	2,381	246
1998	3,051	2,669	257
1999	3,171	2,712	264
2000	4,550	3,730	305
2001	5,006	4,244	317
2002	7,085	6,661	386
2003	9,944	9,808	483
2004	10,221	10,499	486

Note:
The statistics are taken from Maritime Statistics 2003", published by DfT.

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) officers and (b) seamen were serving in the merchant marine in each year between 1994 and 2004. [9962]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: Estimates of the number of UK merchant navy officers and ratings are available for 1997 to 2004 only, as follows:

	Officers	Ratings	Total
1997	(17)14,300	10,800	25,100
1998	(17)13,500	10,800	24,300
1999	13,900	8,900	22,800
2000	15,100	10,300	25,400
2001	12,800	6,400	19,200
2002	14,000	8,900	22,900
2003	16,000	10,500	26,500
2004	15,800	9,600	25,400

⁽¹⁷⁾Certificated officers only
Notes:
1.Officers and ratings estimates comprise deck, engine, technical and hotel/catering grades. Cadets are excluded.
2.The estimates are taken from UK Seafarer Statistics", published by DfT.

Motorway Noise

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of households east of the M1 between junction 10 and junction 11 adversely affected by noise, broken down by decibel levels; and if he will make a statement on the acoustic screening on that stretch of motorway. [10358]

Dr. Ladyman: In a report completed in 2000, the Agency's consultants identified 772 properties in an area chiefly concentrated around Junction 11 with noise levels of 68 dB(A) or more. Of this number, 523 properties are located on the eastern side of the M1. The noise level ranges for the properties on the eastern side are as follows.
 
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Noise level range	Number of properties
68–70 dB(A)	279
71–75 dB(A)	187
76–80 dB(A)	51
Over 80 dB(A)	6

In September 2003 the Highways Agency completed the first phase of a scheme to provide acoustic fences on both sides of the M1 at Junction 11 at Luton. Phase 2 began in January 2005 and is due for completion in August 2005.

Night Flights (Heathrow)

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many nights there were disruptions or delays sufficient to cause an increase in flights above the scheduled number taking off between 23.30 and 06.00 from London Heathrow in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [10087]

Ms Buck: The arrangements under which aircraft may be granted dispensations from the night restrictions have applied for many years. They were confirmed as part of the present night restrictions regime at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted announced on 10 June 1999, Official Report, columns 378–80. Information on dispensations is given in the following table in the form in which it is held, showing the number granted each season. Some dispensations were for a single additional flight (either landing or take-off) on a particular night while on other occasions several dispensations have been granted on a single night for the same reason, eg delays resulting from widespread and prolonged air traffic disruption. The number of nights where there were 10 or more additional departures is also given.

Night restrictions season(18)	Dispensations for delays(19)	Dispensations for VIPs/ emergency relief etc(20)	Emergencies(21)	Nights with 10 or more additional departures
Summer 2000	163	1	11	3
Winter 2000–01	136	0	47	3
Summer 2001	129	5	15	2
Winter 2001–02	100	5	27	4
Summer 2002	164	7	28	2
Winter 2002–03	230	5	161	4
Summer 2003	44	3	15	1
Winter 2003–04	62	1	41	2
Summer 2004	40	2	9	2
Winter 2004–05	0	3	21	0

⁽¹⁸⁾The season change with the clocks.
⁽¹⁹⁾Delays to aircraft which are likely to lead to serious congestion at the aerodrome or serious hardship or suffering to passengers or animals; delays to aircraft resulting from widespread and prolonged disruption of air traffic.
⁽²⁰⁾Dispensations granted by the Secretary of State, mainly where the aircraft is carrying a VIP or cargo intended for emergency relief.
⁽²¹⁾Emergencies where there is an immediate danger to life or health.

Parking Penalties

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) appeals against parking penalty charge notices and (b) successful appeals there were in each local authority in England in the last five years for which figures are available. [8228]

Ms Buck: This information is collected by the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) outside London and by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PTAS) inside London and published by them in their annual reports. The latest NPAS report is for 2003 and PTAS report is for 2003–04 and can be downloaded from the following addresses:

www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/accessible/about/anreport.asp

www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk/annualreports.asp

Pensioners (Free Travel)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the cost of providing a free bus pass for pensioners that can be used on all bus services in England. [10801]

 
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Ms Buck: Initial analysis suggests the cost could be around £100 million a year on top of the additional funding (£350 million in 2006–07) already being provided.

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the cost of extending the pensioner free travel scheme to cover journeys by light-rail. [10804]

Ms Buck: Initial analysis suggests that it could cost around £15 million per year on top of the additional funding (£350 million in 2006–07) already being provided to cover local bus services.

Public Highways (Expenditure)

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on levels of expenditure on (a) maintenance and (b) repair of public highways by highways authorities between 2003–04 and 2005–06. [9166]

Ms Buck: For the maintenance of trunk roads, the Government provided £1,060,408 in 2003–04, £1,062,755 in 2004–05 and has budgeted £1,186,049 for 2005–06.

Through the Local Transport Plan Settlement, the Government provided £610 million for local authority (capital) highway maintenance in 2003–04, £651 million in 2004–05 and £660 million in 2005–06.

In addition, revenue provision of £2,005 million for 2003–04, £2,055 million for 2004–05 and £2,053 million for 2005–06 has been made to local authorities, for highway maintenance through local authorities' formula for standard spending.

Funding provided to local authorities for road maintenance is not ring fenced. It is for the authorities themselves to decide upon their spending priorities, across the whole range of services that they provide.

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