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12 Sept 2005 : Column 2415W—continued

Airport Security

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which agencies are responsible for security at UK airports. [14431]

Ms Buck: The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for the UK National Aviation Security Programme (NASP) which is administered by the Department for Transport (DfT). The NASP allocates legal responsibility for individual security measures to specific elements of the aviation industry and DfT inspectors monitor and enforce their compliance. The NASP is maintained in co-ordination with, and in addition to the work of, other control authorities particularly the Police, HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Immigration Service.

Airprox Events

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Airprox events within a three mile radius of Wargrave, Berkshire have been recorded since 1999. [14779]


 
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Ms Buck: There have been two—one in July 2002 and the other in April 2004. Both events were assessed by the UK Airprox Board as having no risk of collision.

Altmark Trans

Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the ruling by the European Court of Justice in the case of Altmark Trans, with particular reference to its implications for (a) lifeline ferry services and (b) competitive tendering; and if he will make a statement. [14055]

Dr. Ladyman: Our assessment is that the Altmark ruling does not affect the requirement for competitive tendering of these ferry services. We consider that the ruling would apply only where there is no specific EU legislation applying to the services in issue. The requirement to tender ferry services in Scotland stems from Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3577/92 on Maritime Cabotage which does apply to these ferry services.

Better Government for Wales

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he intends to implement Paragraph 3.12 of the White Paper, Better Government for Wales" (Cm 6582), in respect of any bill he introduces in the current Session of Parliament. [14946]

Derek Twigg: We intend to implement the Government's policy as stated in paragraph 3.12 of the White Paper Better Governance for Wales" Cm 6582. We are in discussion with the Assembly Government on the issues concerned.

Biofuels

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Government's response to the EU Commission's decision to start infraction proceedings against the UK in relation to the use of biofuels. [14045]

Dr. Ladyman: We are confident that we have implemented the biofuels directive properly and in full. We will be responding to the European Commission shortly with a robust justification of our approach. As a result of Government support, sales of biofuels in the UK are now running at some 10 million litres a month, a 500 per cent. increase since this time last year.

Bus Services

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost per mile of operating bus services outside London has been in each year since 1997; and what estimate he has made of the cost for the next five years. [14859]

Ms Buck: Annual surveys of the bus and coach industry for each financial year show the cost per mile of operating local bus services in Great Britain outside London and the latest available data are given in the following table. There are no forecasts for future years.
 
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Cost per vehicle mile (at 2003–04 prices)

£
1996–971.51
1997–981.51
1998–991.53
1999–20001.46
2000–011.56
2001–021.62
2002–031.52
2003–041.60

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money his Department has given to each local authority outside London towards the costof subsidising local bus services in each of the last three years; and what the budget is for the next three years. [14865]

Derek Twigg: The Department's main grant to local authorities for the support of local bus services is Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG). Annual allocations of that grant to each authority are shown as follows:
£

Council2003–042004–052005–06
Bath and NE Somerset208,878216,957225,464
Bedfordshire661,054680,886707,583
Blackburn with Darwen58,23959,98662,338
Bracknell Forest59,74961,54163,954
Brighton and Hove24,36725,322
Bristol9,73310,02510,418
Buckinghamshire837,352887,526922,326
Cambridgeshire1,179,3231,316,8691,368,503
Cheshire914,504947,889985,055
Cornwall1,822,2091,876,8751,950,466
Cumbria1,428,7121,471,5731,529,273
Darlington72,15694,60598,314
Derbyshire1,065,6901,138,7891.183,440
Devon2,102,6922,165,7732,250, 692
Dorset864,586904,265939,721
Durham902,115929,178965,61 1
East Riding797,436821,259853,460
East Sussex834,542874,401908,686
Essex1,567,2951,694,6111,761,056
Gloucestershire1,185,0181,220,5691,268,427
Greater Manchester197,464286,868298,116
Halton18,93034,50735,860
Hampshire1,334,8221,374,8671,428,775
Hartlepool25,17825,93326,950
Herefordshire779,674803,064834,552
Hertfordshire662,158682,023708,765
Isle of Wight237,681244,811254,410
Kent1,925,0612,088,1512,170,027
Lancashire1,121,3771,238,0211,286,563
Leicestershire829,966854,865888,384
Lincolnshire1,782,3901,835,8621,907,845
Medway130,540166,717173,254
Merseyside124,569128,306133,337
Middlesbrough17,22417,74118,437
Milton Keynes106,694112,759117,180
Norfolk2,379,2422,450,6192,546,707
NE Lincolnshire63,65073,79476,687
North Lincolnshire384,195395,721411,237
North Somerset198,261204,209212,216
North Yorkshire2,059,7522.121,5452,204,730
Northamptonshire1,039,7881,070,9821,112,975
Northumberland710,850768,870799,017
Nottinghamshire780,008808,123839,809
Oxfordshire1,383,2291,424,7261,480,589
Peterborough125,414158,211164,414
Plymouth14,55914,99615,584
Poole11,07411,40611,853
Redcar and Cleveland84,31186,84090,245
Rutland159,692168,946175,570
Shropshire940,682968,9021,006,892
Somerset1,518,8561,608,7221,671,799
South Gloucestershire285,650294,220305,756
South Yorkshire505,546520,712541,129
Stockton-on-Tees50,48853,68455,789
Stoke-on-Trent8,0938,3368,663
Staffordshire1,207,4991,243,7241,292,490
Swindon83,23085,72789,088
Suffolk1,793,1471.846,9411,919,359
Surrey911,328970,1891,008,230
Telford and the Wrekin113,487116,892121,475
Thurrock56,97058,67960,980
Torbay12,51215,10515,697
Tyne and Wear122,439128,645133,689
Warrington89,007107,875112,105
Warwickshire889,993933,388969,986
West Berkshire347,114357,632371,655
West Midlands129,532142,945148,550
West Sussex864,530890,466925,381
West Yorkshire829,325980,8191,019,276
Wiltshire1,173,1721,227,0441,275,156
Windsor and Maidenhead75,48795,81299,569
Wokingham115,558130,769135,896
Worcestershire1,008,0611,038,3031,079,014
York109,261123,342128,178
Total48,500,00051,000,00053,000,000

 
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Allocations to individual authorities have not yet been made for 2006–07 and 2007–08 but the total sums provisionally set aside for those years are £54.3 million and £55.6million respectively.

In addition to RBSG, we have awarded a total of £163million to some 400 local authority projects following success in Bus Challenge competitions held between 1998 and 2003. Many of these projects are still in receipt of funding. A full list of all Bus Challenge awards, showing the local authority involved, is available on the Department's website.

We will also be awarding a further sum, provisionally set at £20million over three years, to projects successful in a Kickstart" bus funding competition which is currently under way this summer. The authorities successful in this competition will be announced in the autumn.

The majority of local authority bus subsidy is funded by authorities from their own resources, including the revenue support grant from Government.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of subsidised bus services for each (a) route and (b) miles for each local authority outside London in each of the last three years; and what forecast he has made of the cost of subsidising bus services in each of the next two years. [14866]

Derek Twigg: The Department for Transport does not make annual estimates, or forecasts, of the costs for each local authority of subsidised bus services. However, in 2001 we commissioned a three-year research study of overall trends in the provision of such services, including changes in contract prices. The research report is on the Department's website.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) commercially operated bus services and (b) subsidised routes have been operating in each local authority area outside London in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the number which will operate in each of the next two years. [14867]


 
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Derek Twigg: The Department for Transport does not collect information, or make forecasts, on the number of commercial or subsidised bus routes in each local authority area.


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