| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
10 Oct 2005 : Column 79W—continued
Parliament Website
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will list the publications on the Parliament website that are available in (a) PDF, (b) HTML and (c) both PDF and HTML formats. [15479]
Nick Harvey:
Electronic versions of publications produced by the House's printing contractor are made available on the website principally in HTML format.
10 Oct 2005 : Column 80W
This covers all Hansard Products, Bills and Explanatory Memoranda, Select Committee Publications and the daily working papers of the House (The Vote Bundle) as well as other House of Commons Papers. Bills, Select Committee Reports and certain House of Commons Papers are additionally made available in PDF format. The House of Commons Members' Estimate Committee Concordance of Resolutions, House of Commons Resource Accounts, Regulatory Reform Proposals and Draft Orders, House of Commons Library Research Papers, Standard Notes and Factsheets are published in PDF format, as are Reports and POSTnotes from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and other miscellaneous documents.
Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what steps he is taking to increase the availability of PDF documents on the Parliament website. [15480]
Nick Harvey: Material is placed on the parliamentary website primarily in HTML format, which is the preferred format for the web. PDF versions of documents are made available on the parliamentary website when it has not been possible or cost-effective to produce HTML versions, or in addition to HTML versions in response to particular and substantial demand and after consideration of any cost implications of doing so. Most recently Select Committee evidence volumes have been made available in PDF versions as well as HTML.
Sarah Teather: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the cost was of the parliamentary website in the last year for which figures are available; and how many visits to the site there were in that year. [15954]
Nick Harvey:
The parliamentary website operates across both Houses of Parliament and is made up of contributions from a number of different individual sites. Not all costs are separately identifiable, as a number of staff contribute material to the site as part of their normal duties and these costs are not quantified. Neither are available statistics about visitors analysed in the same way or over the same time periods for the various separate components. Separately identifiable cash expenditure across both Houses of Parliament for the Financial Year 2004–05 amounted to just over £502,000, of which approximately 56 per cent. was spent on electronic document publication and associated services and 21 per cent. on staff. In the same financial year, 3.8 million unique users were recorded as accessing the parliamentary publications site, there were over 370,000 visits to the Explore Parliament site and on average 400 visitors per day were recorded on the Parliament Live site. Additionally www.parliament.uk served over 29 million page requests and the EDM web database recorded some 5.4 million hits.
10 Oct 2005 : Column 81W
Recycling
Norman Baker: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will take steps to introduce recycling bins for glass and plastic material in communal areas and corridors outside hon. Members' offices. [15697]
Nick Harvey: There are currently no plans to introduce recycling bins for glass and plastic material in communal areas and corridors outside hon. Members' offices. Glass recycling bins suitable for use by Members and their staff are situated at the waste centres in Peers' Court and 1 Canon Row Courtyard. Bins can be also be supplied for collection of glass bottles following functions catered by the Refreshment Department, including meetings in committee rooms. For mixed types of plastics in small quantities our policy is to recover through the general waste stream. Further consideration will be given to collection of separate waste streams in office buildings, nearer the point at which they arise, subject to health and safety and fire regulations.
Susan Kramer: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what proportion of disposable cups and take-away containers purchased from the catering outlets in the Parliamentary Estate are (a) recyclable and (b) recycled; and if he will make a statement. [15897]
Nick Harvey: A high proportion of the disposable cups and take-away containers currently used by the House of Commons Refreshment Department are potentially recyclable. However, because they are all inherently contaminated with foodstuffs and there are very limited facilities for the separation of waste, there is little opportunity for effective recycling of these items other than by incineration to generate electricity, as presently happens.
The House is currently in the process of re-tendering its contract for the supply of disposable catering products. Bidders have been asked in general to propose materials and packaging that deliver environmental benefits and, specifically, to propose disposable catering cups and take-away food containers that are more readily recyclable. The waste management contract is also in the process of being re-tendered by the Parliamentary Estates Directorate and arrangements for the better separation of waste are being reviewed as part of this process.
As soon as both these contracts are in place, it is intended to set up a pilot scheme to increase the proportion of catering disposable products that are recycled.
TRANSPORT
A3
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the inspector's report into the A3 Hindhead improvement scheme. [16561]
10 Oct 2005 : Column 82W
Dr. Ladyman: The Government is currently considering the inspector's report following a Public Inquiry. The inspector's report will be published with the Government's decision in due course.
A303
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the timetable is for further dualling of the A303. [15596]
Dr. Ladyman: We will consider the timing of further improvements to the A303 in the light of advice from the South West Region on the priority that they attach to such schemes within the funding allocation for major transport schemes in the South West. As outlined in our recent announcement on regional funding allocations, the region's advice is expected at the end of January 2006.
A47 Soke Parkway
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made with regard to the introduction of whisper-quiet road surfacing on the A47 Soke Parkway in Peterborough. [10714]
Dr. Ladyman [pursuant to the reply, 12 July 2005, Official Report, c. 993W]: Quieter surfacing, in accordance with the Highways Agency's specification, will be provided on two lanes of the eastbound carriageway of the A47 Soke Parkway through the Thomas Cook Interchange in this financial year and not westbound as previously stated.
Blackwall Tunnel
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact on the wider road network of the Blackwall tunnel refurbishment; and if he will make a statement. [15324]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department for Transport has not undertaken any assessment of the impact on the wider road network of the Blackwall tunnel refurbishment. The Blackwall tunnel forms part of the Greater London Authority Road Network—now known as the Transport for London Road Network—and is the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London. Therefore, any works, including refurbishment, on that stretch of road are a matter for them. Information about the Blackwall Tunnel and its refurbishment can be obtained from:
Buses
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total investment in quality bus corridors has been in each Passenger Transport Area in each of the last five years. [15286]
10 Oct 2005 : Column 83W
Ms Buck: The information on investment provided is based on annual returns the Department receives from local transport authorities. It does not hold records on the level of investment in quality bus corridors alone for all Passenger Transport Areas. An authority may have classified investment in quality bus corridors as a bus priority scheme or less likely as a bus infrastructure scheme. The following tables include information provided on both bus priority and bus infrastructure covering the five years of the first local transport plans.
The figures for 2005–06 are forecast expenditure to the end of this financial year. Other bus related investment is not included in these figures.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |