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17 Oct 2005 : Column 686W—continued
Public Transport (East Sussex)
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total Government spending on public transport schemes in East Sussex has been in each year since 1997. [18263]
Ms Buck [holding answer 14 October 2005]: The following table shows the amounts spent on local public transport in East Sussex in each year since 1997:
(2)Local authorities provide funding for subsidised local bus services mainly through their Revenue Support Grant (RSG) provided by the Government.
(3)This Department provides funding for local transport capital projects including the provision of facilities and infrastructure (for example bus lanes) used by public transport.
(4)Estimate.
The above figures for revenue support for buses include expenditure met from funds allocated to the authority from the Department's Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG) scheme. The RBSG annual allocation for East Sussex has risen from £0.56 million in 1998–99 to £0.91 million this year. In addition, East Sussex has been allocated funding totalling £3.68 million from Rural and Urban Bus Challenge competitions held between 1998 and 2003 for projects typically lasting three years. I understand that funding has also been provided by DEFRA through the Countryside Agency for local transport schemes in the county.
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Railway Stations
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the expenditure on stations announced by Network Rail on 10 October 2005 is to be spent outside London. [17777]
Derek Twigg: This is a commercial matter for Network Rail. However, I understand that as well as working with developers on proposals to develop major stations in London, the company is looking for partners to take forward schemes to benefit up to 50 larger regional stations. At smaller stations across the country, instead of previous piecemeal upgrades, Network Rail plans to group sites together into clusters and to offer them to single developers as whole line of route packages.
Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with the feasibility study on a possible renewable transport fuel obligation; and if he will make a statement. [16995]
Dr. Ladyman: The study has been considering the legal and administrative feasibility of a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation as well as its cost-effectiveness and compatibility with other government objectives. A number of stakeholder workshops were held in the spring to discuss some of the key issues, and meetings have also been held with the European Commission and others. We are close to completing the feasibility study, and hope to publish it shortly.
Road Safety (Mobile Telephones)
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much funding has been allocated to dissuading motorists from using hand-held mobile telephones while driving; [17961]
(2) what road safety campaigns are operating to deter motorists from using a hand-held mobile telephone when driving a motor vehicle. [17962]
Dr. Ladyman: Mobile phone publicity forms part of the Government's THINK! road safety campaign. Radio and cinema advertising has been used primarily to encourage motorists not to use a hand held mobile phone while driving, but the campaign has also produced posters and leaflets which are distributed free to employers via local authority road safety officers who support our campaigns within their areas. Variable messages signs on motorways also carry advice regarding mobile phones in rotation with other THINK! Road safety messages.
From the financial year 2003–04 when the legislation banning the use of hand held mobile phones was introduced until 5 April 2005, the Department invested over £1.5 million in mobile phone publicity campaigns. The Department estimates that it will spend a further £500,000 on publicity in this area in this financial year.
In addition, in the financial year 2004–05 the Department paid a grant to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents under the DFT's challenge fund to prepare a leaflet on Mobile Phones and Driving for Employers" which contained advice and a sample policy that employers might put in place. This
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projectcost £10,376. The report is available free from ROSPA's website at http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/workmobiles.pdf.
Road Safety Advertising
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what national advertising campaigns relating to (a) reducing speed and (b) drink driving there have been in each of the last five years. [18091]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government have run national advertising campaigns relating to reducing speed for over 10 years and to reducing drink drive for nearly 40years.
Advertising on each of these areas is taken forward under the THINK! road safety campaign, which has an annual budget of £14.1 million. Other campaign subjects include seatbelts, teenagers and children, motorcycles, driver tiredness and mobiles.
Speed is a year-round problem and to tackle this, the speed reduction campaign runs activity at staggered intervals throughout the year. The campaign includes TV, radio, cinema and posters with an additional radio and poster element dealing specifically with speeding on rural roads.
The drink drive campaign runs an integrated campaign every year focused particularly at Christmas and in the summer when the killed and seriously injured statistics peak. The campaign traditionally always includes TV, radio and posters and has included cinema advertising since summer 2004. In addition, we have broadened our reach to the target audience of young men by linking with the drinks industry. For example, 20,000 pubs across the country supported the summer 2005 campaign by placing posters highlighting the issue in their pubs.
Stansted Airport Expansion
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transportwhat assessment he has made of the possible impact of (a) changes in the cost of aviation fuel and (b) public attitudes to the environmental impact of the aviation industry on plans for expansion of Stansted airport. [17486]
Ms Buck: The policy set out in the Air Transport White Paper to support a second runway at Stansted took account of the economic, social and environmental impacts.
The Department's air passenger forecasts are kept under review and this process takes account of changes in the cost of aviation fuel along with other factors.
BAA's planning application for a new runway at the airport will be subject to the requirements of the statutory land-use planning system. A full environmental assessment will be an important consideration during this process.
Yellow School Buses
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with encouraging the use of yellow school buses as a means of reducing traffic congestion. [17461]
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Ms Buck: We know from our evaluation of various small-scale yellow and other dedicated school bus schemes that well-designed schemes have the potential to reduce car dependency for journeys to school and the traffic congestion that results from this. However, care needs to be taken to ensure that schemes do not reduce levels of walking or cycling or undermine the viability of important bus services available to the wider public.
We therefore want to encourage individual local authorities to consider school bus schemes as part of broader local transport planning and to decide whether or not they would be appropriate to their area. We will give capital bids for such schemes careful consideration, taking account of value for money, regional priorities and affordability. We approved £18.7 million funding for a yellow bus scheme serving 100 schools in West Yorkshire as part of the local transport settlement for 2004–05. Funding for this project is being released in three phases with the release of the third phase of funding subject to the first phase meeting its objectives with respect to modal switch from car.
Department for Education and Skills Ministers are currently considering how best to take forward the manifesto commitment to support innovation in home to school transport.
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