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17 Nov 2005 : Column 1386W—continued
Transport (Emissions)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in (a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions and (b) single occupancy car commuting from her Department against a baseline year of (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05. [28091]
Jim Knight: The following information relates to Defra and its executive agencies.
| Percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03(2) | -6,072 | — | |
| (i) | 2003–04 | -5,403 | -11 |
| (ii) | 2004–05 | -5,750 | -5.3 |
(2) Baseline year
| Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03(3) | — | |
| (i) | 2003–04 | +1 |
| (ii) | 2004–05 | +1 |
(3) Baseline year.
Water Voles
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government is taking to maintain the population of water voles. [27136]
Jim Knight: The Government and its agencies are providing funding for a number of key projects and activities to maintain the population of water voles. These include:
English Nature, Environment Agency, People's Trust For Endangered Species, and Royal Holloway, University of London have identified 13 sites in England that contain sustainable populations of water voles. These sites have been designated as national key sites and are managed sympathetically for the voles and contribute to a national monitoring scheme for the species. The project partners are also encouraging the sympathetic management of the countryside around these sites to allow the populations to expand.
The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, English Nature, Environment Agency, and Mammals Trust UK are studying the practicality and cost-effectiveness of mink control at a catchment scale in north Wiltshire. This project has involved a wide range of collaborators and volunteers to control mink and monitor water vole populations in three selected river catchments.
The Environment Agency, English Nature, and Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford are producing an expanded and updated version of the Water Vole Conservation Handbook, which was first published in 1998. The new edition will contain a wealth of new material from case studies and will provide good practice guidance on the management of land where water voles are present.
It is difficult to estimate the number of water voles with any great degree of accuracy, but the current best estimates are 875,000 in the UK, with 486,000 in England. A more comprehensive national monitoring scheme is currently being planned as part of the Tracking Mammals Partnership.
Wildfowl
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations govern the release of wildfowl into the wild; and how many wildfowl have been released into the wild in each of the last five years. [23356]
Jim Knight: The term wildfowl" relates to all species of ducks and geese, and also swans (three species in England in winter). Only certain ducks and geese may be hunted. There are no specific regulations governing the release of native wildfowl into the wild. Only Mallard are released for the purposes of wildfowling. Mallard are native to England and they would not be covered by the provisions of section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which prohibits releases of species of birds not ordinarily resident in or a visitor to the European territory of any member state.
The Game Conservancy Trust (GCT) record certain information about gamekeeping and shooting activities through the National Gamebag Census (NGC), a voluntary scheme established by GCT in 1961. The GCT has estimated that over the last 5 years, around one in 10 NGC shoots in England release ducks and the average number released per shoot in England is under 500.
TRANSPORT
Bus/Light Rail Use
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average cost of a bus ticket to Brighton from Bexhill-on-Sea will be in 2006 following changes to Government subsidies. [29327]
Derek Twigg: The Department does not forecast average ticket prices on particular bus routes. Fare levels are primarily a commercial decision by the operator concerned who will no doubt take into account a wide range of factors.
Concessionary fares provision by local authorities will also be relevant. From 1 April 2006, people aged 60 and over and disabled people will be entitled to free off-peak travel on bus journeys within their local authority area and local authorities have discretion to work together to provide concessions on cross-border routes.
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Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by how much the use of (a) bus and (b) light rail changed in (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005 to date compared with 2000 (A) in England and (B) broken down by region; and what the predicted level is for 2010. [27563]
Ms Buck: The information is given in the following table.
n/a = not available
A forecast for passenger journeys in England outside London will be prepared, once the full impact of free concessionary fares for disabled travellers and those aged 60 and over can be properly assessed.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many buses in operation offer easy access facilities; and what is his target for easy access facilities on buses. [28310]
Mr. Darling: Information provided by bus operators shows that 46 per cent. of full-size buses running on local routes are wheelchair accessible. This equates to 21,300 vehicles from a fleet size of 46,300 full size buses. The number of accessible buses is much greater in larger towns and cities, and in the case of London is virtually 100 per cent. PSV Accessibility Regulations require all large buses used on local or scheduled services to be wheelchair accessible by 1 January 2017.
Criminal Offences
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the criminal offences created in legislation sponsored by his Department between the end of the 2003–04 session and the end of April, broken down by Act. [28368]
Ms Buck
[holding answer 14 November 2005]: The question is taken to refer to criminal offences created directly in primary (rather than subordinate) legislation
17 Nov 2005 : Column 1389W
sponsored by the Department for Transport which received Royal Assent in the period 1 October 2004 to 30 April 2005.
The relevant legislative provisions are as follows.
1. Paragraph 11 (7) of Schedule 2 (transfer schemes) makes it an offence for a person intentionally to alter, suppress or destroy a document which he has been required to produce by notice under paragraph (4) (notice to produce specified documents or information).
2. Paragraph 11 (8) of Schedule 3 (transfer of safety functions) makes it an offence for a person to contravene a requirement imposed by a notice under paragraph 11 (notice served by the Office of Rail Regulation for the purpose of obtaining information which that office needs for the carrying out of its safety functions) or for a person to use certain information disclosed to him in accordance with paragraph 11 other than for the purposes of the safety functions of that office.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005
Section 8(2) of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 adds a subsection (5) to section 49 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to make it a criminal offence to pretend to be an inspector of rail vehicles.
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