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7 Dec 2005 : Column 1320W—continued
Travel Subsidies
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on subsidies for rail and bus travel in each of the last five years. [34705]
Derek Twigg: Central Government spending on bus and heavy rail services for the period in question are set out in the following table.
| Bus | Rail | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| 2001–02 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| 2002–03 | 1.9 | 2.5 |
| 2003–04 | 2.0 | 3.6 |
| 2004–05(8) | 2.0 | 4.2 |
(8) Budget estimates
Spending on rail includes payments to franchised rail operators, grants to PTEs, grants to rail freight operators and capital grants to infrastructure operators.
The figures in the table for buses show spending in respect of English services—(following devolution, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly assumed responsibility for buses). The majority of bus subsidy in England (outside London) is funded by local authorities from their own resources, including the revenue support grant from Government. Local authorities also provide concessionary fares reimbursement to bus operators. Financial support for bus services in London is provided by the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). The Department for Transport also provides rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG) and, to 2003–04, Urban and Rural Bus Challenge funding. The figures in the table show local authority and TfL expenditure on provision of bus services and concessionary fares on buses for each of the five years to 2004–05 as well the DfT's RBSG allocations bus challenge awards and capital investments in bus related projects.
Tyne and Wear (Financial Bids)
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library (a) the bid from Tyne and Wear authorities for support from the Transport Innovation Fund and (b) his response to the bid. [34376]
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Dr. Ladyman: Both documents have been placed in the Library. All 33 applications for Transport Innovation Fund pump-priming, including that of the Tyne and Wear authorities, are available on the Department's website at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/divisionhomepage/610460.hcsp
UK Air Passengers
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the increase in UK passengers using no-frills carriers has been since 1998. [35240]
Ms Buck: Airlines commonly referred to as no-frills carriers include Ryanair, easyJet, bmibaby, Jet2, MyTravelLite, Thomsonfly and flyGlobespan.
In 1998 the total number of passengers using the no-frills carriers listed above (together with Debonair, which ceased operations in 1999) at UK airports was 7.7 million. This had risen to 53.4 million by the end of 2004. The number of UK based passengers travelling on these carriers rose from 4.4 million in 1998 to 37.9 million in 2004.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the change in United Kingdom passenger numbers in (a) 2010, (b) 2020 and (c) 2030 if air fares were to remain constant in real terms compared with 2005. [35242]
Ms Buck: The only estimate that has been made was an illustrative sensitivity test included in Air Traffic Forecasts for the United Kingdom produced by DfT in 2000. This considered the impact of fares remaining constant in real terms throughout the 1998–2020 period in place of the central assumption of a 1 per cent. annual decline. This sensitivity test showed that passenger traffic at UK airports in 2020 would fall from the central forecast of 401 million to 301 million. However, this was based on the very simple assumption that a 10 per cent. rise in fares would lead to a 10 per cent. fall in demand. In practice, rising real incomes at home and overseas are likely to have a substantial positive impact on the demand for air travel.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the annual reduction in air fares has been in the UK since 2000 for the (a) business, (b) leisure and (c) no-frills carrier sectors; and what assessment he has made of these figures in relation to the forecast assumptions contained in the Air Transport White Paper. [35243]
Ms Buck:
The average fare paid on international no frills flights has dropped by 16 per cent. over the 2000–04 period. Other international leisure fares (excluding those included as part of a holiday package) have only fallen by 2 per cent. Average fares paid by international business passengers have fallen by 20 per cent. between 2000 and 2004, but this in part reflects the relative weakness of the long haul sector after 2000, and reduced use of premium cabins by business passengers on short haul flights. The headline reduction in fares in the national forecasts supporting the White Paper was on average a 1 per cent. fall per annum in real terms over the period 1998–2020.
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TREASURY
Alcohol-related Deaths
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths in which alcohol was the primary cause there were in each local authority area in each of the last eight years. [35462]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 December 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths in the local authorities of England and Wales were primarily caused by alcohol. (35462)
The latest year for which figures are available is 2004. I am placing in the House of Commons Library, a table showing the numbers of deaths among residents of England and Wales where the underlying cause of death indicated a condition directly related to alcohol use in the years 1997 to 2004.
Benefits (Leeds, West)
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Leeds West constituency were in receipt of (a) family credit, (b) working families tax credit, (c) disabled person's tax credit, (d) child tax credit and (e) working tax credit in each of the last eight years in which the credit was payable. [35130]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the number of families who were receiving family credit broken down by region are not available. Estimates of the number of recipient families of working families' and disabled person's tax credits from 2001–2002 broken down by constituency appear in the quarterly WFTC and DPTC Geographical Analyses. These publications can be found on the Inland Revenue website, at:
Comparable estimates of the number of in-work families (broken down by families with and without children) in each region, local authority and constituency with tax credits for 2003–04 awards, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003–04, appear in the HMRC statistical publication Child and Working Tax Credits statistics. Finalised Awards 2003–04. Geographical analyses."
More recent provisional estimates for in-work families, as at selected dates in 2004–05, in each such area appear in the publication Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics Geographical Analyses."
Both of these publications can be found on the HMRC website at:
Breast Cancer
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of breast cancer patients lived for at least five years after treatment in the last period for which figures are available; and what the average such percentage is in the European Union. [34591]
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John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. David Amess, dated 7 December 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what percentage of breast cancer patients live for at least five years after the treatment in the United Kingdom; and what the average such percentage is in the European Union. (34591)
An identical question was asked by Simon Hughes MP earlier this year. The answer was published in Hansard column 1240W on 7 February 2005. No further relevant data have been published since that answer.
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