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19 Dec 2005 : Column 2296W—continued
Civil Aviation Authority
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on its decision to increase its charges, with particular reference to pilots' services. [36915]
Ms Buck: I met the CAA to discuss their scheme of charges as a whole on 5 October, in the context of the adjournment debate which took place on 11 October.
Civil Servants
Stewart Hosie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of each civil service grade in his Department is located in each
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(a) region and (b) nation of the UK; what the average salary is for each grade; and if he will make a statement. [35930]
Ms Buck: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office (Mr. Murphy) will write to the hon. Member with details for the civil service of the percentage of staff in post by region and grade responsibility and the median salary of staff in post by region and grade responsibility as at 1 April 2004. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library.
Concessionary Fares
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have qualified for concessionary fares on the (a) rail and (b) bus network in each year since 1997. [38466]
Ms Buck: It is not known how many people qualify for concessionary fares on (a) the national rail network.
For (b) buses, those who currently qualify for schemes run by local authorities in England include residents aged 60 and over, as well as an unknown number of disabled people. Until April 2003, the qualifying age for men was 65. The following table shows the resident older population in England qualifying for concessionary fares in each year since 1997.
Mid year | Resident eligible population in England (thousand) |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 8,914 |
| 1998 | 8,950 |
| 1999 | 8,975 |
| 2000 | 9,011 |
| 2001 | 9,055 |
| 2002 | 9,111 |
| 2003 | 10,385 |
| 2004 | 10,505 |
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many secondees there have been to his Department from consultancy firms, including the big four accountancy firms, in each of the last three years; and what areas of the Department they have worked in. [37360]
Ms Buck: In the last three years there have been the following inward secondments from consultancy firms:
DVLA | DfT(c) (Transport Finance) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1 | — |
| 2004 | 7 | 1 |
| 2005 | 7 | 1 |
Departmental Costs
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for his Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii)London in 2004–05. [35865]
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Ms Buck: The Department for Transport is subject to an administrative budget control system, overseen by the Treasury, which relates to Whitehall Departments only. Figures for estimated administration costs, including paybill, for the Department for Transport in 2004–05 are set out in Appendix A of its Annual Report 2005 (Cm 6527), which is available in the Library of the House. Final outturn figures for total administration costs are contained in the Department's Resource Accounts 2004–05 (HC 476). No separate regional breakdown of these figures is available.
Departmental Staff
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff are employed by his Department in each (a) region and (b) nation of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [35929]
Ms Buck: The figures requested by the hon. Member are contained in Table D of Civil Service Statistics which is available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are taken by his Department to support staff with mental ill-health. [36274]
Ms Buck: The Department has a number of support mechanisms in place to help staff with any form of mental ill health. These include:
Access to independent Employee Assistance Providers or Counselling services who offer confidential specialist knowledge and expertise.
Referral to the Occupational Health Adviser to seek advice on the condition and measures to assist the individual.
Rehabilitation and risk assessment arrangements for individuals returning to work following ill health.
The Employee Assistance Provider/Counselling service also provides advice and guidance to the Department.
If staff are absent due to a mental health problem any help provided is on an individual case by case basis.
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what initiatives are being taken in his Department to help civil servants with chronic back pain. [34984]
Ms Buck: The Department is committed to providing support to staff with chronic back problems and has various strategies in place to help staff. These include:
Early referral to the Occupational Health Adviser to seek advice on the condition and measures to assist the individual.
An independent assessment to identify if a work activity has caused the condition, or is aggravating a pre-existing condition.
Implementation of reasonable adjustments to the working environment or work activities to help reduce or eliminate the condition.
Where appropriate a rehabilitation programme will be agreed to assist the individual's return to work.
Access to independent employee assistance providers or counselling services who offer confidential specialist knowledge and expertise
The employee assistance provider/counselling service also provides advice and guidance to the Department.
Early identification of possible health problems can be an effective means of improving sick absence rates.
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Disability
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether a Minister in his Department is planned to be nominated to take responsibility for liaison with the Office for Disability Issues; and if he will make a statement. [37063]
Ms Buck: Anne McGuire, the Minister for Disabled People, has overall responsibility for the Office for Disability Issues (ODI). The Minister for Disabled People chairs a cross-Government steering group which includes ministerial representatives from the Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department for Transport, and Department of Trade and Industry. I am the Minister in this Department who has been nominated to take responsibility for liaison with the ODI.
Docklands Light Railway
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trains per hour will run on the Docklands Light Railway by 2012; and what the passenger capacity per hour will be. [37036]
Ms Buck: Capacity on the core routes of the DLR network will be increased by 50 per cent. with the introduction of longer trains from 2009. Frequencies on the DLR will also be increased to serve the Olympics in 2012, including services on the planned Stratford International Extension which will link a number of Olympics venues. It is anticipated that with committed capacity enhancements and extensions which are planned to be in place by 2010 that approximately 90,000 passengers could be carried per hour on the entire DLR network during the Olympics.
Drink Driving
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road deaths were attributable to drink driving in the last year for which figures are available; and in how many of those cases the driver was above the drink drive limit by a factor of two or more. [38669]
Dr. Ladyman: The estimated number of fatalities from accidents in Great Britain involving illegal alcohol levels for 2003 is 580. The number of fatalities in accidents where a driver or rider had an illegal alcohol level is estimated from coroners' and procurators' fiscal data which becomes available a year later than the main road accident data. As a result, the estimates for 2004 are provisional. The provisional estimate of deaths in drink drive accidents in Great Britain in 2004 is 590. Information is not available on the number of casualties resulting from accidents involving drivers with blood alcohol levels in excess of the drink drive limit by a factor of two or more.
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