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16 Feb 2006 : Column 2405W—continued
Body Scanners (Paddington Station)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the use of body scanners at Paddington Station in relation to provisions of the Protection of Children Act 1978. [51759]
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Derek Twigg [holding answer 14 February 2006]: No assessment has been made, as children were not asked to participate in the trial of screening equipment at Paddington Station.
Bus Travel
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were using buses outside London in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [52438]
Ms Buck: I refer the hon. Member to Table C of the Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2005 Edition, a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.
Buses
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether concessionary bus fare schemes operate between local authority areas on the borders of England and Wales. [51630]
Ms Buck: The English local authorities have the discretion to offer concessionary public transport into Wales subject to their judgment of local needs and their overall financial priorities. The Welsh scheme, funded by the Welsh Assembly, currently offers some travel into England along selected bus routes.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus services have been (a) withdrawn and (b) added to service in each financial year since 1 April 1998 (i) in total and (ii) in each traffic area region. [51654]
Ms Buck: The following tables show the number of bus services added and withdrawn in each traffic area since 1 April 1998. Over the period, 34,519 were added and 29,058 withdrawn.
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Catering/Entertainment Contracts
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total value is of (a) catering and (b) entertainment contracts let by his Department; and what value of such contracts has been let in each nation and region of the UK, including London. [37457]
Ms Buck: Catering services in the Department's official staff restaurants are provided by the Department's facilities management contractors. The cost of meals and refreshments etc. provided to staff are recovered through sales and are not a charge to public funds.
The total cost of catering and entertainment charged to public funds in 2004–05 (including working breakfasts or lunches, refreshments at meetings and official entertainment) was £698,000.
Expenditure figures for each nation and UK region are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Civil Servants (Overseas Visits)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what costs were incurred by his Department as a result of sending civil servants on overseas visits in each of the last 10 years. [46279]
Ms Buck: The Department for Transport came into existence in May 2002 as a result of machinery of Government changes, and its accounts were only fully separated from those of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at the beginning of financial year 2003–04. Information for previous years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Three of the Departments agencies, DVLA, HA, and VOSA, do not record details of overseas travel separately from other travel and subsistence costs, and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate costs. Figures for the Department and its remaining agencies are contained in the following table:
| 2003–04 (£) | 2004–05 (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| DfT (c) | 1,682,041 | 2,102,746 |
| DSA | 33,000 | 29,000 |
| DVLA | — | — |
| HA | — | — |
| MCA | 931,875 | 1,278,135 |
| VCA | 277,000 | 245,000 |
| VOSA | — | — |
| GCDA | 157.00 | 186.00 |
All travel in the Department and its agencies complied with the requirements of the 'Civil Service Management Code'.
Coach Crashes (School Children)
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many coach crashes involving school children took place in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02, (c) 2002–03, (d) 2003–04 and (e) 2004–05; how many have taken place in 2006; how many of those accidents occurred when children were travelling on school
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holiday trips; and if he will seek to implement a ban on overnight travel by school coach parties as a matter of urgency. [52303]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents in Great Britain where one or more child bus or coach passengers were killed or injured (all severities), by the light conditions in which the accident occurred, are shown in the table. The numbers are shown for the years 2000 to 2004, the latest year for which figures are available.
(60) Buses and coaches with 17 or more passenger seats.
The 2004 accidents included 57 child fatalities or serious injuries (KSI), 11 of those in hours of darkness. These amount to 0.3 per cent. of all child KSI road casualties.
No information is available on the number of non-injury coach crashes, or on whether the vehicles involved were being used for the purpose of a school holiday trip.
We have no plans to implement a ban on overnight travel by school coach parties.
Crescent Link Scheme
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will instruct his Department's Rail Group to consult (a) RailWorld, (b) Peterborough city council, (c) the East of England Development Agency and (d) other local stakeholders on developing the Crescent Link scheme connecting the Nene Valley Railway with Peterborough main railway station. [50731]
Derek Twigg: It is for scheme promoters to work with Network Rail to establish the feasibility and a business case for projects of this sort. Peterborough city council and Network Rail are jointly developing a scheme for a major redevelopment of the station area but it is too soon to say whether it will include proposals for the Crescent Link.
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