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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 3 March 2006
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Disinvestment Policy
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the honourable Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if he will list the (a) companies and (b) countries to which the Church's policy on disinvestment is being applied. [55696]
Sir Stuart Bell: It is not possible to list individual companies in which the Commissioners have agreed in the light of the ethical investment policy not to invest, as this information is commercially sensitive. There is no blanket policy on investing in, or excluding investment from, any specific country.
Ethical Investment Advisory Group
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what (a) advice, (b) guidance and (c) policies the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group has (i) developed and (ii) published (A) excluding and (B) advising against investment in certain countries. [54673]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Ethical Investment Advisory Group develops ethical investment policy on behalf of the three central Church investment bodies, as set out in the Church's Statement of Ethical Investment Policy. The policy proscribes investment in certain industrial or business activities from which the Church does not wish to benefit. There is no blanket policy on either investing in or excluding investment from any specific country.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the honourable Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the policy is of the Ethical Investment Advisory Group of the Church of England on investment in (a) China, (b) Cuba, (c) Iran, (d) Libya, (e) North Korea, (f) Sudan and (g) Syria. [54675]
Sir Stuart Bell: There are no blanket policies relating to specific countries. However, the Church expects companies in which it invests to observe any national or international sanction regimes in place from time to time.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if he will list the (a) companies, (b) countries, (c) markets and (d) sectors in which the Ethical Investment Advisory Group of the Church of England has a policy not to invest. [54676]
Sir Stuart Bell:
The Commissioners' Statement of Ethical Investment Policy proscribes investment in tobacco, alcohol, pornography, armaments, and gambling. Companies whose activities breach the Church's policy are avoided but it is not possible to list
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them as this information is commercially sensitive. There is no blanket policy on either investing in, or excluding investment from, any specific country.
Investments
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners which companies the Anglican Church has investments in; and which of those (a) trade with and (b) provide supplies for the Governments of (i) Zimbabwe, (ii) China, (iii) Burma, (iv) Saudi Arabia and (v) Iran. [54869]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Commissioners held investments in China valued at £1.2 million at the end of 2005. There are to my knowledge no investee companies which are wholly or mainly engaged in trading with any or all of the regimes listed by the hon. Gentleman but, in a globalised economy with large numbers of multinationals, many investee companies will do some business with at least some of these countries provided that there are no sanctions in place.
TRANSPORT
Alcohol-related Crime
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) of 12 December 2005, Official Report, column 1707W, on alcohol-related crime, if he will break the figures down by constituency. [54626]
Derek Twigg: Data are not collected in this format. The information requested can therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
British Transport Police
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are employed within the British Transport Police. [50758]
Derek Twigg: The number of people employed within the British Transport Police as at 8 February 2006 is 4,133. This figure includes police officers and civilian staff. This has increased from 3,757 in 2004–05.
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total operating budget was of the British Transport Police in the last year for which figures are available. [50759]
Derek Twigg: The total operating budget for the British Transport Police from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 is £200,861,000.
Crossrail
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria were used in making the decision not to include an underground siding for Crossrail trains; and if he will make a statement. [55275]
Derek Twigg:
The engineering of sidings within the central underground section of the proposed Crossrail route would be very difficult and costly, given the need to negotiate the piled foundations of buildings and changing gradients between stations. In operational terms the addition of sidings would not significantly
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improve existing reversing capability or the process for removing a failed train from the tunnel. The inclusion of sidings in the central section is therefore unlikely to deliver good value for money for the taxpayer and farepayer.
Cycling
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the Government's target outlined in the 10-Year Transport Plan to triple the number of cycling trips by 2010; and if he will make a statement. [54910]
Derek Twigg: In the July 2004 White Paper "The Future of Transport" we announced that we were moving away from the "one size fits all" national target and would instead be encouraging local authorities to include sharper and more focussed targets within their local transport plans. These plans are due for submission by 31 March 2006.
We are working closely with our advisory body, Cycling England, to increase participation in cycling through initiatives to improve the physical environment, raise standards of training, and improve safety.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what strategies he is pursuing to increase cycling in Peterborough; and if he will make a statement. [54911]
Derek Twigg: Local authorities are responsible for developing their own cycling strategies as part of the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process. New LTPs covering the period from 2006–11 are currently being finalised by highway authorities and are due to be submitted to the Department for Transport by the end of this month.
In 2004 Peterborough was picked as one of the Department's "sustainable travel demonstration towns". An additional £3.24 million is being invested in the city over five years on measures to encourage more sustainable travel behaviour in the city. This includes an intensive programme of measures to promote cycling.
Rail Fares
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average increase in rail fares for each financial year between 2005–06 and 2012–13; and what is the total estimated increase over that period. [52066]
Derek Twigg: The average increase in rail fares is monitored annually by the Office of Rail Regulation. Future fares levels are not known and cannot be estimated.
Rail Safety (Hampshire)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1500W, on Rail Safety (Hampshire), if he will provide the names and addresses of the organisations which hold this information. [53590]
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Derek Twigg: Network Rail holds the data for those level crossings in Hampshire for which they are the statutory undertaker. Their address is 40 Melton Street, London, NW1 2EE.
Other crossing operators holding records of level crossings for Hampshire may include:
Business Manager, EWS Railway Ltd. Infrastructure Services, Lakeside Business Park, Carolina Way, Doncaster DN4 5PN
Chief Executive's Office, HO DSDA, Defence Rail Agency (Marchwood and Ludgershall), Ploughley Road, Lower Arncott, Bicester, Oxon, OX25 2LD
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