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War Pensions

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many war pensions have been successfully claimed in each of the last five years; and how many of these were awarded for (a) physical injury and (b) mental health conditions. [55609]

 
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Mr. Touhig [holding answer 2 March 2006]: It is not possible to provide the data broken down by physical injury and mental health conditions as there are too many individual cases, some with multiple conditions, to practically assign them to the above categories.

However, we can provide the number of cases where an ongoing war pension was awarded in each of the past five years for the 12 month period 1 October to the following 30 September for each of the last five years.

	New pensions awarded
2000–01	2,585
2001–02	2,440
2002–03	1,965
2003–04	1,800
2004–05	1,670

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Children's Services

Mr. Kemp: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) what (a) nursery and crèche places and (b) other facilities are provided for the children of employees of the House of Commons; [67277]

(2) what recent representations the Commission has received on the provision of nursery and crèche places on the House of Commons estate. [67295]

Nick Harvey: The House provides child care vouchers in respect of children of staff of the House and Members' staff up to the age of 12. In addition a subsidised summer play scheme has run for several years where staff of the House and Members' staff can reserve places for their children during the school holiday period. The Commission decided in 2003 that a voucher scheme was preferable to an on-site nursery or crèche facilities because of its greater flexibility and the fact that most parents prefer young children to be cared for at or near home.

The Commission has had no recent representations other than a question asked on 24 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1303–04, by the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan).

Parking Spaces

Jim Dowd: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many parking spaces on the House of Commons estate are reserved for specific individuals; which individuals are concerned; where the spaces are; and why each such space is provided. [67031]

Nick Harvey: There are 15 parking spaces reserved for specific individuals on the Parliamentary Estate.

In Speaker's Court the following seven individuals each have a reserved space allocated to them to enable them to fulfil their duties: the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House, the
 
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Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and the Government Chief Whip.

There are a further eight spaces reserved for residents of the estate; Mr. Speaker has three such spaces reserved in Speaker's Court, the Clerk of the House, the Serjeant at Arms and the Speaker's Secretary each have a reserved space allocated to them by Richmond Terrace and the Head Office Keeper and Senior Office Keeper each have a reserved space allocated to them within Commissioners Yard, Norman Shaw buildings.

TRANSPORT

A1079

Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what average number of vehicles used the A1079 road each day in the latest period for which figures are available; how many vehicles the A1079 was originally designed to carry; and if he will make a statement. [66530]

Dr. Ladyman: The latest available figures relate to 2004, when the estimated average number of vehicles using the A1079 road each day was 15,300. The A1079 is managed by the local highways authority and the Department does not hold information about the number of vehicles it was designed to carry.

A6

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make a decision on the A6 Bypass South East Manchester multi-modal study road scheme in Stockport. [67248]

Dr. Ladyman: We are currently considering the scheme appraisal for the SEMMMS New Relief Road. We are also considering advice from the North West region on the priority it attaches to the conventional funding element of this and other schemes in the North West. We plan to make an announcement in due course.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential for displacement of traffic onto the M60 Motorway between junction 25 and the M60/A57 interchange as a result of the proposed A6 Bypass road scheme. [67252]

Dr. Ladyman: An outline assessment has been undertaken into the potential impacts of the A6 Hazel Grove Bypass and other South East Manchester multi modal study road schemes on the M60 and the M60/M67/A57 Denton interchange. The Greater Manchester local authorities are in the process of updating their transport model which will allow a more detailed appraisal of these and other impacts to be assessed.

Airport Security

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those involved with terrorist groups do not obtain security clearance enabling them to work at airports. [67672]

 
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Derek Twigg: The Department has in place a regulation that requires that persons who wish to be employed to undertake security duties at UK airports must obtain security clearance, to counter-terrorist check (CTC) level. CTC clearance covers a check of police and Security Service records, a check of the person's identity, and employment/education references for the past five years. Non-security staff wishing to be employed airside at a UK airport are required to undergo all of these checks except that of Security Service records.

Car Tax Forms

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport under what circumstances a sub-post office is allowed to hold the V14 reclaim of car tax form. [67762]

Dr. Ladyman: In order to hold V14 forms, Post Office branches must also be authorised to sell motor vehicle licences (MVLs) to the customers on behalf of DVLA.

Over 4500 Post Office branches provide the MVL services and each of these is authorised to hold the V14 form.

Driving Standards Agency

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints the Driving Standards Agency has received from participants in the motorcycle theory tests. [66966]

Dr. Ladyman: In 2005–06 the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) recorded 2,310 complaints relating to the theory test. The recorded data cannot be broken down by driving licence category.

Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions his Department has had with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister regarding the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989. [66352]

Derek Twigg: Officials in the Department have been kept fully informed of the progress being made by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to reform general fire safety legislation.

Flights (Domestic/International)

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) domestic and (b) international flights originated from the UK in each of the last five years. [67037]

Derek Twigg: Information on domestic and international flights originating from the UK for the last five years is published in Table 2.2a of the Department's annual publication, Transport Statistics Great Britain 2005 edition, which is also available on the Department for Transport website.

Government Car Service

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) of 13 March 2006, Official
 
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Report, column 1886W, on the Government Car Service, what make and model of car has been made available to each Government Minister; how many hours a day a chauffeur is available to them; what the monthly cost is of this provision; and how much is accounted for by (a) running costs of the vehicle, (b) costs of the chauffeur and (c) all other costs. [63981]

Dr. Ladyman [pursuant to the reply, 19 April 2006, Official Report, c. 701–2W]: The total contracted cost of providing ministerial transport in 2005–06 was £5,783,200. All other figures given in my reply are correct.

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