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4 May 2006 : Column 1734W—continued
British Transport Police
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the financial position is of the British Transport Police pension fund. [50760]
Derek Twigg: The latest valuation of the British Transport Police Superannuation Fund was carried out as at 30 June 2004 and completed on 31 December 2004. For valuation purposes the fund is split into three parts and the results were:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1970 Section—Preserved Part | (2)1.1 |
| 1970 Section—Contributory Part | (3)9 |
| 1968 Section | (2)0.3 |
(2)Surplus
(3)Shortfall
Climate Change
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has (a) made and (b) plans to make of the effects of (i) English local authorities' local transport plans and (ii) the road schemes included in those plans on the Government's Public Sector Agreement target for greenhouse gas emissions. [64478]
Dr. Ladyman: Statutory Local Transport Plans are subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment, and the implications for greenhouse gas emissions will be carefully considered as part of this process. All new major road schemes proposed by local authorities within Local Transport Plans will remain subject to normal approval processes. Decisions on schemes will take account of climate change impacts alongside other environmental, economic and safety factors.
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessments have been made of the impact on climate change of decisions taken by his Department since it assumed joint responsibility for the Public Service Agreement target on reducing climate change emissions in April 2005; and if he will publish those assessments. [67833]
Dr. Ladyman: The transport measures included in CM6764 Climate Change: The UK Programme 2006" were subjected to analysis on a number of measures including cost-effectiveness, distribution and air quality and other environmental impacts. Details of this areavailable at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/ukccp/pdf/ukccp06-ria.pdf.
In addition, Statutory Local Transport Plans and Regional Transport Strategies are subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment, and the implications for greenhouse gas emissions are carefully considered as part of this process. Ministers' decisions on schemes will take account of climate change impacts alongside other environmental, economic and safety factors.
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Dartford Crossing
Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will undertake a review of traffic delays related to the Dartford Crossing, the method of toll collection at the crossing and the part which the method of toll collection plays in the creation of vehicle tailbacks. [67958]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency keeps journey times and journey time reliability under review for all its roads, including the Dartford Crossing.
Paying to use the crossing is not the limiting factor on traffic at the crossing, but rather the capacity of the crossing itself, particularly the tunnels. The toll plazas perform an important safety role in controlling the demand and speed of vehicles both through the tunnels and away from the bridge.
Government Vehicles
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars are available for (a) Ministers and (b) officials (i) through the pool and (ii) through individual assignment. [67449]
Dr. Ladyman: There are 85 cars and drivers permanently allocated to Ministers and 25 cars and drivers permanently allocated to senior officials. The Government Car Service (GCS) also operates 35 pool cars. Official cars and drivers are provided by the GCS in accordance with the Prime Minister's guidance Travel by Ministers".
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total expenditure on motor vehicles for Ministers and senior officials was in 2005–06. [67450]
Dr. Ladyman:
The contracted cost of providing allocated cars and drivers to Ministers and senior officials in 2005–06 was £7,079,400.
4 May 2006 : Column 1736W
Railways
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes rail passengers may expect to (a) their expectation of a seat, (b) the availability of cheap day returns and (c) fare levels as a result of the Great West Franchise being awarded to First, with particular reference to the service between Cardiff and Portsmouth; and if he will make a statement. [65399]
Derek Twigg: The franchise agreement requires First Great Western (FGW) to use reasonable endeavours to minimise the need for passengers to stand on off-peak services, and for no more than 20 minutes on peak services. Rises in commuter fares and long-distance Saver Return fares are regulated in accordance with the Department's current policy, which limits annual rises in each category to an average of 1 per cent. above inflation. Other fares are unregulated, and FGW is free to set them on a commercial basis FGW are investing £200 million across the franchise to upgrade trains and stations. Trains on this route will benefit from this investment.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers used (a) the St. Ives Bay line, (b) the Looe Valley line, (c) the Tamar Valley line, (d) the St. Albans Abbey Branch, (e) the Grantham to Skegness line, (f) the Penistone line and (g) the Esk Valley line in each of the last five years. [61281]
Derek Twigg: Statistics for passenger journeys are generally presented on the basis of railway financial year which runs from April to March. The figures for the last five financial years are set out in the following tables.
All of these lines have been chosen to demonstrate aspects of the Community Rail Development Strategy and most of them have long established community rail partnerships to promote and develop them (partnerships were established during 2005–06 for the Skegness Line and St. Albans Line). The figures need to be treated with caution (see following notes), but demonstrate that there has been growth on all lines over the last five years.
(4)Passenger figures for the Skegness Line include all passengers on the Nottingham—Grantham—Skegness service.
Notes:
1. The date of the Easter holidays can impact on the carryings of lines dependent on tourist traffic and in some financial years, there is no Easter (e.g. financial year 2005–06).
2. Data based on ticketing system supplied by the train operator. All such data may be subject to adjustment.
3. The Esk Valley line was used by passengers on trains run by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway during the summer of 2005 this adds approximately 5,000 to the total passengers shown in the table).
4. The St. Ives line figures as presented have been adjusted to account for a ticketing system error which led to an under-reporting of journeys in financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05.
5. Several lines have had periods of closure for engineering work. These include closures of a week or more on the Esk Valley and West Country branches and a closure to allow the commissioning of the new link between the Skegness Line and the East Coast Main Line last Autumn. These closures can reduce loadings significantly.
6. The number of trains used to calculate the average number of passengers per train is based on an analysis of the public timetable and generally reflects trains running the whole length of the line with the following exceptions:
St. Ives includes trains terminating at Lelant Saltings
Tamar Valley includes trains terminating at Calstock
Skegness is based on all trains on the section of line east of Grantham (some start/terminate at Boston or Sleaford) (as the Middlesbrough—Nunthorpe services do not run the whole length of the Esk Valley these are also excluded).
7. No allowance is made for engineering closures or other similar disruption. Where buses are included in the public timetable rail tickets are valid on the bus, these are included trains for the purposes of calculating the averages.
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