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8 May 2006 : Column 14W—continued
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment was made of alternative methods of easing congestion before the Highways Agency published its proposals to improve the A27. [68608]
Dr. Ladyman: The Secretary of State for Transport commissioned the South Coast Corridor Multi-Modal study (SoCoMMS) to investigate congestion, safety and environmental problems of transport on the South Coast between Southampton and Thanet. At Chichester the report recommended two alternatives for addressing congestion on the A27. The Secretary of State rejected both these options on environmental grounds and asked the Highways Agency to work closely with the principal local authorities and the statutory environmental bodies to identify less environmentally damaging options, including management measures, which reduce the need for major road construction.
A key requirement of any options identified was that they should be capable of delivering planned housing and economic growth. It was agreed that any options identified would be reported back to Ministers before more widespread local consultation was undertaken.
A number of alternative junction improvement strategies were considered as part of developing the proposal put to public consultation but they did not meet the objectives set.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the Highways Agency's plans for improvements to the A27 around Chichester. [68609]
Dr. Ladyman: A joint Public Consultation exercise, between the Highways Agency and West Sussex county council was held in late 2004 and early 2005. To date the Highways Agency have received over 9,000 responses to their proposals, including many alternative suggestions for dealing with traffic problems in the Chichester area. Once I have received the Public Consultation Report from the Highways Agency later this year, I will announce my decision on the way forward.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on alternative methods for easing congestion around Chichester since the Highways Agency published proposals to improve the A27. [68671]
Dr. Ladyman: Since the Highways Agency's proposals were published I have received a petition from Mr. Pieter Montyn, signed by over 2,000 residents of the Manhood Peninsula, requesting an A27 northern bypass solution as a method for easing congestion around Chichester. Subsequently, I have received a copy of his presentation to the Highways Agency on his proposed A27 northern alignment route. All alternative suggestions made will be considered before I make my decision on the way forward later this year.
Aircraft Noise
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Government's definition is of excessive noise from aircraft; and what the World Health Organisation guidelines are on aircraft noise. [68298]
Derek Twigg: We have stated in consulting on our proposals for night flying restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted that one of our broad aims is
"to strike a fair balance between the protection of local communities from excessive aircraft noise levels at night and the provision of air services at night where they are of benefit to the national, regional or local economy".
The expression 'excessive noise' does not apply to a specific level of aircraft noise. Based on research, the Government use various measurements of aircraft noise as indicators of disturbance or of potential annoyance, or as criteria for mitigation measures, including advice for land use planning purposes.
The World Health Organisation has produced 'Guidelines on Community Noise'. The guideline values have regard to specific environments and effects rather than the source of noise, so there are no specific guidelines on aircraft noise. For each environment and situation, the guideline values take into consideration the identified health effects and are set based on the lowest levels of noise that affect health. Guideline values typically correspond to the lowest effect levels for general populations.
The 'Guidelines on Community Noise' document, which sets out the full range of guideline values, is on the internet at the following address http://www.who.int/docstore/peh/noise/guidelines2.html
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take in the Civil Aviation Bill to bear down on aircraft noise. [68332]
Derek Twigg: The 'Future of Air Transport' White Paper set out the combination of measures by which the Government aim to limit and, where possible, reduce the number of people in the UK significantly affected by aircraft noise. These include promoting research and development into new low noise engine and airframe technologies. We have incorporated the key elements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation's balanced approach to controlling noise at airports into UK law; EU directive 2002/49/EC
requires periodic noise mapping at many airports from 2007 to identify day and night noise problems and, from 2008, action plans to deal with them.
The Government have powers to regulate noise at airports designated for the purposes of section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports are currently so designated). This regulation includes departure noise limits and restrictions on night flying. We will also consider exercising similar powers at other airports if there is evidence that a major noise problem is not being dealt with adequately through local controls.
The Civil Aviation Bill will give airports clear powers to impose penalties on airlines who fail to follow noise preferential routes and other procedures designed to avoid, limit or mitigate the effects of aircraft noise. In the case of airports designated for the purposes of section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, where the Secretary of State has specified noise controls, he will have the power to direct that a penalty scheme be made, amended or revoked to enforce those controls. It will be for the managers of non-designated airports to decide whether to use these powers in the light of their local circumstances.
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) regional transport strategies in England and (ii) the transport schemes listed as number one priorities in the regional funding allocations submitted by the regional assemblies on the Government's public sector agreement target for greenhouse gas emissions. [64479]
Dr. Ladyman: Regional transport strategies are subject to strategic environmental assessment, and the implications for greenhouse gas emissions will be carefully considered before strategies are approved. Advice put forward by regions on regional funding allocations sets out their proposals for affordable programmes of schemes. Decisions on each new scheme will remain subject to normal approval processes which take account of climate change impacts alongside other environmental, economic and safety factors.
Congestion (Greater Manchester)
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of traffic congestion in Greater Manchester; and if he will make a statement. [67256]
Dr. Ladyman: The 2002 survey of traffic speeds in urban areas estimated that the average vehicle delay, comparing actual speeds with those that would be achievable by a car in the absence of other traffic, for the routes surveyed in Greater Manchester was 17.8 seconds per vehicle kilometre. The average for all the urban areas surveyed was 24.9 seconds per vehicle kilometre. We have been developing new measures of congestion that are more meaningful in urban areas. Greater Manchester will publish a new local transport plan congestion target by July, along with a baseline for the new indicator.
Departmental Advertising Costs
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on advertising for job vacancies in each of the last five years. [65965]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 25 April 2006]: The Department for Transport was established in May 2002.
The Department uses the most appropriate publication for recruitment advertising, be it national, regional, trade magazine or website depending on the nature of the vacancy.
The following table lists the costs incurred by DFT(Central) in recruitment advertising in all grades together with advertising senior civil service jobs with executive agencies:
| £ | |
Advertising costs for recruitment below the senior civil service in DFT's executive agencies are as follows:
| DVLA | £ |
| (1 )VI costs only (2 )Includes the recruitment of the traffic officer service |
Departmental Initiatives
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the departmental initiatives for each year since 2000 which required bids for funding from (a) voluntary organisations and (b) local authorities together with the total resource allocated to each initiative in each year; how many successful bids there were in each year; what proportion this figure represents of the total bids received; and what assessment he has made of the costs of (i) preparing bids for each initiative and (ii) assessing those bids. [66013]
Dr. Ladyman: A table setting out the information on the major capital funding initiatives, for which bids were required, provided by the Department since 2000, has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Driving Instructors
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving instructors have been removed from the Register of Approved Driving Instructors due to convictions for sexual assault in each year since 1988; and how many days elapsed between conviction and removal in each case. [68420]
Dr. Ladyman: The Driving Standards Agency's records only show the number of Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) removed from the register since 1996-97, as shown in the following table.
| Number of ADIs removed following: | ||
| Registrar's decision/resigned etc. | Registrar's decision | |
| (1) Up to 28 February 2006. |
The reason for removal from the Register following a decision by the Registrar is not recorded, nor is the time elapsed between any conviction and removal.
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