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5 Jun 2006 : Column 169W—continued
A27 (Folkington Link)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his plans for the A27 between Beddingham and Polegate, with particular reference to the Folkington link. [73883]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency has completed its initial review of improvement schemes to the A27 at Selmeston and Wilmington. The Folkington link is a sub-section of any improvement at Wilmington. We are currently considering the advice from the regions on transport investment priorities and have yet to make decisions on the extent and future timing of schemes.
Galileo System
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the most recent estimate is of the (a) initial development and (b) yearly ongoing costs of the EU's Galileo system. [73928]
Dr. Ladyman:
The definition and development phase of Galileo is a joint European Commission and European Space Agency project. The cost is expected
to be around £1.25 billion. The deployment phase will be a PPP, funded one third by the public sector and two thirds privately.
The draft EC financial instrument for funding Galileo during 2007 to 2013 has yet to be ratified. It is expected to be brought to the Council and the European Parliament around the end of this year. There has been no political discussion of potential funding commitments for the public sector beyond 2013.
The European Commission is taking the position that the overall cost and future commitments for the public sector will not be known, until the detailed contract negotiation are concluded with the consortium bidding for the PPP. My officials, in collaboration with Treasury and other interested departments, continue to press for more transparency on cost. It is agreed that an assessment will be submitted to Council before the PPP contract is signed. We have proposed robust criteria for this assessment and will continue to press them.
Highways Agency Vehicles
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what circumstances and upon whose authority Highways Agency vehicles use observation parking bays marked ‘for police vehicles only' on motorways. [73666]
Dr. Ladyman: The Police are able to stop on any part of a motorway, including the observation platforms, by virtue of Regulation 16 of The Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982. Regulation 16 allows a Police officer to stop where they do so in the exercise of their duty.
These Regulations were amended by The Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 to give Highways Agency Traffic Officers the same ability to stop in the exercise of their duty as the Police.
The use of these observation platforms by Highways Agency Traffic Officers provides a visible reassurance that an official vehicle is available to assist and support road users, if needed, and allows Traffic Officers to park on the motorway, minimising fuel usage, while still maintaining an appropriate response capability in the event of an incident.
MOT Certificates
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many MOT test certificates have been delayed due to computer malfunctions in the last 12 months. [73822]
Dr. Ladyman: During the period April 2005 to date, the 18,300 MOT garages in Great Britain have issued some 15.4 million MOT certificates via the new computer system.
Because the booking of MOT tests is the responsibility of individual garages and is managed outside of the MOT computer system, it is not possible
for VOSA to ascertain if any MOT tests were delayed because of computer malfunctions.
In order to ensure that road safety is not compromised, VOSA has however made contingency procedures available to garages in the event of either hardware failure at an individual site or a more widespread disruption to the MOT service. These arrangements ensure that there should be little or no impact on motorists both in terms of having their vehicles tested and receiving their MOT certificates.
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for how many days the IT system for MOT tests was not working in the last 12 months. [73823]
Dr. Ladyman: The IT system for MOT tests was rolled out to garages between 18 April 2005 and 29 March 2006. During this period of 378 operational days there has not been an entire day when the system has been unavailable to all garages on-line. There have been 28 days when a technical problem affecting 10 or more garages occurred.
For 20 of these 28 days, at least 95 per cent. of garages on-line experienced no disruption to MOT testing.
Motoring Offences
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were penalised for speeding in (a) the London borough of Bexley and (b) London in 2004-05. [73128]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
Data on speeding offences are not collected centrally by local authority area.
Available information on the number of speeding offences dealt with by official police action within the Metropolitan and City of London police force areas combined for 2004 (latest available) is given in the following table.
2005 data will be available early in 2007.
| Speeding offences( 1) dealt with by official police action( 2) , London( 3) , 2004 | |
| Total offences dealt with( 2) (number) | |
| (1) Offences under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 ss. 16, 81, 84, 86, 88 and 89; Motor Vehicles (speed Limits on Motorways) Regs. 1973; Parks Regulation (Amendment) Act 1926—byelaws made thereunder. (2) Includes written warnings, fixed penalty notices and court proceedings. (3) Metropolitan and City of London police combined. | |
Resilience Exercises
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) assessment he has made of and (b) lessons have been learned from (i) Exercise Atlantic Blue in January 2006 and (ii) Exercise Northern Synergy. [72354]
Derek Twigg:
Exercise Atlantic Blue and Exercise Northern Synergy were both classified Government
exercises. It is therefore not in the national interest to comment on these exercises.
Lessons learned from these exercises have been fed into classified contingency plans for responding to a wide range of terrorist threats. These plans are regularly tested, reviewed and updated in the light of changing circumstances; this ensures that all agencies involved are prepared to respond to a terrorist incident.
The hon. Member may wish to refer to the generic guidance contained in the publication “Dealing with Disaster”, which can be found on the UK Resilience website:
Road Accident Fatalities
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many road accident fatalities there were in Paisley and Renfrewshire, South constituency in 2005-06; [73643]
(2) how many road accident fatalities there were in Hammersmith and Fulham constituency in 2005-06. [73644]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not yet available. Main results on personal injury road accidents reported to the police in 2005 will be published shortly. Figures for 2006 will become available in summer 2007.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accident fatalities there were in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency in 2005-06. [74333]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not yet available. Main results on personal injury road accidents reported to the police in 2005 will be published shortly. Figures for 2006 will become available in summer 2007.
Road Pricing
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average cost per mile that would need to be charged following the introduction of his proposed national road pricing scheme in order to ensure that the scheme is revenue neutral and all administration and technology costs are covered. [71873]
Dr. Ladyman: The appropriate level of charges for any national road pricing scheme would depend on a wide range of factors. It is not currently possible to estimate what price levels would be appropriate. The costs of any national scheme would depend on technology and systems used and the manner of implementation.
Road Traffic (Cumbria)
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total mileage travelled on the roads in Cumbria by (a) all vehicles and (b) cars in each year between 1995 and 2004. [73873]
Dr. Ladyman: The following table gives the information requested:
| Estimated distance travelled in Cumbria: 1995-2004 | ||
| Million vehicle miles | ||
| All motor vehicles | Cars | |
| Source: National Road Traffic Survey | ||
Travel Statistics (Lancashire)
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total mileage travelled on roads in Lancashire by (a) all vehicles and (b) cars in each of the past 10 years. [74827]
Dr. Ladyman: The following table gives the information requested for each year from 1995 to 2004 (the latest year for which estimates are available):
| Estimated distance travelled in Lancashire: 1995-2004 | ||
| Million vehicle miles | ||
| All motor vehicles | Cars | |
Trunk Roads
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on trunk roads in Paisley and Renfrewshire, South constituency in 2005-06. [73641]
Dr. Ladyman: This is a matter for the Scottish Executive and the hon. Member may wish to write to them.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on trunk roads in Hammersmith and Fulham constituency in 2005-06. [73642]
Dr. Ladyman:
The Greater London Authority Act 1999 made provision for the transfer of the trunk road network in London from the Secretary of State for Transport to the Mayor. These roads now form part of
the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN). Further information on the TLRN in the Hammersmith and Fulham area can be obtained from:
Mr. David Brown
Managing Director of Surface Transport
Transport for London
Windsor House
42-50 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0TL
Vehicle Tax Discs
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many applications for vehicle tax discs the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has received through the online service since its introduction; and how many of those applications resulted in tax discs being delivered within the target of five working days. [74528]
Dr. Ladyman: Since the online service was introduced DVLA has received a total of 2,438,361 transactions of which 2,019,952 were successfully completed. A total of 418,409 transactions failed to process as a result of insurance failures and customers not having the correct MOT certificate. There is no mechanism in place with Royal Mail to monitor the time it takes to deliver individual tax discs to applicants addresses. All tax discs are despatched to Royal Mail by first class mail within one day of the application successfully processing. Royal Mail's first class mail delivery target is 91.5 per cent. within two days of posting.
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