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15 Jun 2006 : Column 1326W—continued
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total public spending (a) per head of population and (b) in total was on bus services in (i) County Durham, (ii) Tyne and Wear, (iii) Northumberland and (iv) the North East of England in each of the last 10 years. [75290]
Gillian Merron: The majority of financial support for bus services is provided by local authorities in line with policy choices made at a local level, from their Revenue Support Grant supplemented by Rural Bus Subsidy Grant paid to authorities by the Department. The figures requested are shown in the following tables and include re-imbursement of concessionary fares on local buses, (consistent figures are available only from 1998-99).
| Bus support per head of population | ||||
| £ per head | ||||
| Durham | Tyne and Wear | Northumberland | All North East | |
| Bus Support | ||||
| £000 | ||||
| Durham | Tyne and Wear | Northumberland | All North East | |
| Note: The figures for Tyne and Wear contain some inconsistencies which are currently being checked by the passenger transport executive. Source: Local authority returns to DCLG, revenue outturn (RO2). | ||||
In addition, operators of local bus services receive Bus Service Operators Grant from this Department. This is paid direct to operators and is not attributed to a specific area.
Confederation of Passenger Transport
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many employees of the Confederation of Passenger Transport are seconded to his Department; and what the length of each secondment is. [73808]
Gillian Merron: There are no current inward secondments from the Confederation of Passenger Transport.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of his Department’s employees have been seconded to the Confederation of Passenger Transport in each of the last five years, broken down by grade; and how long each secondment lasted. [73853]
Gillian Merron: There has been one pay band 6 (grade 7) secondment to the Confederation of Passenger Transport since the Department for Transport was formed in May 2002. The secondment lasted three years and 10 months from May 2002.
Correspondence
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will reply to the letter of 6 March (reference DT/007188/06) from the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington), on railway services, on behalf of Mr M. M. of Aylesbury. [76343]
Derek Twigg: I have now written to the hon. Member on this matter, and apologise for the delay.
Departmental Credit Card
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what facility is available for senior civil servants in his Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department. [72873]
Gillian Merron: The Department does not issue official credit cards. The Department uses charge cards which are issued to officials, including some senior civil servants, to meet specific business needs.
The Department has adopted the Government Procurement Card for purchasing low-value goods and services, and Corporate Cards for some official travel and related expenditure, issued under the umbrella of the OGCbuying.solutions pre-tendered National Framework contract.
At the end of April 2006, six Government Procurement Cards and 21 Corporate Cards were held by senior civil servants.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the staff in his Department is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled, broken down by grade. [69088]
Gillian Merron: The gender split of staff employed by the Department for Transport at 31 December 2005 along with the percentage of those reporting to be disabled are set out in the following table.
| Percentage | |||
| Responsibility level | Male | Female | Department declaring being disabled |
| (1) Others relate to staff in HA, GCDA and VOSA whose grades do not fit into the general clerical grade structure. | |||
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of staff in his Department are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension. [73118]
Gillian Merron:
Members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) can pay additional contributions to top up their pension either through the Civil Service Additional Voluntary Contributions Scheme (CSAVCS), a money purchase arrangement, or by buying added years of service in the PCSPS. As an
alternative to membership of the PCSPS recruits from 1 October 2002 have been able to join a stakeholder arrangement, the partnership pension account.
The number and percentage of staff in the department (including the Agencies) who are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension as at 26 May 2006 are shown in the following table.
| Number | Percentage | |
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what incentives are available to encourage members of his staff to use public transport for travelling to and from work. [75102]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport provides the following incentives to encourage staff to use public transport for travelling to and from work:
Salary advances for the purchase of season tickets
Desktop journey planning tools
Promotion of public transport and local and national transport information via intranets, internal newsletters and other communication routes.
Deputy Prime Minister (Government Car)
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Government car in each of the last 10 years. [70672]
Dr. Ladyman: Guidance on the use and provision of Government cars is set out in Travel by Ministers and the Ministerial Code. It is for individual Ministers to account for their travel arrangements.
Discounted Oil
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the transport infrastructure of the proposed supply of discounted oil to London from Venezuela. [73649]
Gillian Merron: The supply of oil or oil products at discounted rates to the UK is a commercial decision for Venezuela. The Department is not at present aware of any firm commitment by the Government of Venezuela to do so. It is therefore not possible to speculate on the potential implications for UK’s transport infrastructure.
Gershon Report
Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many civil servants were employed in his Department before the Gershon Report; what net reductions are proposed in the Gershon Report; how many reductions have been made; and how many civil servants are expected to be employed in his Department in the Gershon target month of April 2008. [74285]
Gillian Merron: The Department’s 2006 annual report records 16,338 full-time equivalent (FTE) civil servants in the Department for Transport, including its six agencies, for 31 March 2004 and 18,005 FTE for 31 March 2008. The Gershon Report proposed a reduction of 700-500 from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and 200 from the Centre of the Department by 31 March 2008. On 31 March 2006, DVLA and the centre had exceeded their trajectories for 2005-06 and are making good progress towards meeting the 2007-08 target. Further detail will be available in the Department’s Autumn Performance Report. The Department’s headcount reflects the 700 reductions in back office areas and necessary increases in front-line service areas—transport security, accident prevention, driving test provision, and traffic officer services—in order to meet customer demand. The Department has also taken on the Strategic Rail Authority’s responsibilities.
Greater Western Franchise
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the mandatory High Return Alternative Tender for the Greater Western Franchise. [72450]
Derek Twigg: The High Return Alternative Tender (HRAT) formed part of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the Greater Western Franchise issued by the Strategic Rail Authority in June 2005. The Department intends to make this public once the franchise agreement has been placed on the public register, and is working to do this as soon as possible.
The Department did not require bidders to submit an HRAT in its Invitation to Tender for the South Western franchise, nor does it intend to require bidders to submit HRATs with future ITTs.
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