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Driver Licensing and Information
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the operation of the Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989; what recent representations he has received about the operation of this Act; and whether he plans to amend this Act. [80205]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 10 May 2006, Official Report, column 274W. We have no plans to amend this Act.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many replacement (a) full and (b) provisional driving licences were issued in each year since 1996. [80184]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of replacements issued in each year were:
| Calendar year | Number of replacements |
The breakdown of these figures into full and provisional licences is not available.
Flag Flying
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) on how many days since May 1997 theSt. George’s flag has been flown from his Department’s buildings; [77736]
(2) what his Department’s policy is on flying the (a) St. George’s flag and (b) EU flag from departmental buildings. [77737]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport issue the guidance for flying flags on Government buildings. This includes flying the St. George’s flag on St. George’s day (23 April) and the European flag on Europe day (9 May) on buildings with two or more flag poles provided they are flown alongside the Union flag with the Union flag in the superior position.
The Department’s main HQ building has only one usable and accessible flag pole and therefore does not fly the St. George’s flag or the European flag.
Local Transport (West Sussex)
Mr.
Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for
Transport how much has been made available to West
Sussex county council in local transport plan funding for each year
since 1997.
[80505]
Gillian Merron: The table shows the funding allocated to West Sussex county council in the local transport capital settlements between 1997-98 and 2005-06. Not included in the table is an additional amount of approximately £14.5 million which we have provided to West Sussex county council between 2001 and 2005 for major local public transport schemes.
The integrated transport block allocations are available for local authorities to use on road and public transport improvements, according to their local priorities.
| West Sussex county council nature of funding | |||||||||
| £000 | |||||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| (1)
For 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000, no figures are given for the
integrated transport block and highways capital maintenance as there
were different funding streams operating then. Total figures are
shown. | |||||||||
London Underground (Victoria Line)
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Health and Safety Executive investigated the safety implications of the incident on the Victoria Line on the evenings of 29 and 30 May 2006 between Highbury and Finsbury Park; and if he will make a statement. [79821]
Gillian Merron: Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) is the independent health and safety regulator for the railways, covering the safety of the travelling public and employees. HMRI was transferred from the Health and Safety Executive to the Office of Rail Regulation on 1 April 2006.
The incident occurred when a northbound Victoria Line train was held in the tunnel between Highbury and Islington and Finsbury Park stations at around 00.30 am on Tuesday 30 May. This was the penultimate passenger service on the day. The problem required the traction current to be switched off and when repairs were completed normal passenger services had ceased and engineering hours started on the line. Delays then occurred as due to safety procedures the current could not be switched back on to move the train until it was confirmed that no workers were on the line. Eventually passengers were taken off the train and walked back to Highbury and Islington station before 03.00 am.
HMRI and London Underground Ltd. (LUL) have both investigated this incident. LUL have now modified their procedures and decision-making processes, particularly for incidents within one-hour of engineering hours. This should ensure that protracted delays in detraining passengers do not occur in the future. HMRI will continue to monitor the effectiveness of these and other procedures which relate to the evacuation of passengers from trains.
Modal Shift (North Northamptonshire)
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to achieve modal shift in North Northamptonshire. [79561]
Gillian Merron: A key element of the Milton Keynes Sub Regional Strategy is to encourage a shift towards more sustainable modes of travel.
Specific funding has already been made available from the Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly ODPM) to support public transport schemes serving the North Northamptonshire area, including Growth Area Funding (GAF) of £4.4 million to improve services and infrastructure on the X4 bus route connecting Corby, Kettering, Oundle and Wellingborough, with wider links to Northampton, Milton Keynes and Peterborough.
GAF funding has also been provided to examine key issues in North Northamptonshire and this has helped identify current movement trends in the area. Northamptonshire county council has commissioned a series of transportation studies to inform the development of a specific Transport Strategy for Growth, which will address issues of modal shift across the wider area.
Northamptonshire's second Local Transport Plan also seeks to encourage modal shift through the implementation of specific strategies and programmes related to bus patronage, walking and cycling, travel planning and accessibility. Developer contributions on public transport infrastructure and service provision are also highlighted as a potential major contributor in this area.
The potential for extra rail services to the area is also being considered under the new East Midlands rail franchise specification consultation, which was launched on 8 June.
Railways, North-West
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the likely impact of the SLC2 base level specification set out in the Cross Country Rail Franchise Consultation document of June on levels of rail usage in the North West. [79806]
Derek Twigg: The changes proposed in SLC2 are designed to allow longer trains to be operated on the busiest Cross Country routes. The changes also propose a new hourly service from Manchester to Bristol, which will benefit a large number of rail passengers.
The service between Scotland and Birmingham via the West Coast Main Line will continue to operate at the same frequency but with faster journey times and at regular intervals with better connections. I expect this will lead to increased levels of rail usage.
Road Accidents
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) road accident fatalities and (b) personal injury road accidents there were in(i) Bury St. Edmunds constituency and (ii) Suffolk in each year since 1997. [79390]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police, and the resulting fatalities, in the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds and the county of Suffolk from 1997 to 2004 (the latest year for which figures are available) are given in the table.
| Accidents and Fatalities in Bury St. Edmunds constituency and Suffolk, 1997-2004 | ||||
| Fatalities | Accidents | |||
| Bury St. Edmunds | Suffolk | Bury St. Edmunds | Suffolk | |
| (1)
The accidents in the table are those that occurred in the 2004
boundaries for Bury St. Edmunds
constituency. | ||||
Seat Belts
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which bodies have (a) made representations to the Government and (b) are known by his Department to be (i) in favour of and (ii) opposed to the compulsory wearing of seat belts; and if he will make a statement. [80200]
Dr. Ladyman: Seat belt wearing has been compulsory since 1983. No representations to the Government on road safety in recent years have opposed this fundamental requirement. Information on those who specifically support the requirement is not recorded.
Traffic Growth (Peterborough)
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assumptions about traffic growth up to 2021 are being used by his Department in discussions with the growth areas directorate in the Department for Communities and Local Government on housing expansion in the Peterborough Unitary authority area. [78394]
Gillian Merron: The East of England Spatial Strategy which has recently been subject to examination in public following a period of consultation, will provide the overall framework for assessing and planning housing and other growth across the East of England region including Peterborough up to 2021. In that context it is for the local authority to develop detailed forecasts of traffic growth and reflect this in their local transport plans and local delivery frameworks.
Work and Pensions
A New Deal for Welfare
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basis was for the Government's calculation in the Green Paper. ‘A New Deal for Welfare’ that reaching an 80 per cent. employment rate would require getting one million people off incapacity benefit and one million more people over 50 years and 300,000 lone parents into work. [73447]
Mr. Jim Murphy: As we set out in the Department's Five Year Strategy and in the Green Paper "A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work", we have a long-term aim of reaching employment equivalent to 80 per cent. of the working age population. In order to achieve this we will reduce by one million the number on incapacity benefits, help 300,000 lone parents into work and increase by one million the number of older workers.
Because 80 per cent. employment is relative to the size of the future population, the total required increase in employment is dependent on population projections, which are revised regularly. Using the latest Government Actuary's Department projections, employment would now need to increase by more than 2.5 million in order to achieve 80 per cent. in the long term. This is because the Government Actuary's Department has increased their projection of the "working age" population.
We are currently considering the implications of this population change. However, our long-term aim of80 per cent. employment is unaffected, and the commitments in the Green Paper to reduce by one million the number on incapacity benefits, help 300,000 lone parents into work and increase by one million the number of older workers will still be delivered.
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the scale of identity fraud in relation to social security benefits; how many of his Department’s staff have been involved in identity fraud since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [72368]
Mr. Plaskitt: DWP estimates £20 to £50 million of benefit fraud arises as a result of identity fraud (that is, claiming benefit in false identities).
The information requested on the number of staff involved specifically in identity fraud is not available.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total budget for the Benefit Fraud Hotline was for each year since 1997. [73253]
Mr. Plaskitt: The National Benefit Fraud Hotline is very cost effective—last year it cost nearly £1 million to run but identified £21.4 million in recoverable overpayments.
Information is not available prior to 2001-02. The available information is in the table.
| National Benefit Fraud Hotline budget allocation | |
| £ | |
| Notes: 1. Figures include goods, services and staffing costs. 2. The National Benefit Fraud Hotline (NBFH) commenced in August 1996. Information around budget allocation is available only from year ending 2001-02. Prior to this NBFH was the responsibility of the former DSS Benefits Agency Security Branch and figures on funding and budget costs are no longer available. 3. The operational costs of administering the National Benefit Fraud Hotline include the costs of administering the report-a-cheat-online service. These costs cannot be separated. Source: National Intelligence Unit and Resource Management and IT. | |
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