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18 July 2006 : Column 269W—continued
Government Car Fleet
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safety considerations are taken into account when choosing Government vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [85168]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department for Transport is a member of the European new car assessment programme (EuroNCAP). Performance against the EuroNCAP tests is one of the criteria the Government Car and Despatch Agency uses when choosing suitable official cars.
Heysham M6 Link
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Heysham M6 Link has received funding approval. [86397]
Dr. Ladyman: We are currently considering Lancashire county council's business case for the inclusion of the Heysham to M6 link road in the Department's programme of major schemes. A decision on programme entry for this scheme and funding from the Department will only be taken once we have resolved a number of appraisal issues. Should the scheme be approved for programme entry, our response of 6 July to the north-west region on Regional Funding Allocations confirms that we would expect to provide funding for this scheme during the period 2009-10 to 2015-16 but only subject to it securing all necessary statutory approvals.
High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether it is his policy to prevent coaches from using high occupancy vehicle lanes. [84832]
Dr. Ladyman: The issue of whether to allow coaches to use high occupancy (HOV) lanes is still being considered. Coaches are clearly high occupancy vehicles but they are speed restricted, which could therefore impede the flow of traffic in the HOV lane. A key consideration is whether the proposed HOV lane is on the outside of the motorway (as proposed for M1 junction 7 to 10) or the inside of the motorway (as proposed for M62/M606).
A final decision will only be made once we have finalised the exact details of each scheme and we have satisfied ourselves that the lanes will operate safely.
Left-hand Drive Vehicles
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the percentage of left-hand drive vehicles on British roads; what estimate he has made of the proportion of road accidents which involved left-hand drive vehicles in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [84836]
Dr. Ladyman: Information on the number or percentage of left-hand drive vehicles on British roads is not available. In 2005, there were 1,760 personal injury road accidents reported to the police involving left-hand drive foreign registered vehicles. The total number of personal road injury accidents was 198,735. The proportion of road accidents involving left-hand drive foreign registered vehicles was just under 1 per cent.
Rail Services
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the east coast main line south of York will be operating at full capacity when additional train paths are allocated to GNER on the Leeds to London section; and if he will make a statement. [85014]
Derek Twigg: A route utilisation strategy for the east coast main line is being prepared by Network Rail. The analysis that will underpin this strategy will include an assessment of the capacity of the route, and an assessment of the most effective use of that capacity. The consultation draft for this strategy is expected to be published before the end of this year.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what work he has commissioned on the development of a high speed rail link from London to Scotland. [85236]
Derek Twigg:
The Government made a manifesto commitment to look at the feasibility and affordability of a new north-south high speed link. The Government have committed to take this forward in the development of a long-term strategy for the railways, drawing on Sir Rod Eddington’s advice on the
long-term impact of transport decisions on the UK’s productivity, stability and growth. In so doing the Department will draw on a range of evidence and commissioned work.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2006, Official Report, column 264W, on South West Trains, when he expects to respond to the letter from the South Hampshire Rail Users Group; and if he will place a copy of his response in the Library. [85278]
Derek Twigg: The letter was replied to on 13 July, and a copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason and upon whose authority King's Cross station was closed for several days recently following a fire on a nearby building site; what provisions are in place to ensure that major transport routes into London are not prematurely or unnecessarily closed; and if he will make a statement. [85285]
Derek Twigg: These are operational matters for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to his question:
Mr. John Armitt
Chief Executive
Network Rail
40 Melton Street
London NW1 2EE
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to authorise the transfer of railway interchange stations in London from Network Rail to Transport for London; and if he will make a statement. [85531]
Derek Twigg: The Department for Transport is currently involved in discussions with Transport for London regarding the manner in which rail interchange stations within London are operated in the future. As these stations are Network Rail's assets, the final arrangements for any transfer would be a matter for Transport for London and Network Rail.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice he has given to Transport for London in respect of the operation of services on the East London line after the proposed extension has been completed. [85532]
Derek Twigg: The operation of services on the East London line is a matter for Transport for London.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on Crossrail; and how much he expects to spend by the end of the 2007-08 financial year. [85565]
Derek Twigg:
The then Secretary of State allocated £154 million to CLRL for Crossrail in 2001. The
amount spent by CLRL is shown in the table, as well as expenditure within the Department for Transport since 2003-04, when the Crossrail hybrid Bill was introduced. In December 2005, the then Secretary of State allocated a further £100 million for the continued development of the project and support of the hybrid Bill. The Department is discussing with CLRL what further sums would be needed for the period to Royal Assent, which is hoped for during 2007.
| Financial year | CLRL costs (£ million) | DfT costs (£) |
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of people riding on the outside of moving trains were reported to the British Transport police in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005; how many have been reported in 2006; what measures are being taken to prevent such incidents; and if he will make a statement. [85813]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held by the Department for Transport. Information relating to incidents of people riding on the outside of moving trains and reported to the British Transport police is held by the force who can be contacted at:
British Transport Police
25 Camden Road
London NW1 9LN
E-mail: general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk
Road Safety
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents were caused (a) directly and (b) indirectly by the driver using a mobile phone in the last period for which figures are available. [85414]
Dr. Ladyman: The information available relates to factors that are judged by the police as having contributed to a road accident in which someone was injured. The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police that have "Driver using mobile phone" assigned as a contributory factor in 2005 was 429.
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) fatalities and (b) injuries in road accidents there were in (i) Sunderland city council area and (ii) Houghton and Washington, East constituency in each year since 1997. [85423]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of (a) fatalities and (b) injuries in personal injury road accidents reported to the police in (i) Sunderland local authority and (ii) Houghton and Washington, East constituency in each year from 1997 to 2005 are shown in the table. Constituency level data for 2005 are not yet available.
| Sunderland local authority | Houghton and Washington, East constituency | |||
| (a) Killed | (b) Injured | (a) Killed | (b) Injured | |
Roads
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which road repair project being carried out by the Highways Agency has been allocated the most funding. [85490]
Dr. Ladyman: The M25 Holmesdale tunnel refurbishment project has a total forecasted cost of £70 million. It comprises repairs to the existing road, the tunnel structure and associated mechanical and electrical equipment.
Roadside Checks
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many roadside checks have been carried out on defective brakes during each of the past 24 months; what the nature is of such tests; and what conclusions he has drawn from the results. [85167]
Dr. Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) is responsible for roadside enforcement. Greater detail on the results of their work is published in its effectiveness report which is available on-line at www.vosa.gov.uk.
The following table is based on financial year and amalgamates roadside checks and fleet checks. The data cannot be broken down further without disproportionate cost.
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
|
Percentage of vehicle encounters that resulted in such prohibitions |
Although visual inspection will identify the majority of potential defects, VOSA staff can also utilise temperature checks and roller brake tester equipment.
Brake defects are in the top 10 fail items for heavy goods vehicles, trailers and passenger service vehicles at roadside and fleet checks and annual test. Defects in braking systems are a concern.
Stansted Airport
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the new owners of the British Airports Authority on the continued development of a second runway at Stansted airport; and if he will make a statement. [86266]
Gillian Merron: The Secretary of State for Transport has met the chairman of Grupo Ferrovial SA to discuss their plans for BAA.
On 6 July, ADI, the consortium led by Ferrovial, confirmed its commitment to developing a second runway at Stansted as soon as possible although it would review the costs and plans for the second runway. A press release on this announcement can be found on BAA’s website.
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