Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 19 July 2006
Leader of the House
House of Lords
Mr. Amess: To ask the Leader of the House on how many occasions the Government were defeated in the House of Lords during this Session; on how many occasions the effect of defeats involving legislation were reversed by this House; and if he will make a statement. [85391]
Mr. Straw: There were 51 such occasions up to 14 July in the current Session. This figure covers Divisions in which Government Tellers were appointed.
There is no clear definition of a reversal of the effect of a defeat, since the response from this House, as well as outright acceptance or rejection of a Lords amendment, includes a range of possibilities such as partial acceptance or related amendments elsewhere in the Bill.
Parliamentary Answers
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Leader of the House what steps he has taken since his appointment to improve the (a) timeliness and (b) content of parliamentary answers; and what information he collects on the percentage of answers which are given later than (i) the day named and (ii) the conventional deadline for written questions. [86593]
Mr. Straw: Since my appointment I have made clear to the House the importance I attach to the timeliness and quality of responses to parliamentary questions tabled in the House. As I have indicated to the House, I have raised the matter directly with ministerial colleagues.
Ministers recognise their obligation under the ministerial code to give accurate and truthful information to Parliament and to be as open as possible with Parliament. Ministers also recognise the requirements that a written question tabled for a named day should receive an answer on that day and an ordinary written question should receive a substantive response within a working week of it being tabled.
My office offers guidance to other Departments about the handling of responses to parliamentary questions. Departments are responsible for keeping their own records on the timeliness of answers and provide this information to the House when requested by the Select Committee on Public Administration or through Members’ questions. I also intend regularly to monitor these statistics from the start of the next Session.
Short Money
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Leader of the House (1) how many members of staff are paid for out of Short money on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition; how many staff were paid for from this allowance in each of the previous four years; and if he will make a statement; [86152]
(2) for what purposes Short money may be used; and if he will make a statement. [86153]
Mr. Straw: Short money is given to Opposition parties to help them to carry out their parliamentary business. This can include research associated with Front-Bench duties, developing and communicating alternative policies to those of the Government and shadowing the Government’s Front Bench. There is specific provision for meeting costs necessarily incurred in running the office of the Leader of the Opposition. Each Opposition party has to provide a certificate from an independent auditor each year to the effect that all the expenses claimed were in respect of the party’s parliamentary business. No information is available to me about the number of staff employed by the Leader of the Opposition who are paid from Short money.
House of Commons Commission
Parliamentary Website
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will ensure that the parliament.uk website advanced search function displays all document types that have been published since May; and what steps are being taken to remedy technical problems with the site. [85659]
Nick Harvey: As the advisory notice on the advanced search page makes clear, accurate searches of all document types since May cannot currently be guaranteed, although the general search facility is fully operational. Only the content of the Official Report is affected, and remedial work is under way to restore full functionality to the advanced search function in the near future.
World Squares for All Group
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission on what basis staff from the Parliamentary Works Directorate sit as members of the client team of the World Squares for All group; what remit staff have been given in connection with this work; and under whose authority staff are members of the group. [85958]
Nick Harvey: The World Squares for All steering group overseeing the feasibility study on Parliament Square includes representatives from a number of bodies who have an interest in Parliament Square and its environs. All the bodies are represented by officials rather than elected members.
Those represented include Westminster City Council, the Greater London Authority, English Heritage, the Royal Parks Agency, the Parliamentary Estate, Transport for London, the Cabinet Office and Westminster Abbey.
The Director of Estates represents the Parliamentary Estate on the World Squares for All steering group. His role is to act as liaison between the parliamentary authorities and the steering group. He ensures that the steering group is made aware of the impact of any proposals or potential issues and their impacts and effects on the Parliamentary Estate, ensuring these are fully understood by the group and their consultants.
Transport
Biofuels
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what support his Department is making available for home-grown biofuel production in Swindon. [86293]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave her on 27 June 2006, Official Report, columns 257-8W.
Diesel Spills
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will discuss with oil companies and retailers measures that could be taken to reduce the risk of diesel spills to motorcycle users. [86274]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government’s Motorcycling Strategy sets out how we are working closely with a range of interested organisations to develop a clear understanding of the road safety risk of diesel spillage and to develop solutions. This is being taken forward in the Motorcycle Technical, Engineering and Environmental task group and the Traffic Management, Planning and Transport Policy task group, within which motorcycle users are already involved. I would welcome the involvement of oil companies and retailers and will ask the groups to see how this could be encouraged.
Driving Standards Agency
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department has issued to the Driving Standards Agency in the last two years. [85808]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department for Transport has given guidance on the following topics to the Driving Standards Agency within the last two years:
Business Planning
Performance Management
Risk Management
Value for Money
Legal advice
Driving Tests
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) original estimate was and (b) most recent estimate is of the cost of the planned driving test supercentres. [85823]
Dr. Ladyman: The costs of the Multi-Purpose Test Centres project were originally estimated at £60 million; the latest version of the business case shows that they have reduced to £55 million.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with the programme of new driving test supercentres; how many are planned; how many are open; in which locations; and what the timetable is for future sites for which land purchases are required. [85824]
Dr. Ladyman: A total of 68 Multi-Purpose Test Centres (MPTCs) are planned throughout England, Wales and Scotland. To date, sites have been acquired for seven new MPTCs at Shrewsbury, Newport, East Lothian, Gloucester, Ipswich, Upminster and Swansea.
Nineteen sites are forecast to become operational before 31 March 2007. None of the new test centres has yet opened, but the centre at Quedgeley in Gloucester will become operational during September 2006.
All the remaining sites are planned to be operational by October 2008. This will meet the implementation date of the European Community Directive 2000/56/EC.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving test appointments were (a) kept, (b) cancelled by the test centre and (c) cancelled by those taking the test in each of the last five years (i) in total and (ii) broken down by (A) region and (B) test centre. [85811]
Dr. Ladyman: The following table shows the number of driving test appointments kept and cancelled by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) for the last five years, for each DSA region and nationally. We do not hold records of volumes of tests cancelled at test centre level or those cancelled by customers.
| Applications | Cancelled | Kept | |
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