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19 July 2006 : Column 431W—continued
All test types are included, except for 2003-04 and 2005-06 when Approved Driving Instructor qualifying tests are excluded. This is because DSA’s targets for keeping appointments did not distinguish between test types in the other years.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the costs associated with the cancellation of a driving test appointment. [85812]
Dr. Ladyman: During the year 2005-06, the average compensation payment made by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) for cancelling a car test was about £35. The total paid in compensation was some £311,000.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Driving Standards Agency on the hazard perception test; and if he will place in the Library copies of correspondence with the agency in relation to this issue. [85807]
Dr. Ladyman: Department for Transport Ministers have frequent meetings with Driving Standards Agency officials, as with officials from other parts of the Department, to discuss a range of issues.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has conducted into the effectiveness of the hazard perception test as part of the driving test. [85809]
Dr. Ladyman: In advance of the introduction of the hazard perception test the Department commissioned extensive research, including the following:
1998—The effects of hazard perception training on the development of novice driver skills. DETR Road Safety Research Report No. 4.
2000—Novice drivers’ safety. DETR Road Safety Research Series No.2.
2002—The development of hazard perception testing. TRL Report TRL558.
Copies of the two DETR reports have been placed in the Libraries of the House. All reports are available from the DfT website (www.dt.gov.uk).
The Department is currently conducting further research which will evaluate the effectiveness of the hazard perception test.
Eurostar
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport where the unused regional Eurostar trains are stored; and what the cost to public funds has been of the unused trains. [82342]
Derek Twigg: The regional Eurostars are not in store. Five are in the course of modification and the other two are being used for testing of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
Hastings to Bexhill Link Road
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of the proposed Hastings to Bexhill link road. [86516]
Dr. Ladyman: All major schemes are assessed against the Government’s five overarching objectives of safety, environment, economy, integration and accessibility. The environmental impact of this scheme was considered before provisionally approving the Bexhill to Hastings link road in the December 2004 local transport capital settlement.
Overseas HGVs
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of heavy goods vehicles from overseas using roads in England and Wales. [86120]
Dr. Ladyman: Estimates of the number of foreign registered heavy goods vehicles on roads in Britain are not available. However, estimated numbers leaving the UK are published in table 1 of the quarterly bulletin, “Road Goods Vehicles Travelling to Mainland Europe”. A copy of this bulletin is available on the DFT website at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_transstats/documents/page/dft_transstats_611744.hcsp
Transport Operational Command Unit
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many arrests by the Metropolitan Police’s Transport Operational Command Unit have led to successful prosecutions. [85475]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
An accurate figure showing the number of successful prosecutions resulting from Transport Operational Command Unit (TOCU) specific arrests is not available.
The TOCU covers all London boroughs. In the 2005-06 planning year TOCU police officers arrested 7,952 suspects. They were all processed through one of the 32 Borough Operational Command Unit criminal justice units covering the areas of arrest.
Railways
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which stations will have fewer stopping services (a) under new franchise agreements completed by his Department since it took over responsibility for franchising from the Strategic Rail Authority and (b) under the specifications for new franchise agreements which are currently subject to a tendering process. [82308]
Derek Twigg: The Department for Transport completed franchise agreements for the Great Western, Thameslink/Great Northern and Integrated Kent franchises in December 2005.
Present service levels are contained in the National Rail timetable published by Network Rail. Service levels to be provided under the Greater Western franchise with effect from December 2006 are set out in the consultation timetable published by First Great Western in January 2006, as amended by the operator in announcements on 3 April and 15 June 2006. No changes to Thameslink/Great Northern services are proposed. Future changes to services in the Integrated Kent franchise are set out in briefing documents published on the Department's website.
The South Western franchise tenders have been received. The detailed specification for this is available on the Department's web site.
The specification for the new Cross Country, West Midlands and East Midlands franchises is still being prepared and will not be finalised until October 2006.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average age is of the rail rolling stock operated by each train operating company. [85564]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 24 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1990-2W to the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen). The average age has not changed materially since this date.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the potential total saving from the Government’s decision to specify a reduction in the number of services on some lines and to some stations in the First Great Western franchise area as part of the franchise renewal process. [85569]
Derek Twigg: The subsidy/premium profile for the Greater Western franchise has been published on the Department’s website. This can be compared with the subsidy and premiums associated with the former constituent franchises (First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains) in 2005-06, published by the Office of Rail Regulation in its document “National Rail Trends Yearbook” and is available on its website.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of trains in each franchise were delayed in the last year for which figures are available; and what average number of trains per day were delayed in each franchise. [85804]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held by the Department in the format requested.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) incidents there were of and (b) prosecutions there were for (i) vandalism and (ii) trespass on railway lines in each British Transport police area in relation to (A) adults and (B) juveniles in each of the last five years. [85814]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held by the Department for Transport. Information relating to vandalism and trespass on railway lines is held by the British Transport police who can be contacted at: British Transport police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, e-mail: general.enquiries@btp.pnn. police.uk.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of arson on the railways there have been since April 2003, broken down by (a) train operating company and (b) route. [85815]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held by the Department for Transport. Information relating to arson on the railways is held by the British Transport police who can be contacted at: British Transport police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, e-mail: general.enquiries@.btp.pnn.police.uk.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) incidents there were of and (b) prosecutions there were for (i) criminal damage and malicious mischief and (ii) trespass on rail lines in relation to (A) adults and (B) juveniles in each of the last five years, broken down by region. [85816]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held by the Department for Transport. Information relating to criminal damage and trespass on railway lines is held by the British Transport police who can be contacted at: British Transport police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN. E-mail: general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk.
Road Safety
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road deaths there have been in the Leicester city council area in each of the last five years. [86141]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of fatalities in personal injury road accidents in the City of Leicester in each year from 2001 to 2005 is shown in the following table.
| Fatalities in City of Leicester: 2001-05 | |
| Number | |
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras there are in (a) the Leicestershire county council area and (b) in Leicester city. [86142]
Dr. Ladyman: The table shows the number of speed camera sites, broken down by type, which are operated by the Leicestershire Safety Camera Partnership.
| Leicestershire | Leicester city | Total | |
There may be several camera housings contained within one site. The police have the discretion to enforce speed limits outside the national safety camera programme, and this could happen anywhere on the road network.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were (a) killed and (b) injured in road traffic accidents in (i) the London borough of Bexley and (ii) Greater London in each of the last five years. [86223]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of (a) fatalities and (b) injuries in (i) the London borough of Bexley and (ii) Greater London resulting from personal injury road accidents reported to the police(1) in each of the last five years is given in the following table.
| Number of fatalities and injuries in personal injury road accidents( 1) in Bexley and Greater London: 2001-2005 | ||||
| Bexley | Greater London | |||
| Fatalities | Injured( 2) | Fatalities | Injured( 2) | |
| (1) Reported to the police (2) Includes serious and slight injuries. | ||||
Street Lighting
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned on the impact on road safety of removing or restricting the use of street lighting in rural and semi-rural areas. [85886]
Dr. Ladyman: Research has not been undertaken or commissioned by this Department specifically on the impact on road safety of removing or restricting the use of street lighting in rural or semi-rural areas.
The Highways Agency is currently reviewing the technical standard that sets the criteria for provision of road lighting on the strategic road network, including the road safety benefits.
Train Overcrowding
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to reduce overcrowding on trains; and if he will make a statement. [77469]
Derek Twigg: We are currently seeing huge growth in the railways, with more than 1 billion passengers carried last year, and this is set to continue. To help meet this challenge we are investing record amounts in the network.
Focus is being given to improving timetabling, infrastructure maintenance and renewals and other factors that can impact on reliable delivery of train services, which in turn will impact on crowding levels. We are also considering different measures to increase the capacity of the network, from train layout and length, turnaround times and infrastructure improvements. Major investment programmes such as the West Coast Main Line modernisation project have already seen capacity improvements.
It is for the train operating companies to take decisions about the deployment of rolling stock. We will continue to review train counts and train plans to assess whether resources are being deployed effectively.
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