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25 Oct 2006 : Column 1868W—continued
Transport
20 mph Zones
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he has issued on the enforcement of 20 mph zones. [97298]
Dr. Ladyman: Traffic Advisory Leaflet 9/99 and DETR Circular 05/00 provide local traffic authorities with guidance on when and where to introduce 20mph zones. Both documents recognise the key to an effective 20mph zone is that it is self-enforcing through regular traffic calming measures which reduce speeds to 20mph or less without the need for police enforcement.
This message was reinforced in the Department's new guidance on setting local speed limits, published in August this year, which further encourages implementation of 20mph zones.
Airbus A380
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which UK airports are suitable for use by the A380 Airbus. [95750]
Gillian Merron: Heathrow is the only UK airport currently to have developed the ground facilities and adapted its operational procedures in order to handle scheduled A380 passenger services.
Departmental Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons in each year since 2001-02. [91899]
Gillian Merron:
The Department for Transport and the majority of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not record payments for hotel accommodation for staff and others separately from other subsistence costs. More detailed information
would only be available at disproportionate cost. Overnight subsistence allowances for UK and overseas, and specific hotel costs where available, are contained in the following table.
| £ | ||||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | ||
Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 2 May 2005 to 31 March 2006 is available in the Library of the House. Information for the current financial year will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current financial year. No records are kept about the category of any hotels in which Ministers have stayed.
The amounts spent on hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation for Ministers and officials during visits abroad are as follows:
| £ | |
Details of the amount spent on hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation for Ministers and officials within the UK are not routinely collated and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
All travel is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the ministerial code, travel by Minister and the civil service management code.
Departmental Vehicles
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars are available for the use of (a) Ministers and (b) senior officials in his Department; and how many of these are hybrid vehicles. [95677]
Dr. Ladyman: Official cars and drivers for ministers and senior officials are provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency under guidance set out in Travel by Ministers and the Ministerial Code.
There are five official cars allocated to the Department for Transport, two which are hybrid petrol/electric vehicles used by ministers.
EU Headlights Policy
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) carbon emissions and (b) fuel consumption of the EU policy of vehicles travelling with headlights on at all times. [95678]
Dr. Ladyman:
The European Commission’s consultation paper on the impact of daylight running lights (DRL) stated that DRLs would increase the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of a vehicle by up to 1.5 per cent. We think that this estimate is roughly correct. The impact of an EU-wide policy would be less than this; a portion of driving is at night anyway,
many member states already have mandatory rules on the use of DRLs, and specially designed DRLs (rather than dipped beam headlamps) can be much more energy efficient.
The UK opposes both mandatory fitment of dedicated DRLs and compulsory daytime use of dipped beam headlamps, due to concerns about increased risk to vulnerable road users (including motorcyclists), and increased costs to motorists, as well as the environmental impacts. We have expressed these concerns at international fora and will reiterate them in our response to the European Commission consultation.
European Aviation Safety Agency
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the European Aviation Safety Agency will be given full enforcement powers; and if he will make a statement. [96791]
Gillian Merron: In line with other EU Agencies, the European Aviation Safety Agency does not itself have powers of enforcement.
The Agency drafts common safety rules in the fields in which it has competence. These rules, when formally adopted through Community procedures, are legally binding across the EU. In some areas of regulation, such as type certification of aircraft products and parts, the Agency implements the rules itself, but in other areas implementation is the responsibility of member states’ National Aviation Authorities (NAAs).
Enforcement of these rules is the responsibility of the NAAs, who have the option of taking action in the national courts in the event of non-compliance.
Freight Trains
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Office of Rail Regulator plans to introduce an environmental levy on goods transported by freight trains. [95483]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) published, on 11 October 2006, a consultation document “ORR's Sustainable Development and Environment Duties”.
One of the issues on which ORR is seeking stakeholder views relates to the use of an environmental charge that would reflect the costs of train operations on the environment.
A copy of the consultation document can be found on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/304.pdf and will be made available in the Library of the House. Consultation responses are requested by 22 December 2006.
FV Gaul
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total cost of investigations and inquiries into the loss of the F V Gaul in 2006 prices. [96789]
Dr. Ladyman: The total cost to the Department of investigations and inquiries into the loss of the FV Gaul was £6.5 million.
| £ | |
No adjustment has been made for 2006 prices.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made towards the implementation of the formal safety recommendations arising from the F V Gaul Re-opened Formal Investigation. [96790]
Dr. Ladyman: It is considered that, as far as is reasonably practicable, the recommendations have been implemented.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any evidence of a design fault in the construction and arrangement of the duff and offal chutes on the trawler F V Gaul was made available to the Wreck Commissioner during the 2004 investigation. [96794]
Dr. Ladyman: The Marine Accident Investigation Branch provided the inquiry with a copy of a full set of technical drawings for the vessel, a number of which detailed the design of these chutes. These drawings were reviewed by the technical experts and the expert representing the Department for Transport referred to these drawings in the production of the document “Notes on the duff and offal chutes”, submitted to the Re-opened Formal Investigation. These notes included comments on the design of the chutes and the potential design inadequacies.
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