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6 Nov 2006 : Column 683W—continued
Railways
Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make a statement on (a) funding for and (b) the operational start of a re-developed Birmingham New Street Station. [98462]
Mr. Tom Harris: Proposals (entitled the "Gateway" scheme) have been put forward by Birmingham city council and Network Rail for the substantial re-development of New Street Station. The business case for this scheme is currently being examined in depth by the Department, as a considerable sum of public funding is required for the purpose. I would anticipate being able to make an announcement during 2007.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many regional railway tsars have been appointed since 2004; how many are in post; and if he will make a statement. [99556]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Government have no plans to appoint regional railway tsars.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has held with train leasing companies Angel Trains and Porterbrook; and if he will make a statement. [99066]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Secretary of State for Transport has had no direct discussions with Angel Trains and Porterbrook recently. However, departmental officials have regular bi-laterals with the managing directors of both these companies and there is also engagement on a regular basis at a working level.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has ordered an inquiry into competition in train leasing. [99067]
Mr. Tom Harris: On 28 June 2006 the Department for Transport initiated steps for a market investigation by asking the Office of Rail Regulation to refer the passenger rolling stock leasing market to the Competition Commission under Section 131 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The timetable set out by the Office of Rail Regulation is to publish their conclusions by the end of November 2006.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the (a) total premiums to be paid by train operating companies (TOCs) in each of the next 10 years and (b) total requirement for subsidy to those TOCs which do not pay a premium. [99102]
Mr. Tom Harris: Payments to and premiums received from individual train operators in any given year (TOCs) are set out in table 4.2c of National Rail Trends, copies of which are in the Library of the House. Contracted subsidies and premiums to and from individual TOCs are published on the Department’s website when the relevant franchise is let. Actual payments and premiums in future years will depend on a number of factors including the operational performance of Network Rail and the TOC in question and the precise terms of the relevant franchise agreement. Where no franchise agreement is in place for the future years, premiums or subsidies will depend on the outcome of negotiations in the franchise specification and replacement process.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether revenue generated by the premiums paid by the franchised rail companies is included in his Department's future spending plans; [99103]
(2) whether revenue generated by Rail Franchise premiums is hypothecated for use by his Department (a) for any use and (b) on rail projects. [99104]
Mr. Tom Harris: Forecast premiums from passenger franchises are included in the Department’s future spending plans. All premiums paid by franchises are appropriated in aid by the Department and the funds are made available for spending on transport.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the level of subsidy to be given to the rail industry during the next control period. [99130]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Secretary of State will publish a high-level output specification (HLOS) in summer 2007. The HLOS will set out the Government’s spending and output priorities for the rail industry for the next control period and will inform the Office of Rail Regulation’s next review of access charges. The HLOS will include advice on the funds that the Secretary of State has available for spending on rail.
Roads
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to question 98546, how many people were (a) killed and (b) injured by drivers who were using hand-held mobile phones in each year before 2005 for which figures are available. [99864]
Dr. Ladyman: 2005 is the earliest year for which this information is available.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the net change in UK carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the road schemes approved through the targeted programme of improvements and local transport plans since 1998; [96813]
(2) what the estimated effect on annual carbon dioxide emissions is resulting from each road scheme approved by Ministers through the local transport plans since 1997. [96880]
Dr. Ladyman: The CO2 impacts of road schemes approved through the Targeted Programme of Improvements (TPI) and Local Transport Plans (LTPs) form part of the Department’s normal approval processes for major transport schemes.
The Department’s National Transport Model (NTM) has been used to estimate the CO2 impact of road improvements at a national level.
The road build included in our national modelling is the Highways Agency’s (HA) illustrative forward programme of schemes. This includes those schemes since 2000 in the TPI, plus an estimate of schemes that may make their way into the TPI going forward.
The modelling carried out for the Future of Transport White Paper included this HA illustrative programme, with it adding around 0.15 million tonnes of carbon in 2010, in England. The carbon added from just the current TPI would, therefore, be somewhat less than this, although that from local transport plans might increase it.
The TPI schemes were also appraised at an individual level. CO2 emission estimates for the HA’s motorway and trunk road schemes, in the TPI (which was first launched in 1998) are given where data is currently available. A copy of the table showing this information has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Schemes that have not yet entered into the TPI do not have this information as the proposals are still at an early stage.
The overall implications for CO2 emissions of LTPs, including roads, should be considered as part of their individual Strategic Environmental Assessments.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the latest cost estimates are for road schemes (a) in the targeted programme of improvements and (b) approved under (i) the local transport plans and (ii) community infrastructure fund. [96819]
Dr. Ladyman: For (a) Highways Agency schemes in the Targeted Programme of Improvements, I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 746W, to the hon. Member for Brent, South (Ms Butler).
I have placed information on (b), the latest cost estimates for road schemes approved under (i) the local transport plans and (ii) community infrastructure fund, in the Library of the House.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on building new roads in each year since 1979. [98939]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. member to the written answers given on 17 October 2006, Official Report, columns 1137-38W, and 26 October 2006, Official Report, columns 2000-01W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane).
Those provided data on government and private funding for transport infrastructure in Great Britain. The expenditure for roads within the tables includes new construction, as well as patching works. The available expenditure data do not, however, identify new road construction as a separate category.
Seat Belts
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) primary legislation and (b) statutory instruments regulate the wearing of (i) front and (ii) rear seat belts; what changes have been made to each since their enactment; what further amendments are planned; and if he will make a statement. [99273]
Dr. Ladyman: Sections 14 and 15 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 contain the primary legislation. Both were first amended by the Road Traffic Amendment Act 1988 (Amendment) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/3105).
Section 15 was subsequently amended by section 83 of and schedule 8 to the Road Traffic Act 1991, which made a consequential deletion. Section 14 was amended by section 100 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 in respect of the exception for delivery drivers.
The Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/176) and the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts by Children in Front Seats) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/31) contain the detailed regulations made under the 1988 Act. These regulations were amended by:
The Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts)(Amendment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/27) in respect of the exemption for delivery drivers;
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Order 2006 (SI 2006/594) in respect of an exemption for SOCA officers in the course of duty; and
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (Consequential Amendments) (England) Order 2004 (SI 2004/3168) in relation to England, and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Order 2005 (SI 2005/2929) in relation to Wales and the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Modifications and Amendments) (No. 2) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/344), in respect of changing references in an exemption from “fire brigade” to “fire and rescue services”.
The 1988 Act and both sets of regulations made in 1993 were further amended by the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts)(Amendment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1892) and the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts by Children in Front Seats)(Amendment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2213) in respect of changes required to implement the requirements of directive 2003/20/EC.
Further amendments are proposed to the regulations to require children aged three to 13 years to use seat belts in buses and coaches. This is a requirement of directive 2003/20/EC and is subject to further public consultation, which we hope to publish later this year.
Amendments are also required to the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986/1078) as well as to the seat belt wearing regulations in relation to the requirement to use child restraints to the approved standards of UNECE Regulation 44/03 and directive 77/541/EEC and any subsequent adaptations. These are being prepared following consultation.
Transport Innovation Fund
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Government’s contribution to Crossrail will be funded from the Transport Innovation Fund. [99127]
Mr. Tom Harris: I refer the hon. Member to the statement that the Secretary of State made on the Transport Innovation Fund on 27 June 2006, Official Report, column 6WS.
Vehicle Registration (Cambridgeshire)
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars are registered to keepers located in (a) Cambridgeshire, (b) South Cambridgeshire and (c) East Cambridgeshire; and how many were registered to keepers in each such category in each of the last 10 years. [99441]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of licensed cars registered to addresses in Cambridgeshire was as follows:
| Number | |
Figures are as at 31 December in each year. Statistics for South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire are unavailable.
Solicitor-General
Departmental IT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Solicitor-General which of his Department's databases are (a) wholly and (b) partly operated by external organisations or individuals; and which organisations and individuals own those databases. [97777]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a 10-year public finance initiative partnership with LogicaCMG to modernise information technology in the service. The contract with LogicaCMG covers the provision and support of the hardware and software applications used by the CPS. These include: the CPS Case Management System; the Management Information System; the Witness Management System; and the Payroll, Human Resources and Corporate Information System. The CPS owns the data contained within the databases.
The Treasury Solicitors Department (TSol) has five databases, each of which is wholly owned and operated by external organisations or individuals. These are: the LION intranet database which is operated by SCISYS Ltd. and contains data owned by TSol which are updated interdepartmentally and managed by the Government Legal Service; the Penserver database, a pensions database containing data owned by TSol which is operated by Paymaster and operated on behalf of TSol and the Cabinet Office; the ePayfact database, a payroll database containing data owned by TSol and
operated by LogicaCMG; the BV (Bona Vacantia) auction website database called URLS.co.uk which is operated by XM London, and contains data whichare owned and managed by BV and updated interdepartmentally.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) operates three database systems. The Payroll system is provided externally by LogicaCMG on secure UK sites and contains data owned by the SFO. The SFO's evidence management system, Docman, is an internally operated system containing data owned by the SFO. It is maintained by SunGard Vivista; the SFO's IT services supplier.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) interrogates and utilises databases operated by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Treasury Solicitor's Department, which are both supported by LogicaCMG.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Solicitor-General which databases operated by his Department are located (a) wholly and (b) partly outside the UK; and where each of those databases and parts of databases is located. [97778]
The Solicitor-General: All of the databases that the Law Officer's Departments use are located in the UK.
Diplomatic Immunity
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Solicitor-General in how many cases prosecutions have not been proceeded with due to the claiming of diplomatic immunity by the potential defendant in the last five years, broken down by (a) country and (b) offences; and if he will make a statement. [97573]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds no central record of the number of prosecutions which did not proceed owing to a claim of diplomatic immunity. The information is held on individual case files, and could be recovered only by examining every relevant file in each CPS office. This information can, therefore, be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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