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27 Nov 2006 : Column 266W—continued

Crossrail

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been (a) allocated and (b) spent on the Crossrail project, broken down by financial year. [103422]

Mr. Tom Harris: In 2001, the then Secretary of State allocated £154 million to Cross London Rail Links Ltd. (CLRL) to introduce and support the Crossrail hybrid Bill, currently before Parliament. This was followed by a further allocation to CLRL of £100 million in December 2005 for continued project development. In addition, the Department’s Bill and project development teams have incurred costs.

Crossrail costs broken down by years are as follows:

£ million
Financial year CLRL costs DfT costs

2001-02

5.3

2002-03

25.2

2003-04

31.5

1.45

2004-05

44.4

2.66

2005-06

42.6

3.66

2006-07

(1)47

(2)2.12

(1 )to 14 October 2006
(2 )to end October 2006

Drink/Drug-driving

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents were caused by drink-driving in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area. [102451]


27 Nov 2006 : Column 267W

Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 256W.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accident fatalities were caused by or contributed to by driving under the influence of drugs in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [102563]

Dr. Ladyman: There were 59 fatalities resulting from personal injury road accidents in which at least one driver had impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal) as a contributory factor. These data are available only from 2005.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on publicising the risks of driving under the influence of drugs in each of the last five years. [102564]

Dr. Ladyman: Communications warning of the dangers of drug-driving form part of the Department's THINK! road safety campaign. The Government are investing around £15 million in the THINK! campaign in this fiscal year.

The campaign advertising costs for the THINK! drug-driving campaign since the 2002-03 fiscal year are as follows:

£

2002-03

nil

2003-04

138,000

2004-05

150,000

2005-06

223,000

2006-07

(1)350,000

(1) Expected outturn

The drug-drive campaign is very targeted to a niche audience, who, following research, appear to be the most likely to drug-drive.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated income to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency from fees for providing replacement registration certificates (V5C) was in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07. [102488]

Dr. Ladyman: The income, which is derived from fees for providing replacement registration certificates (V5C) for 2005-06 was £14.7 million and the forecasted income for 2006-07 is £13.5 million.

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what targets the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has for responding to complaints; and how many complaints received by (a) telephone, (b) letter and (c) electronic mail the DVLA responded to within those target times in each year since 1997, broken down by type of complaint. [102655]

Dr. Ladyman: DVLA has two internal targets for responding to complaints. These are:


27 Nov 2006 : Column 268W

Information on how the complaints were received is not available.

The following table shows how many complaints were received and how the DVLA performed against each target in the years requested.

1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02

Category—complaints received

Drivers (including Drivers Medical)

250

384

908

597

553

Vehicles

913

1,173

1,101

983

2,115

Telephone Service

198

134

157

137

142

Processing Procedures

5

6

18

322

212

Other

102

119

195

398

570

Total

1,468

1,816

2,379

2,437

3,592

Numbers and percentage responded within target( 1)

Target 1

Number

1,458

1,816

2,379

2,437

3,592

Percentage

99.3

100

100

100

100

Target 2

Number

1,449

1,765

2,303

2,240

3,467

Percentage

98.7

97.2

96.8

91.9

96.5


Category 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Complaints received

Drivers (including Drivers Medical)

684

1,028

812

679

Vehicles

1,747

2,357

2,560

1,813

Telephone Service

122

119

111

67

Processing Procedures

236

331

614

407

Other

600

741

680

1,567

Total

3,389

4,576

4,777

4,490

Numbers and percentage responded within target( 1)

Target 1

Number

3,389

4,576

4,777

4,490

Percentage

100

100

100

100

Target 2

Number

3,295

4,458

4,663

3,529

Percentage

97.2

97.4

97.6

78.6

(1) Totals only available

First Great Western

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will urgently investigate the reliability of the 125 fleet on the Great Western lines; and what discussions he has had with First Great Western on its refurbishment and replacement programme. [103257]

Mr. Tom Harris: I have held a number of meetings with First Great Western and Network Rail to discuss a range of performance issues. Joint action plans are in
27 Nov 2006 : Column 269W
place between Network Rail and FGW to address these issues and are monitored monthly.

The first modified First Great Western High Speed Train (‘HST’) power cars have already entered service. My officials meet FGW regularly to review progress on the HST refurbishment and modification programme.

Foreign Hauliers

Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure foreign drivers of foreign registered vehicles are adequately insured to drive in the UK. [104572]

Dr. Ladyman: European law requires all vehicles registered in a member state to have insurance for the use of that vehicle in any other member state.

The police have full power to stop and check any foreign vehicle to ensure the driver has appropriate insurance cover.


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