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4 Dec 2006 : Column 11W—continued
Road Surfacing Recycling
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of used waste road surface was recycled in each of the last 10 years. [106280]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not available.
Road traffic: Census
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department provides to local authorities with regard to (a) road and (b) weather conditions when carrying out traffic censuses involving the stopping of vehicles to interrogate the driver. [107647]
Dr. Ladyman: Recommended standard procedures to be used when conducting traffic surveys by roadside interviews are contained in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Advice Note TA/11/81. This can be found at the following web address:
http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/vol5/section1/ta1181.pdf.
Roads: Tolls
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department has given to local authorities bidding to take part in road user
charging road toll experiments on ensuring that the roads covered encompass all alternative routes for participating vehicles. [107644]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department has consulted on draft guidance to local authorities developing road pricing pilot schemes. This advises that local authorities should undertake traffic modelling to understand the full range of impacts of road pricing schemes, including diversion, and to reflect these in design. The draft guidance can be found on the Department's transport appraisal website at:
www.webtag.org.uk.
Sadlers Farm Roundabout
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles used the Sadlers Farm roundabout on the A13 according to Essex in the last four sets of data available. [106285]
Dr. Ladyman: The A13 at Sadlers Farm is not a trunk road. Therefore the responsibility for holding any available data lies with Essex county council as local highway authority, rather than the Department.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of (a) carbon dioxide and (b) other emissions from traffic on the Sadlers Farm roundabout on the A13 in Essex. [107646]
Dr. Ladyman: None. The A13 at Sadlers Farm is not a trunk road. The responsibility for carrying out any assessments which may be needed lies with Essex county council as local highway authority rather than the Department.
Television Advertisements
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by his Department on television advertisements in the last year for which figures are available. [104434]
Gillian Merron: Expenditure on television advertising by the Department and Executive Agencies for fiscal year 2005-06 was as follows:
£6.86 million in DfT Central in support of the THINK! road safety campaign.
£5.41 million by DVLA covering the Harmonised Registration Certificate, Continuous Registration, Sale of Number Plates and Vehicle Excise Duty in Scotland.
£17,300 by the Government Car and Despatch Agency on the Local Government Channel on Sky, which was shown as part of the June Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy conference.
Leader of the House
Consultants
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Leader of the House which 10 consultancy fees charged to his Department since May 1997 were the most expensive. [107171]
Mr. Straw: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons has employed consultants on only one occasion since 1997. The details are set out as follows.
Project: Review of private office correspondence database
Total cost: £3,760
Solicitor-General
BAE Systems
Norman Lamb: To ask the Solicitor-General what the role is of (a) the Serious Fraud Office and (b) the Ministry of Defence police in the investigation of allegations of corruption by BAE Systems with respect to sales to (i) Chile, (ii) Romania, (iii) Saudi Arabia, (iv) South Africa and (v) Tanzania. [103057]
The Solicitor-General: I can confirm that the SFO, in conjunction with the MOD police, is currently investigating allegations which relate to BAE Systems plc.
Barristers (Prosecution Fees)
Glenda Jackson: To ask the Solicitor-General how much was paid to each barrister prosecuting a case on behalf of the Crown in each year from 2001 to 2006 listed in descending order of the value of fees paid. [106214]
The Solicitor-General: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Government Information, part 2, clause 9).
Furthermore, in line with some counsel fee payment processes for the period in question, fees were paid to a group of barristers from the same chambers, rather than individuals. This information cannot therefore be disaggregated.
Trade and Industry
Business Link
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress he has made on the regionalisation of Business Link. [103613]
Margaret Hodge: The regional development agencies (RDAs) became responsible for managing Business Link in April 2005.
Individual RDAs determine how they deliver the business link service in their region. Some RDAs have decided to implement a centralised management structure, whilst others have decided to retain a local Business Link structure. The RDAs seek approval from the DTI Secretary of State for their plans by submitting their proposals to the Central Project Review Group (CPRG) made up of representatives from DTI, Treasury and SBS.
The RDAs that have already received approval for their proposals are: London Development Agency,
Advantage West Midlands and East Midlands Development Agency. The Northwest Development Agency, East of England Development Agency, One North East and the South East of England Development Agency are currently awaiting approval. Yorkshire and Humberside and South West Development agencies have yet to make their applications for approval.
Coal Industry Compensation
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the departmental minute to Parliament on non-statutory liability to compensate miners for exposure to surface dust tabled in July 2000 represented a Government commitment to pay that compensation. [107110]
Malcolm Wicks: Paragraph 6 of the minute specifically states that compensation “would need to be negotiated in detail”. The Government put forward proposals for compensation, but these were rejected by the solicitors representing claimants. The Government remain committed to compensating where liability is proven.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department sought medical advice on the compensation for miners for exposure to surface dust before it tabled a minute reporting liability for compensation in July 2000. [107111]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department used the medical advice submitted in the original trial in deciding the liability owed to surface workers. Specific medical advice regarding the evidence of COPD in surface workers was sought before the submission of the minute, but was only received after the minute was submitted.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date his Department decided to seek medical advice on the compensation for miners exposed to surface dust. [107112]
Malcolm Wicks: Medical advice was consistently being sought and given on a number of issues arising from the original trial. Specifically, the Department sought advice on the 19 June 2000 on the basis of the evidence that had been collated at that time.
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether Ministers in his Department had been informed that officials were seeking medical advice on compensation for miners for exposure to surface dust when the Department tabled a minute to Parliament accepting liability. [107113]
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether Ministers in his Department approved the action of officials to seek medical advice on compensation for miners for surface dust; and if he will make a statement. [107114]
Companies Bill
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the evidential basis is for the Government’s view that the Companies Bill will bring significant savings to companies in all areas throughout the UK. [105841]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 28 November 2006]: The Government published a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) alongside the Companies Bill, available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file29937.pdf
The RIA explains the difficulty of precise quantification in this area. The RIA assessment was therefore based on discussions with business in the course of developing the Bill, and the assessment concluded that direct savings could be of the order of £160 to £320 million per annum.
Departmental Contracts
Anne Milton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department paid to DHL
in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2005-06. [104182]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The DTI paid £18,120.55 to DHL for services relating to the central London HQ Estate during 2005-06.
DTI had no arrangements in place for using the services of DHL in those buildings before 1 April 2005.
Departmental Research and Development
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of his Department's research and development budget has been spent on research establishments based in (a) Wales, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [106880]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table shows the Research Councils’ total expenditure on all establishments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and their expenditure on their Institutes in each of the last five years. All figures are in £000.
| Research Councils UK regional spend | |||||||
| £000 | |||||||
| FY | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Overseas | International subscriptions | Central expenditure |
| Note: Figures for FY 2005-06 are provisional, and include, for the first time, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which was created on 1 April 2005. | |||||||
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