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14 Dec 2006 : Column 1262W—continued
A breakdown of these new targets by gender cannot be provided as liability reflects the number of soldiers/officers required for a particular arm or service directorate. Individual arms’ and service directorates’ liabilities may vary in the future as the establishment endorsement process continues. The overall total will, however, remain unchanged.
UK Nuclear Weapons Capability
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how he plans to assess (a) the view of the public on UK nuclear weapons and (b) whether the public supports his position that maintaining nuclear weapons is in the best interests of the UK’s future security. [105528]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 December 2006, Official Report, column 569 to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn).
Vanguard Submarines
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the decision was taken to reduce the life of Vanguard submarines to 25 years from the 30 years
prescribed in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review; and if he will make a statement. [105415]
Des Browne: No such decision has been taken. The original requirement for the Vanguard class submarines was for a life of at least 25 years. Subsequently, the 1998 Strategic Defence Review said:
“We need to ensure that [Trident] can remain an effective deterrent for up to 30 years.”
Since 1998, we have undertaken a series of studies to refine our assessment of the potential in-service life of the Vanguard-class submarines. As described in the White Paper on the future of the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent (Cm 6994), published on 4 December 2006, we now believe that it should be possible to extend their lives by around five years. This means that we will achieve the aspiration set out in the Strategic Defence Review.
Working Hours
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average working hours were for personnel in the Royal Air Force in each year since 2001. [105673]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally. However, the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) carries out a continuous survey of working patterns, which is used to provide estimates of average hours worked. A time series of these estimates from 2001-02 to 2005-06 is shown in the following table.
| Survey estimates of average weekly hours worked by trained personnel in the Royal Air Force | |
| Financial year | Hours |
| Note: The figures are derived from individual sample surveys conducted each year and as such will be subject to the normal statistical variation. Analysis comparing figures between years are available in the continuous working patterns survey reports held in the House of Commons Library. | |
Transport
Aviation
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Government’s target for a 60 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 includes emissions from international aviation. [102343]
Gillian Merron:
The Government remain committed to taking a lead in tackling the problem of climate change, and to putting the UK on a path to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. from current levels by 2050. International flights from the UK are not currently included in this figure as there is, as yet, no international agreement on ways of allocating such emissions. But we have made it clear aviation needs to take its share of responsibility for
tackling climate change. A well-designed emissions trading scheme is an important way of ensuring that aviation contributes to climate stabilisation, and the European Commission is expected to publish a legislative proposal to include aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme by the end of the year.
Bus Services Operator Grant
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the Bus Services Operator Grant 80 per cent. diesel fuel duty rebate on biofuel uptake. [109122]
Gillian Merron: Under the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) scheme operators of local bus services using biofuel currently receive a rebate of 100 per cent. of the fuel duty paid, rather than the 80 per cent. rebate paid for conventional fuels.
As stated in our document, “Putting Passengers First”, published on 12 December, we are now considering whether there is scope for reforming BSOG to tie this more directly to operators’ performance and/or environmental outcomes, and the practical issues that would be involved.
Departmental Energy Policy
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ensure that his Department becomes carbon neutral. [105703]
Gillian Merron: On 12 June my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced new sustainable operations targets for the Government estate. The new targets include a commitment for a carbon-neutral central Government office estate by 2012 and to reduce carbon emissions from offices by 30 per cent. by 2020.
The Department has already initiated a number of energy efficient measures across the estate and is in the process of developing action plans which will address these new targets.
Departmental Finance
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department paid to DHL in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2005-06. [104171]
Gillian Merron: The Department was created in May 2002. Since this date the central Department and its agencies have paid the following amounts to DHL companies:
| Financial year | Total payments (£) |
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed on a consultancy basis in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies in each of the last five years for which information is available; and what the (i) average and (ii) longest period was for which a consultant was employed in each year. [102968]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport only came into existence on 29 May 2002. The number of staff employed on a consultancy basis is not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether people employed (a) through employment agencies and (b) on a consultancy basis are included in the calculations for the full-time equivalent staff mentioned in his Department's annual report. [102988]
Gillian Merron: The following do not include people employed through employment agencies or on a consultancy basis as full-time equivalent staff in the Departmental annual report:
Department for Transport(C)
Government Car and Despatch Agency
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Driving Standards Agency
The Highways Agency includes contractors who are filling a civil service post on a temporary basis in its full-time equivalent figures in the annual report. It does not include those people provided by employment agencies.
The Vehicle Certification Agency includes the numbers of people engaged through employment agencies or on a consultancy basis in the annual report.
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency does not include figures of those employed on an agency or consultancy basis in the Department’s annual report. However it provides a combined figure for agency and consultancy support in the VOSA annual report.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency included in the 05/06 annual report the numbers of people engaged through employment agencies.
Disabled Access Taxis
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many regions have licensing conditions which make requirements in relation to full disability access taxis. [108682]
Gillian Merron: There are 32 licensing areas in Scotland and 15 (47 per cent.) of these have conditions, specifications or policies in place regarding wheelchair- accessible taxis. There are 343 licensing authorities in England and Wales, and 43 (12 per cent.) of these have a mandatory policy for wheelchair accessible taxis.
Disabled Bus Passengers
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to extend free bus travel to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [108153]
Gillian Merron: From April this year, older and disabled people have been guaranteed free off-peak local bus travel within their local authority area. From April 2008, this will be extended further allowing free off-peak local bus travel anywhere in England.
Free concessionary bus travel schemes for older and disabled people already exist in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Eddington Report
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2006, Official Report, column 516W, on the Eddington Report, what the (a) staff costs, (b) publication costs and (c) other costs were. [105101]
Gillian Merron: The Eddington Transport Study was published on 1 December 2006. The Eddington Transport Study team will be winding down in January 2007. Full costs will be available at that point. Sir Rod Eddington has given his time for free to the study.
Heathrow Airport
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many overseas residents on (a) leisure and (b) business trips transferred or transited at Heathrow Airport to (i) an overseas destination and (ii) another destination in the UK in 2005. [108522]
Gillian Merron: The estimated number of overseas residents who transferred at Heathrow Airport in 2005 on:
(i) overseas destination (international) = 12,244,000
(ii) another destination in the UK (domestic) = 879,000
(i) overseas destination (international) = 5,277,000
(ii) another destination in the UK (domestic) = 391,000
Data are from the Civil Aviation Authority's Passenger Survey Report 2005, which can be found at:
www.caa.co.uk/dafault.aspx?categorvid=81 .
This information is not available for transit passengers.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) transfer and (b) transit passengers used Heathrow airport in 2005. [108523]
Gillian Merron: At Heathrow airport in 2005 there were:
(a) 23,036,000 transfer passengers, and
(b) 230,000 transit passengers.
Source:
Data for transfer passengers are from table 3 of CAA Passenger Survey report 2005. Data for transit passengers are from table 9 of CAA Airport Statistics 2005.Both reports may be accessed through www.caa.co.uk .
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many overseas residents on (a) leisure and (b) business trips to the UK arrived at Heathrow airport in 2005. [108525]
Gillian Merron: Data on the aggregate number of overseas residents who arrived or departed from Heathrow airport (terminal passengers) are available from the Civil Aviation Authority’s Passenger Survey Report 2005, Table 4b, found on the following website.
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=81
There are no data on arrivals only.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many UK residents on (a) business and (b) leisure trips to (i) other parts of the UK and (ii) overseas arrived at Heathrow airport in 2005. [108528]
Gillian Merron: Data on the aggregate number of UK residents who arrived or departed from Heathrow airport (terminal passengers) are available from the Civil Aviation Authority’s Passenger Survey Report 2005, Table 4a, found on the following website.
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