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15 Jan 2007 : Column 757W—continued


Permit Regulations

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will bring forward secondary legislation on permit regulations under the Traffic Management Act 2004. [114400]

Gillian Merron: Secondary legislation on permit regulations under the Traffic Management Act 2004 is planned to come into force in late 2007.

Railway Stations

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much capital spending Network Rail has allocated to each of its mainline stations over the past 10 years; and what its plans are for future such spending in each station. [115367]

Mr. Tom Harris: These are operational matters for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to her question.


15 Jan 2007 : Column 758W

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Network Rail's proposals for development at Lime Street station, Liverpool. [115539]

Mr. Tom Harris: The development work at Liverpool Lime Street station is a high priority in the Liverpool City Region Development Plan (LCDP) and is being carried out by Network Rail, Merseytravel, Liverpool Vision and Liverpool city council. This development work at the station has been specified by these parties and it is their responsibility.

Road Accidents

Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents were caused by drivers failing to use headlights when road and weather conditions required their use in each of the last five years. [114963]

Dr. Ladyman: In 2005, there were 133 personal injury road accidents where a contributory factor reported by the attending police officer was a driver ‘not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility’. Data prior to 2005 are not available.

Road Congestion

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to reduce congestion on the roads serving (a) Nottingham East Midlands and (b) Birmingham airports. [114260]

Dr. Ladyman: Schemes to reduce congestion on roads serving Nottingham East Midlands and Birmingham International Airports are as follows:

(a) Nottingham East Midlands Airport

The Highways Agency has two schemes in the Targeted Programme of Improvements adjacent to Nottingham East Midlands Airport.

The widening of the M1 to four lanes between Junctions 21 and 30 is currently planned for the period 2007 to 2014-15. The section between Junctions 21 and 25, adjacent to the airport, together with the improvement of Junctions 23A, 24 and 24A and construction of the A6 Kegworth Bypass, is currently planned for the period 2010 to 2014-15.

The widening of the A453 between M1 Junction 24 and the A52 at Nottingham is currently planned for 2008-09, with completion in 2011-12. The A453 proposals would assist in the provision of reliable access between the proposed Parkway railway station and the Airport.

(b) Birmingham International Airport

Active Traffic Management (ATM) with hard shoulder running was implemented on M42 Junctions 3A-7 on 12 September 2006. The full widening of this section of motorway will be considered following an assessment of the impact of the ATM pilot project. The Highways Agency expects this work to be completed in 2008. One of the factors to be taken into account in this assessment will be the need to provide adequate strategic access to cater for any future expansion of Birmingham International Airport.


15 Jan 2007 : Column 759W

Roads

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much of the Highways Agency's (a) capital and (b) revenue budget was spent on roads which fall completely within (i) the boundary of a single local authority and (ii) the boundary of a single regional development agency in each year from 2001-02 to 2005-06. [114878]

Dr. Ladyman: The reporting systems of the Highways Agency do not provide information on a local authority or regional basis.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new roads were built in Essex in each of the last five years. [115882]

Dr. Ladyman: Roads can be built by the Highways Agency, the local transport authority (Essex county council), or private developers; the Secretary of State does not have access to a complete or central record. The following information is sourced from “Essex Traffic Monitoring Report 2005”, published by Essex county council in April 2006, and includes significant schemes built both by the authority and the Highways Agency.

Date Route Location

January 2002

A130

Northern Section (A12-A132)

July 2002

A136

Parkeston Bypass Stage 2

September 2002

A131

Great Leighs Bypass

December 2002

M11

Stansted Slip Roads

February 2003

A130

Southern Section (A132-A127)

June 2003

A134

Northern Approach, Colchester

December 2003

A120

M11-Dunmow West

July 2004

A120

Dunmow West-Braintree

Notes:
1. 2005—no significant routes opened.
2. 2006—data unavailable.

Roadworks

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on overstay charges for utility companies in relation to works undertaken on minor roads. [114419]

Gillian Merron: The Government have recently consulted on proposed changes to the level and structure of charges for unreasonably prolonged occupation of the highway by statutory undertakers, including those for works on minor roads. The results are currently being analysed.

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has undertaken with local authorities on future fee levels for permit schemes for streetworks; and if he will make a statement. [114420]

Gillian Merron: In developing the proposals for future fee levels for permit schemes, a series of workshops were held with representatives from local highway authorities during summer 2006. Discussions were also held with representatives from utility companies. A twelve-week consultation on this issue
15 Jan 2007 : Column 760W
and other proposals for permit schemes is currently taking place, with responses invited by 26 February 2007.

Royal National Lifeboat Institute

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute arising out of (a) health and safety, (b) working time and (c) equal rights legislation since May 1997. [115701]

Dr. Ladyman: The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) is an independent, charitable organisation that does not operate under the sponsorship of the Department for Transport, therefore, I am not in a position to make an estimate of the RNLI’s costs.

Safety Cameras

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fixed speed cameras there are in each local authority area in England and Wales. [115797]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department does not hold this information at a local authority level. The information is held for each of the 38 Safety Camera Partnership areas and this is shown in the following table.


15 Jan 2007 : Column 761W
Partnership Total number of fixed speed cameras

Avon and Somerset

67

Bedfordshire

44

Cambridgeshire

57

Cheshire

45

Cleveland

3

Cumbria

4

Derbyshire

47

Devon and Cornwall

75

Dorset

51

Essex

82

Gloucestershire

27

Greater Manchester

124

Hampshire

31

Hertfordshire

56

Humberside

5

Kent and Medway

73

Lancashire

274

Leicestershire

17

Lincolnshire

45

London

436

Merseyside

31

Mid and South Wales

113

Norfolk

32

North Wales

15

Northamptonshire

42

Northumbria

43

Nottinghamshire

31

South Yorkshire

56

Staffordshire

65

Suffolk

8

Surrey

19

Sussex

52

Thames Valley

216

Warwickshire

21

West Mercia

20

West Midlands

139

West Yorkshire

55

Wiltshire

12

Total

2,522


Severn Bridge

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with the Severn Bridge Toll Company to facilitate the introduction of credit and debit card payment for toll crossings on the Severn Bridge crossings. [113751]

Dr. Ladyman: The issue of card payments is reviewed regularly by the Highways Agency, the Concessionaire (Severn River Crossing plc) and the Government’s representative.

The last discussions were held on the 22 November 2006, at the quarterly review meeting for the concession. The Government’s representative provided a summary briefing to the Highways Agency on 27 November. No decisions have been taken.

Speed Cameras

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue was generated from fines resulting from speed camera convictions in Cambridgeshire in the latest year for which figures are available; and what sums were passed to (a) the Consolidated Fund and (b) the Cambridgeshire Safety Camera Partnership. [114842]

Dr. Ladyman: The audit certificate for the Cambridgeshire Safety Camera Partnership for the financial year shows that fines from the conditional offer of fixed penalties for offences detected by speed cameras during 2004-05 was £1,196,460. The amount returned to the partnership to improve road safety within the Cambridgeshire area for the same period via the netting-off process was £1,021,261 (85.4 percent).

In accordance with the handbook of rules and guidance for the national safety camera programme the surplus of £175,199 is retained by the consolidated fund.

The audit certificates for 2005-06 will be available on the DfT website very shortly.

The ‘netting-off’ funding arrangement for safety cameras is being ended after 2006-07 and from 2007-08 safety cameras and their funding are to be integrated into the Local Transport Plan system (in England outside London) alongside other road safety measures.

This will give greater flexibility to local authorities, the police and the other agencies to pursue whichever locally agreed mix of road safety measures will make the greatest contribution to reducing road casualties in their area. It will also provide greater financial stability and facilitate long-term planning.


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