16 Jan 2007 : Column 955W

Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 16 January 2007

Leader of the House

Political Party Finance

Mr. Heald: To ask the Leader of the House (1) if he will bring forward legislative proposals to impose a statutory cap on (a) individual, (b) corporate and (c) trade union donations to political parties; [114093]

(2) if he will introduce a statutory cap on (a) individual, (b) trade union and (c) corporate donations to political parties. [113961]

Mr. Straw: Sir Hayden Phillips is currently undertaking an independent review of the funding of political parties. He has been asked to aim to produce recommendations that are as much as possible agreed between the political parties with a view to legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

When Sir Hayden Phillips has issued his final report, the Government will carefully consider his conclusions and respond in due course.

Sir Hayden Phillips

Mr. Heald: To ask the Leader of the House what meetings he has had with Sir Hayden Phillips in the last 12 months. [114079]

Mr. Straw: I have had regular meetings with Sir Hayden Phillips since I took over responsibility for reform of party funding arrangements in May 2006.

Transport

Bicycle Thefts

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bicycles were reported stolen from railway stations in each year since 1997. [115695]

Mr. Tom Harris: This information is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British Transport Police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, E-mail:

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on the Channel Tunnel rail link in each of the last five years; and what his estimate is of the likely expenditure in each of the next four years. [115028]


16 Jan 2007 : Column 956W

Mr. Tom Harris: In previous years the following sums have been spent by London and Continental Railways on the construction of sections one and two of the Channel Tunnel rail link (now known as High Speed 1), and the new Eurostar depot at Temple Mills:

£ million

2002

960

2003

932

2004

665

2005

637


Expenditure in 2006 is currently being finalised and will be subject to audit prior to being made public later this year.

Anticipated expenditure for this and future years is commercially sensitive to London and Continental Railways Limited as a private company, and therefore cannot be made public at this time.

Local Transport Plan

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 18 December 2006, Official Report, column 132-3WS, on the Local Transport Capital Settlement 2007-08, whether the funding of £3 billion to improve local transport outside London is included in the total of £8 billion over the five years of the local transport plan period; and whether (a) that £3 billion and (b) any part of it had previously been announced. [114951]

Gillian Merron: The £3 billion funding announced in the written ministerial statement of 18 December 2006 is part of the total planned investment of £8 billion over the five years of the local transport plan period (2006-07 to 2010-11). The £3 billion is composed of integrated transport allocations for the four years from 2007-08 to 2010-11 and maintenance allocations for 2007-08.

These allocations for individual local transport plan areas of the £3 billion have not been announced before. However, planning guidelines distributing most of the integrated transport and maintenance funding to local transport plan areas on an indicative basis had been published previously in order to allow councils to formulate effective and realistic transport strategies.

The Department for Transport's guidance on local transport plans (dated December 2004 and published on the DfT website) pointed out that the eventual allocations for individual local transport plans would be adjusted for performance and so might differ significantly from these indicative planning guidelines. The guidance, however, indicated an intention (now delivered) that each plan area would receive at least three quarters of its planning guidelines.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contractors have claimed success fees in bid competitions since the establishment of
16 Jan 2007 : Column 957W
public private partnerships and private finance initiatives; and at what cost to the public purse. [115685]

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport has not paid any success fees to contractors on public private partnership or private finance initiative projects.

Rail Services

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of c2c's performance in managing the rail network in southern Essex. [115881]

Mr. Tom Harris: Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. However, managing rail network performance is the responsibility of Network Rail and joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and c2c to address performance issues. These are monitored monthly.

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to encourage train operating companies to install automatic ticket machines in their stations that are of universal design and use the same command sequence; and if he will make a statement. [116090]

Mr. Tom Harris: Decisions on whether to install ticket vending machines, the type of machines to be procured, and the detailed way in which the machines will work, are a matter for train operators.

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to encourage train operating companies to adopt a consistent nationwide policy on the issuing of penalty fares to passengers not in possession of a valid ticket. [116091]

Mr. Tom Harris: All operators who charge penalty fares must comply with the Penalty Fares Rules 2002 and the provisions of their own penalty fares scheme. Every penalty fares scheme must be approved by the Department for Transport. The Penalty Fares Rules ensure consistency between operators in terms of when a penalty fare may and may not be charged, the wording and design of penalty fare warning notices, criteria for accepting or declining appeals, and the use of discretion by staff.

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what agency has responsibility for ensuring that train operating companies comply with the terms of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. [116092]

Mr. Tom Harris: Operators are required to comply with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage by their Passenger Licence, which is enforced by the Office of Rail Regulation. Compliance with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage is also a requirement of franchise agreements, which are enforced by the Department for Transport.


16 Jan 2007 : Column 958W

Street Lighting

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to require local authorities to publish a statement annually setting out their policies on street lighting with details of the number, age and energy efficiency of the assets; and if he will make a statement. [114834]

Gillian Merron: The Department endorses the recommendation in ‘Well-lit Highways’, the UK Lighting Board code of practice for highways lighting management (TSO, 2004), that local authorities should clearly and publicly state their public lighting service policy, and local highway authorities have been encouraged to prepare transport asset management plans drawing together the information required to execute policies effectively. The plans will include a description of the transport assets held, their existing condition, and proposed service levels. They will also provide an opportunity to set out the authority's asset management policies, including those relevant to the energy efficiency of assets.

Good inventory records are a necessary foundation for effective management of highway assets, and DfT officials have been working with the UK Lighting Board to encourage local authorities to improve their street lighting inventories.

Trade Union Funding

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has given to individual trade unions in the last three years. [113978]

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport, including its agencies, has given no funding to individual trade unions in the last three years.

International Development

Actis

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the outcomes of each investment made by Actis since February 2004. [114778]

Hilary Benn: CDC Group plc, as a Government-owned fund of funds, provides capital for investment in sustainable and responsibly managed private sector businesses in poorer countries through funds managed by Actis and others. CDC is responsible for assessing the outcome of fund managers' investments against the objectives and business principles which I agreed with it in 2004. Results are published in CDC's annual report.

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid and assistance has been given by the Government to developing countries attempting to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. [114777]


16 Jan 2007 : Column 959W

Mr. Thomas: DFID has provided approximately £4.5 million to date to support countries wishing to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The majority of this has been channelled through the EITI Multi-Donor Trust Fund administered by the World Bank, which DFID helped set up to provide support to developing countries seeking to implement EITI. In addition, DFID staff in their role as EITI Secretariat, have produced guidance to countries seeking to implement EITI, which is contained in the EITI Source Book and Validation Guide.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the Government plans to make a contribution to the UN High Commission for Refugees' emergency appeal for refugees fleeing violence in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [115275]

Hilary Benn: DFID is very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Iraq and we are in close contact with the United Nations and Red Cross to discuss what more the UK can do. UN agencies estimate that some 1.7 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and up to two million others have fled to nearby countries. We are currently discussing with UN agencies and the international Red Cross where funds can be most effectively placed to deliver assistance on the ground. No decision has yet been taken over whether we will be contributing to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees appeal.

DFID is already supporting humanitarian agencies in Iraq. Since 2003 we have contributed over £100 million of assistance to the UN and Red Cross. This includes £85 million to UN humanitarian appeals and £32 million to the international Red Cross—we made a contribution of £4 million to the 2006 Red Cross appeal. Additionally, DFID provided £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), which provides support to IDPs or internaly displaced persons through UN trust funds cluster F (which is identified for humanitarian needs).

Parliamentary Questions

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many written parliamentary questions to his Department in the 2005-06 session were not answered wholly or in part on grounds of disproportionate cost. [113295]

Hilary Benn: DFID does hold this information in the format requested, but it is obtainable from the Hansard Official Report.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many written parliamentary questions to his Department in the 2005-06 session were answered with a reply that it had not been possible to reply before prorogation. [113296]


16 Jan 2007 : Column 960W

Hilary Benn: Five parliamentary questions in the 2005-06 session were answered with such replies. In all cases, I wrote letters with the answers to those Members who had tabled the questions.

School Partnerships

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many school partnerships have been established between UK schools and schools in developing countries in each of the last 12 months. [115109]

Mr. Thomas: The DFID Global School Partnerships (DGSP) programme does not set up partnerships between schools in the UK and schools in developing countries. It works with schools that already have partnerships and are looking for advice and guidance and/or grants to support their links. The DGSP has awarded a total of 576 grants from January 2003 to December 2006.

Reciprocal visit grants Global curriculum project grants Total

2003

47

29

76

2004

106

37

143

2005

95

32

127

2006

183

47

230

Total

431

145

576


Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what date the partnership programme linking UK schools with those in developing countries began. [115110]

Mr. Thomas: The DFID Global School Partnerships programme commenced on 1 January 2003.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the £7.5 million allocated over three years for the Global Schools Partnerships programme will be spent in (a) the UK and (b) developing countries. [115111]

Mr. Thomas: The increased budget of £7.5 million runs from April 2006 for three years. However, the current contract for the management of the programme ends in December 2007 so we can only provide figures for £4.4 million, the amount to be spent by that date.


Next Section Index Home Page