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23 Jan 2007 : Column 1679W—continued
Mr. Tom Harris: The social and environmental impacts of franchise specifications are assessed in line with the Department’s WebTAG transport appraisal guidance.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will initiate an investigation into the operation of the new Great Western franchise, with particular reference to (a) reliability, (b) punctuality and (c) the new timetable; and if he will investigate the current performance of (i) First Great Western and (ii) Network Rail. [117370]
Mr. Tom Harris: I hold meetings regularly with First Great Western and Network Rail to assess performance. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and FGW to address performance issues. These are monitored monthly.
Network Rail is regulated by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). ORR has been investigating performance on the western routes.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals are being evaluated to increase train traction on steel tracks. [110624]
Mr. Tom Harris: Train traction can be increased by controlled application of sand and by managing wheel-spin through intelligent control of the torque applied to the wheels by the motor. Both of these methods are already in use on modern rolling stock and locomotives across the UK network. New wheel materials with a higher coefficient of friction are theoretically possible but none has been found so far that is capable of standing up to railway conditions. Linear induction motors (which do not rely on wheel/rail friction) are in use in a few niche applications across the world but require expensive additional infrastructure.
Roadside Emergency Telephones
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many roadside emergency telephones there are on the road network; and how many were (a) reported as faulty, (b) vandalised and (c) replaced in each of the last 10 years. [117036]
Dr. Ladyman: There are 6,835 emergency roadside telephones on motorways and all-purpose trunk roads in England.
Information on telephone faults and maintenance replacements is only available as detailed.
(a) Telephone availability throughout the year is monitored automatically and recorded as the annual percentage availability. Statistics are currently available for the period 2002 to 2005 as follows:
| Telephone availability (Percentage) | |
(b) Separate records are not kept nationally for the number of telephones vandalised.
(c) Telephones replaced in 2004, 2005 and 2006 due to equipment failure, damage or vandalism totalled:
| Number of telephones replaced | |
A national programme of works is currently under way to upgrade roadside emergency telephones to include new technology that has become available. During 2005 and 2006 a total of 878 telephones were replaced as part of this programme.
Translation Services
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what documents his Department and its agencies translate for people in the UK who do not speak English; into which languages such documents are translated; and what the cost was of producing such translations in each of the last five years, broken down by language of translation; [113883]
(2) for what services provided by his Department and its related agencies translation services are provided. [113886]
Gillian Merron: The Department has a framework contract to supply translations to support the services it provides and these are commissioned by individual business units within the Department as required. Information on the services and costs for which translations are made is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The DfT and its Executive Agencies have translated the following documents:
Home Department
ASBOs
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were issued in each London borough in each of the last four years; how many have been breached in each case; how many breaches have resulted in a period of detention or imprisonment in each case; and if he will make a statement. [114264]
Mr. McNulty: A table giving the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued annually, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, by the local government authority area in which prohibitions have been imposed, up to 31 December 2005 (latest available), can be found on the Crime Reduction website at:
www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
ASBO breach data are not available at local authority level. The available information is given in the table.
| Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued between 2002 and 2005 in the Greater London Criminal Justice System (CJS) area and the number subsequently proven in court to have been breached | ||||
| Year in which ASBO issued | ||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| (1) On at least one occasion by the end of 2005. (2) On at least one occasion. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Sources: ASBOs issued: Court Service. ASBOs breached: OCJR Court Proceedings Database. | ||||
Ashfield Young Offender Institution
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child protection referrals have been made by Ashfield Young Offender Institution since 2004; and what the (a) issue and (b) outcome was in each case. [116829]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There have been a total of 204 child protection referrals from HMP and YOI Ashfield since November 2004. The issues involved and outcomes are detailed in the following table.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff have been injured in Ashfield Young Offender Institution since 2004. [116830]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Accident records show that a total of 616 staff have been injured at Ashfield YOI since 2004.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of ill-discipline resulted from strip searching in Ashfield Young Offender Institution since 2004. [116831]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There have been no instances of ill discipline resulting from full searching (strip-searching) at HMP and YOI Ashfield since 2004.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people were held in segregation in Ashfield Young Offender Institution in each month since January 2005; and how many have been so held for more than (a) seven and (b) 28 days since 2004. [116832]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The figures requested are included in the following tables.
| Number held in reorientation since 2005 | |
| Number | |
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