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5 Feb 2007 : Column 678Wcontinued
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where his Department publishes information about Government auctions which it arranges or to which it contributes in (a) Blackpool, (b) Lancashire and (c) the north west; and when the next such auction will take place in each area. [117423]
Mr. Hain: The Northern Ireland Office does not arrange or contribute to auctions in (a) Blackpool (b) Lancashire or (c) the north west.
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the waiting list is for adolescent mental health beds in each health board area. [111065]
Paul Goggins: Mental Health in-patient services for adolescents are provided in only one trust in Northern Ireland, that being South and East Belfast HSS Trust. Information on the number of patients waiting for adolescent mental health in-patient treatment in South and East Belfast HSS Trust by Purchaser Health and Social Services Board is shown in the following table.
Purchaser Health and Social Services Board | Provider trust | Number of patients waiting for adolescent mental health in-patient treatment |
Source: South and East Belfast HSS Trust |
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many public contracts have been awarded in Northern Ireland to (a) Remploy and (b) other similar organisations since January 2006; and if he will take steps to increase the number of contracts awarded to such employers. [112378]
Maria Eagle: Remploy has not been awarded any contracts to deliver services in Northern Ireland. Ulster Supported Employment Ltd. (USEL) is an Executive non-departmental public body that provides similar services to Remploy. Since January 2006 USEL has been awarded 12 public contracts as a result of competitive tendering processes. There are no plans to take steps to increase the number of contracts awarded to USEL. USEL will be able to continue to bid to deliver contracted services as a result of competitive tendering processes.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions the royal prerogative of mercy has been used to pardon individuals who have been convicted of scheduled offences in relation to the situation in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [110551]
Mr. Hanson: Since 2002 the royal prerogative of mercy has been granted to three individuals convicted of terrorist offences relating to Northern Ireland. All three were granted in 2002. In all of these cases, the RPM was used to remit a portion of a prison sentence and not to provide a pardon for the offences committed. There have been no such cases subsequently.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to encourage Central Trains to respond to (a) customer complaints and (b) communications from hon. Members sent on behalf of their constituents in a timely and professional manner; and if he will make a statement. [118519]
Mr. Tom Harris: All operators are required to have a complaints handling procedure which sets out the response rates to complaints which they are required to meet. Central Trains figures for the latest period available indicates that 91 per cent. of complaints were responded to within the target period of three weeks.
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Lancashire county council carried out an integrated transport solution study for the Lancaster district before submitting the business case for the M6 Link Northern Route. [118993]
Dr. Ladyman: I understand that the potential for resolving the transport problems of Lancaster through an integrated transport solution was considered by Lancashire county council in the early part of the development of proposals for a link between Heysham and the M6. The Lancaster Transportation study concluded that a number of coordinated measures, including a new road link to the M6 and a number of other measures such as quality bus routes, cycle routes and park and ride, would be necessary to deal with the transport problems of Lancaster.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles there are in each road tax classification in the London borough of Bexley. [118008]
Dr. Ladyman: The following table contains the number of vehicles for each road tax classification as at 30 September 2006 registered in Bexley.
Taxation class | Category | Number |
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's latest estimate is of the number of (a) untaxed and (b) unlicensed vehicles; and what steps he is taking to reduce the numbers. [118112]
Dr. Ladyman: Following a 2006 roadside survey of vehicle excise duty evasion, statisticians estimate that there are 2.19 million untaxed/unlicensed vehicles in Great Britain. Licensing and taxation are in practice the same.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a clear strategy to tackle evaders. Those who fail to re-tax are identified from the DVLA record and issued
with a penalty notice. Those who continue to fail to re-tax or pay the penalty are targeted through a national wheel clamping operation, the use of automatic number plate reader (ANPR) technology and special operations with the police, local authorities and other enforcement bodies.
In addition, DVLA has a telephone hotline facility whereby the public can inform DVLA of untaxed vehicles in their area.
Since the 2006 roadside survey was conducted, DVLA has:
Doubled the capacity of its wheel clamping operation from 50,000 to 100,000 per annum;
Recruited an additional 50 enforcement field officers to trace untaxed vehicles;
Increased to 86 the number of local authorities and police forces operating local wheel clamping schemes in respect of untaxed vehicles; and
Initiated a debt collection trial to target those who have not paid the penalty for failing to tax their vehicle on time.
DVLA is currently conducting further research to establish the cause of this recent rise in evasion and will be reviewing its enforcement strategy accordingly in order to target evaders more effectively.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the distance was between the location of the MSC Napoli and (a) Portland and (b) Cherbourg at the time it was first taken under the control of (i) the coastguard and (ii) a salvage company. [112010]
Dr. Ladyman: In accordance with the Anglo-French Joint Maritime Contingency Plan (Mancheplan), HM Coastguard had been monitoring the situation involving the MSC Napoli together with the French search and rescue (SAR) authorities from the outset of the incident. Co-ordination of the incident was passed to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Falmouth from the French co-ordination at CROSS Corsen at approximately 16:10 on 19 January 2007 when the MSC Napoli passed over the UK/French median line. At this point the ship was approximately 60 nautical miles from Portland and Cherbourg. Taking all the environmental and safety factors into account, the French authorities were unable to identify a suitable place of refuge on the French coast within about 200 nautical miles.
A salvage contract was agreed at 14:45 on 19 January 2007, when the ship was still in French waters and approximately 110 nautical miles from Portland and Cherbourg.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport why the MSC Napoli was diverted to a British port while under the control of a French salvage company. [112011]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the oral statement I made to the House on 1 February 2007, Official Report, columns 376-78.
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