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21 Feb 2007 : Column 717W—continued


No vehicles were reported as stolen.

Driving Offences: Northern Ireland

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the policy reasons are for not taking into account licence points accrued in Northern Ireland in road driving bans in the rest of the United Kingdom; if he will ensure that they are taken into account; and if he will make statement. [120668]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 19 February 2007]: The reason that licence points accrued in Northern Ireland are not simply added to those accrued in Great Britain in consideration of possible disqualification from driving is that the points are issued in separate jurisdictions under separate (and in Northern Ireland devolved) legislation.

Any sentencing court in Great Britain may, if presented with a Northern Ireland licence or its paper counterpart, take into account information contained on it, including Northern Ireland penalty points, if it so wishes.

Any driver disqualified from driving in Great Britain is also so disqualified in Northern Ireland, and vice versa, as a result of measures introduced in the Crime (International Cooperation) Act 2003 and the Road Traffic (Driving Disqualifications) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, and brought into effect on 11 October 2004. The 2003 Act and the 2003 Order also enacted the necessary primary legislation to enable us to ratify the 1998 International Convention on driving disqualifications.

We have given priority to dealing with the most serious offenders, by concentrating on driving disqualifications, where officials of all three Administrations, Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland, are working closely together to initiate cooperation between the United Kingdom and Ireland as soon as practicable within the framework of the 1998 International Convention.

The Department is examining the feasibility and implications of bringing into effect mutual recognition of penalty points for motoring offences between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This is being done as part of a wider study, undertaken in cooperation with the Irish Government, of the feasibility of cooperation
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between the United Kingdom and Ireland to penalise motoring offences. I hope to be able to take a view on the way forward at the same time as we initiate practical cooperation on driving disqualifications between the UK and Ireland.

Great Western Trains

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with First Great Western about post-December 2006 (a) reliability and (b) staff shortages on trains to the far South West. [120376]

Mr. Tom Harris: Issues such as staff shortages on trains are discussed when ministers meet monthly with the rail industry to assess performance and also hold other discussions as needed. The last discussion was held with First Group on 14 February 2007.

Lorries: Excise Duties

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will impose road duty on overseas heavy goods vehicles calculated according to their contribution to (a) congestion and (b) pollution. [122394]

Dr. Ladyman: Vehicle excise duty (VED) is paid according to the country of registration and UK VED may not be levied on foreign vehicles. No decisions have been taken on whether to move to a national system of road pricing and what the coverage of such a system might be, but application to foreign lorries is being considered as part of the Government’s exploration of road pricing.

Oil: Production

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department’s policy is on the peak oil concept; and what planning his Department has undertaken on the basis of estimates of oil reserves in (a) 25, (b) 50 and (c) 100 years time. [120521]

Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Science and Innovation on 20 February 2007 (UIN 120523).

Railway Stations: Smoking

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to encourage the early designation of railways and bus stations as non-smoking areas. [121835]

Mr. Tom Harris: All passenger trains are already non-smoking and smoking is not permitted in areas at many stations. Those stations and bus stations where smoking is still permitted will become subject to the new legislation contained in the Health Act 2006 (smoke-free premises, places and vehicles) when it takes effect.


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Railways: Infrastructure

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been invested annually in infrastructure by rail services operating in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) each of the areas of London over the last 10 years. [122106]

Mr. Tom Harris: Investment by the railway industry for Great Britain is set out in the National Rail Trends, which is available in the Library of the House and at:

The Government do not collect investment data by sub-region or region.

Railways: Milton Keynes

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of empty seats on Virgin Pendolino trains passing through Milton Keynes Central Station on weekdays between 7 am and 9 am without stopping, or to set-down only. [122441]

Mr. Tom Harris: The volume of spare capacity on each southbound Virgin Pendolino train passing through Milton Keynes Central station will inevitably vary from day to day. At present, this may amount to no more than 30 seats in standard class and twice this amount in first class, with business continuing to grow substantially.

Railways: Richmond upon Thames

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with South West Trains on extending rail platforms in Richmond Park constituency; which platforms are to be extended; and when this work is expected to be completed. [122105]

Mr. Tom Harris: Decisions on the extending of rail platforms is an operational matter for Network Rail, 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:

Railways: Viaducts

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had on the future of the Nine Elms and Stewarts Lane viaducts near London Waterloo; and if he will make a statement. [122008]

Mr. Tom Harris: These are operational matters for Network Rail, 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:


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South West Trains

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much investment in rail infrastructure is planned by South West Trains over the next (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years. [122007]

Mr. Tom Harris: Decisions on investment on rail infrastructure are made by Network Rail. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail’s Chief Executive at the following address for a response to her question:

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with South West Trains on the future use of the former Eurostar platforms at London Waterloo; and if he will make a statement. [122011]

Mr. Tom Harris: The use of Eurostar platforms at Waterloo was included as a priced option within the Franchise Specification for the South Western Franchise. The Department continues to discuss detailed options at Waterloo International with all interested parties including South West Trains and Network Rail.

Thameslink 2000

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the building works for the Thameslink 2000 project are expected to finish. [122010]

Mr. Tom Harris: The decision to proceed with the Thameslink project is being considered in the context of the comprehensive spending review and the High Level Outputs statement for the rail industry.

A decision on the project will be taken later this year.

If the project is implemented Network Rail’s current programme indicates that the substantive construction work will be completed by 2016.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Pollution Control

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will consider basing the charging regime for the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations on the number of livestock in each farm; and if he will make a statement. [122028]


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Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) on 25 January 2007, Official Report, column 1903W.

Avian Influenza

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what international research his Department is (a) commissioning and (b) supporting into the (i) causes and (ii) transmission of avian influenza. [120925]

Mr. Bradshaw: DEFRA continues to carry out surveillance for avian influenza on an international and domestic scale. These activities provide an essential early warning system. They also help in analysing the effectiveness of disease control measures, which improves our understanding of the virus.

The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) is the world reference laboratory for avian influenza; in the forefront of international efforts to monitor disease patterns and provide advice on disease control. The VLA has a strong avian influenza research team investigating strain differences, improved methods of detection and a greater understanding of the infection and how it spreads.

Other DEFRA-funded research projects on avian influenza include:

Further information is available on the DEFRA website.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to lift the ban on bird gatherings and auctions assuming no further outbreaks of avian influenza are discovered. [122130]

Mr. Bradshaw: The national ban on bird gatherings outside the restricted zones in Norfolk and Suffolk was lifted on 16 February. This followed the publication of the preliminary epidemiological report on the Suffolk outbreak, which suggested that there was little evidence for the involvement of wild birds in the spread of disease.

The lifting of the ban covers falconry displays, fairs, markets, shows, exhibitions and domestic pigeon races. These can go ahead subject to conditions; organisers must notify the state veterinary service at least seven days in advance, and must keep records and practise good biosecurity.


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Bird gatherings are still banned within the protection, surveillance and restricted zones. These restrictions will continue until such time that the zones are lifted completely.

The earliest we would be able to lift the restriction zones in Suffolk and Norfolk is the second week of March, provided there are no further local outbreaks or suspect cases under investigation at the time.

The ban on pigeon racing from outside the British isles remains in place pending a review of the veterinary risk assessment.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many wild birds were reported dead to his Department in each month since February 2005. [120502]

Mr. Bradshaw: Surveillance for avian influenza in wild birds is in place throughout the UK and has been ongoing since October 2005.

The surveillance is now targeted to focus on species of wild birds that experts believe to have a greater potential role in the spread of avian influenza viruses. There is a comprehensive list which generally includes ducks, geese, swans, gulls and waders. Sampling is also targeted to high priority surveillance areas; these have been chosen on the basis of abundance of migratory water bird species and domestic poultry.

Information on the exact number of individual birds reported in each month is not available. However, the total number of dead birds reported and subsequently tested by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) in each month since February 2005 is set out in the following table:

Month/year Number of dead birds tested by the VLA

February 2005

19

March 2005

19

April 2005

45

May 2005

51

June 2005

74

July 2005

63

August 2005

71

September 2005

55

October 2005

149

November 2005

133

December 2005

67

January 2006

85

February 2006

275

March 2006

1,219

April 2006

3,925

May 2006

2,000

June 2006

715

July 2006

271

August 2006

315

September 2006

161

October 2006

161

November 2006

155

December 2006

101

January 2007

186


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