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6 Mar 2007 : Column 1835W—continued

Airports: Kent

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with other government departments on the impact on the RSPB bird reserve at Dungeness of an extension of Lydd Airport in Kent. [125043]

Gillian Merron: No such discussions have taken place. The relevant planning application is subject to local planning procedures.

Aviation: Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made towards the development of a hydrogen fuelled aircraft; and what the Government’s role is in the development of such an aircraft. [124885]

Gillian Merron: The design of future aircraft engines and their fuelling is primarily a matter for aero-engine manufacturers and the fuel industry and their research programmes.

In practice, alternative fuels for aviation are not an imminent prospect. Hydrogen also has its own environmental drawbacks: at altitude, it is a global warming gas. Consideration also has to be given to the energy needed for hydrogen production, as well as to infrastructure and safety issues.

Biofuels

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many garages and petrol stations provide (a) bio-fuels, (b) liquefied petroleum gas and (c) compressed natural gas; and what steps he is taking to increase these numbers. [125552]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not held centrally by Government. However regularly updated figures are available on the Energy Saving Trust website at:


6 Mar 2007 : Column 1836W

The Government provide funds to the Energy Saving Trust to run their Infrastructure grant programme. The grants assist the building of refuelling stations for alternative fuels (natural gas/biogas, hydrogen and bio-ethanol). The Department for Transport also funds EST’s Low Carbon Research and Development Programme to accelerate low carbon vehicle technologies to the market place.

The Government encourage the use of alternative fuels through reduced rates of Vehicle Excise Duty for cars run on certain alternative fuels (for example LPG) and registered after 1 March 2001. Bio-diesel and bio-ethanol also both benefit from a 20p per litre fuel duty incentive. The Government are also introducing a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in April 2008 which will ensure a significant and stable market for biofuels in the UK, and is likely to mean that biofuels are available in low blends at the majority of forecourts in the UK.

Bus Services

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evaluation he has undertaken of the Kickstart transport scheme; and what plans he has to extend the scheme. [124731]

Gillian Merron: Last year the Department, jointly with the Scottish Executive, commissioned consultants to carry out an evaluation of the Kickstart scheme and the similar Bus Route Development Grant scheme in Scotland. The results of this study will be published shortly on the Department’s website.

Decisions on funding for any future Kickstart competitions will be made in the light of the Government’s 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, and the review of bus subsidies announced in our bus policy document, ‘Putting Passengers First’.

Bus Services: Concessions

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pensioners in Chorley constituency (a) are eligible for and (b) have used the free local bus travel scheme. [125241]

Gillian Merron: The information is as follows:

Civil Aviation Act 2006

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the provisions of section 4 of the Civil Aviation Act 2006 to be brought into force; and if he will make a statement. [124360]

Gillian Merron [holding answer 5 March 2007]: The Civil Aviation Act 2006 (Commencement No.1) Order 2007, made on 1 March, brings section 4 of the Act
6 Mar 2007 : Column 1837W
into force. This section gives operators of non-designated airports powers to establish a noise control scheme and to charge penalties to operators of aircraft that breach the terms of that scheme.

Departments: Domestic Visits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on official visits within the UK in each year since 2003. [122465]

Gillian Merron: Expenditure on UK travel and subsistence for the Department for Transport (Central), and five of its agencies is shown in the table. The figures are derived from staff expenses claims, and from paid invoices from suppliers. HA and DSA do not account separately for UK and overseas travel and subsistence, and could provide the information only at disproportionate cost. GCDA joined the Department during financial year 2005-06, and so its figures are only included for that period.

£

2003-04

15,782,630

2004-05

16,199,580

2005-06

18,562,313


Departments: Equal Opportunities

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department has made in achieving gender equality in public appointments to bodies which fall within his Department’s responsibility since 1997. [125210]

Gillian Merron [holding answer 5 March 2007]: The Government remain committed to improving diversity on the boards of public bodies and the principle of equal representation of women and men in public appointments. The annual Cabinet Office publication ‘Public Bodies’ contains details of the number of women appointed to public bodies each year by Department. For 1997-2006 copies of these documents are available in the Library for the reference of Members. From 1998 copies are also available on the internet at:

Departments: Pendle

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what expenditure is planned to be carried out in Pendle by his Department in each year up to 2010; and if he will make a statement. [120750]

Gillian Merron: Disaggregated figures at constituency or local level are not available for most of the Department for Transport’s planned expenditure (including for railways and trunk roads).

The local transport capital funding allocations made for Lancashire county council for the years up to 2010-11 are detailed in the following table. The Department does not allocate local transport plan funding to individual constituency areas. It is up to
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Lancashire county council to determine where it allocates the fund support provided for the county according to its local priorities.

£ million
Lancashire Integrated transport Highways capital maintenance

2007-08

11.961

15.681

2008-09

12.583

(1)

2009-10

13.389

(1)

2010-11

14.189

(1)

(1 )Yet to be allocated and announced

In addition the Department is paying Lancashire county council a grant under the Rural Bus Challenge (RBC) competition for a project that operates in Pendle called the ‘Pendleside Wayfarer’. This received an award of £706,704, part of which has been paid.

The remaining balance of the grant is £368,447 and the planned payments are:

£

2006-07

147,644

2007-08

220,803


The Government provides further financial support for bus services in the locality, including through:

Revenue support grant is provided to a local authority to use for services according to its local priorities and the Government do not identify specific levels of funding to be spent on particular activities, such as supporting bus services.

Departments: Research

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies are being carried out for his Department by external organisations. [124833]

Gillian Merron: The Department and its agencies commission research and advice through a wide range of research contractors, including industry, academia and public research establishments. We also contribute to European and other international research programmes.

Transport research programmes cover a very wide range of issues. A detailed answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost as a complete record of all studies is not collected centrally.

However, information about the Department’s evidence needs and how we meet them is given in the Evidence and Research Strategy (accessible at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/scienceresearch/er/ers/). Details of many research projects can be found on the DfT Research Database (http://www.rmd.dft.gov.uk/). and on the websites of the Highways Agency (http://www.ha-research.co.uk/) and the Maritime and
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Coastguard Agency (http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-quidance-requlation/mcga-dgs-research_reports.htm).

Departments: Theft

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what items valued at above £100 were reported as stolen from his Department’s buildings or premises in the last 12 months. [121970]

Gillian Merron: For the period, 1 February 2006 to the 31 January 2007, the following items belonging to the Department for Transport and its Agencies have been reported as stolen from departmental buildings:

Item Value (£) (if known)

Radio equipment

1,200

Computer equipment

31,891

Television equipment

5,700

Mobile phone equipment

250

Cash

350

Total

39,391


Inland Waterways: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the
6 Mar 2007 : Column 1840W
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on recent reductions in the budget for British Waterways. [125116]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on inland waterways, but DfT and Defra officials do meet on a regular basis to discuss issues of mutual interest—including this issue. However, it is ultimately a matter for navigation authorities to prioritise their activities in the light of competing demands for available resources.

London Underground

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many delays of more than (a) five minutes, (b) 10 minutes and (c) 15 minutes there were on the London Underground (LU) in each year since 1990 during which his Department had responsibility for LU, broken down by line. [124245]

Gillian Merron: Responsibility for London Underground passed to Transport for London and the Mayor of London on 15 July 2003. Performance since then has been an operational matter for London Underground who are best placed to answer direct. London Underground does not hold figures in the breakdown requested and the information on the years prior to 1996 could be provided only at disproportionate time and cost. The figures for 1996 to 2003 are:

Number of train delays >15 minutes 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03

Bakerloo

255

232

300

329

300

318

356

Central

512

678

541

446

495

501

284

District

385

332

360

326

418

574

573

Jubilee

138

142

173

234

208

289

246

East London

4

295

136

110

108

102

Northern

343

336

332

235

216

247

250

Piccadilly

258

246

275

246

267

333

392

Victoria

131

183

142

95

97

151

148

Metropolitan

374

375

302

319

404

495

564

Circle and Hammersmith

181

135

134

189

291

287

287

Waterloo and City

79

30

44

34

38

39

76

Total

2,656

2,693

2,898

2,589

2,844

3,342

3,278


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