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7 Mar 2007 : Column 1994W—continued

Transport

Blue Badge Scheme: Children

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his plans are to amend the Blue Badge regulations to allow disabled children under the age of two years with mobility needs to have access to badges; and if he will make a statement. [125840]

Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 26 February 2007, Official Report, columns 1011-1012W.

Bus Services: Bedfordshire

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the proposed Translink guided busway between Dunstable and Luton. [124607]

Gillian Merron: The Translink scheme was granted provisional approval in December 2003. Following a public inquiry, an order under the Transport and Works Act 1968 was issued on 2 November 2006 granting Luton powers they would need to commence construction of the scheme. It is now for Luton to prepare a revised business case for the Department to consider before deciding whether to grant funding approval to begin procurement.

Departments: Databases

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what databases are controlled by his Department and its agencies; and what percentage of the data in each database he estimates is inaccurate or out of date. [124026]

Gillian Merron: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.


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London Underground: Rolling Stock

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the letter of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) of 8 February 2007, how he expects the £3.1 billion spending on London Underground’s train fleet sub-surface upgrade to be divided between (a) new trains, (b) new signalling and (c) other line/network improvements; and if he will make a statement. [125802]

Gillian Merron [holding answer 6 March 2007]: Responsibility for London Underground passed to Transport for London and ultimately the Mayor on 15 July 2003. Performance and operation of the PPP Contracts is a matter for London Underground (LU). Delivery of the sub-surface line upgrades rests with LU’s PPP contractors and they will determine the amounts to be spent on the different elements of the upgrade in order to meet the outcomes described in the PPP contracts. As I stated in my letter of 8 February, about £266 million is being invested in new rolling stock (trains) and £433 million will be invested in new signalling, between 2005 and 2010, significant further investment will occur after 2010. It is not possible to disaggregate other investments such as the on-going station refurbishment programme or track replacement costs from the payments made by London Underground to its PPP contractors.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what response he has made to the report by Steve Langdon on the misregistration of vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [125866]

Dr. Ladyman: I am not aware of this publication.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent action he has taken to tackle the misregistration of motor vehicles. [125686]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government has introduced a series of new measures to tackle misregistration of vehicles, which can take the form of vehicle cloning or registration of vehicles at incorrect addresses.

Measures to tackle vehicle cloning include new powers in the Road Safety Act 2006 to extend the regulation of number plate suppliers throughout the UK. Other measures include the introduction in 2006 of a standard for theft resistant number plates and the tightening up of vehicle registration procedures to prevent the use of scrapped vehicles to disguise the identity of stolen vehicles.

Measures to tackle registration of vehicles at incorrect addresses include identity checks on those registering imported vehicles and liaison with the police on applications from known ‘mail-drop’ addresses.

It is now an offence under the Serious Organised Crime Act (2005) to use an incorrectly registered vehicle.


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Official Cars

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was raised through the sale of cars by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in each of the last five years. [124611]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government Car and Despatch Agency sold the following cars:

Number of cars sold Sale proceeds (£)

2002-03

45

156,699.36

2003-04

38

133,632.31

2004-05

77

223,014.74

2005-06

85

312,053.36

2006-07

75

305,930.15


Road Traffic: Accidents

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents occurred in Eastbourne constituency in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) date and (b) location. [125664]

Dr. Ladyman: The number of reported personal injury road accidents in the parliamentary constituency of Eastbourne in each year since 1997 is given as follows. Separate figures for the date and location of each accident could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Number of accidents

1997

305

1998

359

1999

356

2000

330

2001

321

2002

348

2003

358

2004

340

2005

309


West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Acute Beds

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received on the transport infrastructure implications of the relocation of acute hospital services by West Hertfordshire NHS Trust. [125254]

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport has received no such representations.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Cluster Munitions

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the outcome of the Oslo conference on cluster munitions; and how her Department plans to implement the agreement reached at the conference. [124549]


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Margaret Beckett: The UK is pleased to be able to support the Oslo Declaration, committing us to work towards a new legally binding instrument on cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The UK's interpretive statement at Oslo explains how this fits with our national policy available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:

We will pursue the aim agreed at Oslo with all the users and producers through the convention on certain conventional weapons and other relevant fora.

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her (a) US, (b) Russian, (c) Chinese and (d) Israeli counterparts on the outcome of the Oslo conference on cluster munitions; what the outcome was of those discussions; and if she will make a statement. [124550]

Margaret Beckett: I have not discussed cluster munitions with my US, Russian, Chinese or Israeli counterparts since the Oslo conference (22-23 February). The UK delegation to the conference on disarmament in Geneva has spoken to the aforementioned countries on the outcome of the Oslo conference and on addressing the issue of cluster munitions within the convention on certain conventional weapons. We continue to remain in close contact with these and other interested Governments on this important issue.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the outcome of the Oslo conference on cluster munitions held on 22 and 23 February. [125337]

Dr. Howells: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Mr. Michael Moore) today (UIN 124549).

Colombia: EC Aid

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions her Department had with the Colombian Defence Minister during his recent visit on (a) UK and (b) EU support for Plan Colombia, part II; and if she will make a statement. [124584]

Mr. Hoon: My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Kim Howells, held constructive talks with the Colombian Defence Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, during his recent visit to London. There was no specific mention of Plan Colombia, part II. However, issues discussed during the meeting included the peace process in Colombia and human rights reforms in the Colombian military. My hon. Friend the Minister of State also expressed the UK’s continuing support on counter-narcotics and stated that the UK was keen to encourage other EU member states to support Colombia in its counter- narcotics efforts.


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Democratic Republic of Congo: Human Rights

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her most recent assessment is of the observance of (a) human rights and (b) women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [125177]

Mr. McCartney: The human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is still poor. Congolese civilians, particularly in eastern DRC, continue to suffer abuses committed by members of the Congolese armed forces and militia groups. A climate of impunity prevails.

Widespread sexual violence is still prevalent, especially in the east. It is perpetrated mainly by the armed forces and frequently goes unpunished. Representation of women in Government, Parliament and the commercial sector is still low, despite strong assertion of equal rights in the new constitution. The UK is continuing its efforts to mainstream gender in its development assistance, but the most immediate impact will be felt through bringing about army reform and strengthening the justice sector.

The UK will continue to remind the DRC authorities of the need to protect the rights of all vulnerable groups and to bring to justice all perpetrators of abuse.

Departments: St George's Day

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans her Department has to celebrate St. George’s Day. [125786]

Mr. Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no central plans to celebrate St. George’s Day. FCO staff overseas may be involved in celebrating local St. George’s Day activities.

Hissene Habre

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with (a) the Government of Senegal and (b) her EU counterparts on the trial of the former president of Chad, Hissene Habre, and potential EU assistance in that trial. [125235]

Mr. McCartney: The UK has regular consultations with EU colleagues on the progress of Hissene Habre’s trial, most recently in the Africa Working Group on 28 February. We will continue, with the EU, to discuss and review the development of the trial.

Our ambassador in Dakar made representations to the Government of Senegal in October 2006 to urge them to pass the required legislation to enable the trial of Hissene Habre to be held in Senegal with minimum delay. We welcome the passing of the necessary legislation by the Sengalese National Assembly on 31 January 2007 to permit a trial to take place in Senegal and urge the Government of Senegal to expedite the process.


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Indonesia: Defence Equipment

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions concerning strategic exports Ministers in her Department had with Indonesian Ministers during their visit to the UK in January; and if she will make a statement. [125897]

Mr. McCartney: On 31 January I had discussions with the Indonesian Trade Minister on promoting bilateral trade and investment.

On the same day, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary took part in a bilateral forum with the Indonesian Foreign, Trade and Defence Ministers, which covered the Doha Development Round and the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Association of South East Asian Nations.

No strategic export sectors were discussed.

Iran: Hezbollah

Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what her assessment is of the impact of recent efforts to enforce UNSCR 1559 and 1701 on the transfer of (a) funds and (b) weapons to Hezbollah from Iran; and if she will make a statement; [123957]

(2) what estimate has been made of the level of funding provided to Hezbollah by Iran since August 2006; and if she will make a statement. [123958]

Margaret Beckett: Following UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1701, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has deployed over 11,000 troops in South Lebanon. UNIFIL also operates a Maritime Task Force, which assists the Government of Lebanon in implementing UNSCR 1701. In addition, the Lebanese armed forces have deployed 8,500 troops in South Lebanon and 8,500 troops along the Lebanon/Syria border. The UK and other international partners are working with the Government of Lebanon to strengthen Lebanon’s border monitoring capability further. We continue to receive credible reports that Iran continues to supply Hezbollah with financing and weapons, but we cannot reliably estimate the level of this.

We call on Iran and other regional states and Hezbollah to comply with UNSCRs 1559, 1680 and 1701.


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