Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Leader of the House
Departments: Trade Unions
Mrs. May: To ask the Leader of the House how many meetings (a) he and (b) his deputy held with trade union representatives in 2006. [128754]
Wales
Business Regulations
12. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next expects to meet representatives of business organisations to discuss the impact of central Government regulations on Welsh businesses. [127786]
Mr. Hain: I have regular meetings with representatives of the business community to discuss issues that concern them.
Economic Activity
13. Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Minister on levels of economic activity in Wales. [127787]
Mr. Hain: I have regular discussions with the First Minister on a range of issues, including economic activity levels in Wales.
There are currently 1.426 million economically active people in Wales, with employment at a record high.
Manufacturing Exports
14. Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the First Minister to discuss manufacturing exports from Wales. [127788]
Mr. Hain: I meet regularly with the First Minister to discuss a range of issues, including exports and the manufacturing sector in Wales.
Prisons: Doctors
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many prison doctors are employed full-time in Wales. [127643]
Mr. Hain: No prison doctor is currently employed in Wales. One doctor is employed part-time by the Prison Service, and the remainder are employed on a sessional basis by various contracted GP service providers. Together they provide a total of 37 sessions per week across the four prisons.
Transport
Departments: Work Permits
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many work permits were applied for by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years. [127711]
Gillian Merron: The number of work permits applied for over the past five years by the Department and its agencies on behalf of permanent staff was:
| Number | |
Driving Offences
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of his joint letter with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to Chief Constables in England and Wales in early 2007 outlining the Government’s position on enforcement levels of criminal motoring offences. [128590]
M1: Tinsley
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whom he would expect to consult before agreeing to a request to close the M1 at Tinsley in order to facilitate the demolition of the cooling towers; and how much notice he would give the public of any such closure. [128911]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency would consult with the police, Sheffield city council and Rotherham metropolitan borough council, once details have been finalised, before agreeing a request to close the M1 at Tinsley in order to facilitate the demolition of the cooling towers.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on which days it would be possible to close the M1 at Tinsley to facilitate the demolition of the cooling towers; and for how long such a closure would be in place. [128912]
Dr. Ladyman: It is likely that if demolition of the cooling towers at Tinsley were to go ahead the M1 will be closed from 9 pm on a Saturday through to 6 am on a Monday, or until such time as it is safe to reopen the motorway.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the length of time the M1 at Tinsley will need to be closed in order to allow the demolition of the cooling towers; and what assessment he has made of the likely effect on traffic. [128913]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency is currently assessing for how long the M1 at Tinsley would need to be closed, and the impact on traffic.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received any requests to close the M1 at Tinsley for the purpose of demolishing the cooling towers; and whether any such closure is planned. [128914]
Dr. Ladyman: No formal requests to close the M1 at Tinsley have been received for the purpose of demolishing the cooling towers. However, on safety grounds the Highways Agency would close the M1 should the demolition go ahead.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the cost of closing the M1 at Tinsley to facilitate the demolition of the cooling towers. [128915]
Dr. Ladyman: The cost of closing the M1 at Tinsley to facilitate the demolition of the cooling towers cannot be estimated until details have been finalised.
Railways: Brighton
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what work has been undertaken to enhance capacity on the London to Brighton line since 1997. [125982]
Mr. Tom Harris: Since 1997 the measure to address capacity issues on the Brighton Main Line has been to introduce new rolling stock for the Southern franchise. The old slam door fleet has been fully replaced, with 24 per cent. extra trains in total, with each new train having more capacity than the train it replaced.
The next phase of capacity enhancement will be implemented as the Brighton Main Line Rail Utilisation Strategy (BML RUS). The BML RUS will make better use of the existing capacity on the Brighton Main Line. After this the next measure would be the Thameslink programme that will be decided on as part of the comprehensive spending review this year
The High Level Output Statement (HLOS), again due to be published this year, will set out the best long-term plan to accommodate the growth on this route beyond the steps already taken and the plans already in place.
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there is a backlog of maintenance for local roads. [125991]
Gillian Merron: Local authorities are responsible for the maintenance of their highways networks. Each local authority decides on appropriate service levels and standards for their own highways and what maintenance is required. The Department does not collect information centrally on the amount of work that authorities consider to be outstanding.
The Department has encouraged all local highway authorities to produce asset management plans for
their roads. These bring together inventory and conditions information which, together with target condition based upon desired service levels, will inform calculations of maintenance need. We are also working with local authorities to identify best practice in highways asset management with a view to publishing best practice guidance. This will build on the UK Roads Liaison Group’s three codes of practice covering street lighting, highways and bridges, published in November 2004, July 2005 and September 2005 respectively, which provide advice on efficient and effective management of the network.
Speed Limits: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fixed speed cameras are located in Gloucestershire, broken down by site and district council area. [129010]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department does not hold this information by district council area. The information is held for the area covered by the Gloucestershire Safety Camera Partnership and the site details are shown in the following list.
A4019/Tewkesbury Road (St. Peters)
A419/Cainscross Road/(Lodgemore Lane)
A419/Cainscross Road/(Marling School)
A48/Highbank
A48/Walmore Hill
A48/Chaxhill
A48/Minsterworth School
A48/Alvington
A40Huntley
A40/Birdwood
A4302/Metz Way
A38/Norton
A40/Northleach
A4309/Bristol Road/Morelands
A4309/Bristol Road/Permali
A38/Finlay Road
A38/Eastern Avenue/Ambulance Station
A38/Eastern Avenue/TA Centre
A38/Whitminster
A38/Cambridge
A48/Woolaston
B4063/London Road
A40/Dowdeswell
A429/Foss Cross
A429/Slaughter Pike
A4135/Dursley
Transport: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what transport improvements for which his Department is responsible there have been in Tamworth constituency in the last 12 months; and what improvements are planned. [128347]
Gillian Merron: The Department allocated £24.049 million of capital resources to Staffordshire county council for 2006-07 through the local transport block funding for integrated transport and maintenance.
Staffordshire’s delivery of their first local transport plan period was excellent and their plan for the second local transport period to 2011 has been assessed as ‘good’. We have already committed a further £40.86 million in support for capital investment in the plan, and further allocations for highway maintenance will be announced in December.
On the railways, investment of over £8 billion has gone into the West Coast Main Line. From December 2008 Tamworth will benefit in having a regular hourly service throughout the day to and from London and Crewe plus fast morning and evening business services to and from London.
Tamworth has also benefited from the A5 Weeford to Fazeley improvement which was completed in October 2005.
West Coast Main Line
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects longer Pendolino trains to be operating on the West Coast Main Line. [128742]
Mr. Tom Harris: Negotiations continue to take place with Virgin Trains and their partners over the provision of additional cars for the Pendolino trains. I cannot give any specific time scales at this stage.
International Development
Democratic Republic of Congo
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian needs of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement. [128349]
Hilary Benn: Compared to the situation this time last year, there has been some small improvement in the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): the overall numbers of new displacements per month has reduced slightly; the total number of displaced persons is now estimated by the UN Organisation for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) to be about 1 million; there has been a continuing flow of Congolese refugees returning from neighbouring countries with about 405,000 remaining outside the country and there has been a considerable reduction in the recruitment of child soldiers.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |