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22 Mar 2007 : Column 1044W—continued
Transport
Aviation: Safety
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what responsibilities for aircraft safety are under the remit of the Civil Aviation Authority. [128798]
Gillian Merron: The CAA’s functions in relation to aircraft safety are the registration of aircraft, the safety of air navigation and aircraft (including airworthiness), the certification of operators of aircraft and the licensing of aircrews and aerodromes.
Car Sharing
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many kilometres of high occupancy vehicle lanes have been built or designated since 1997. [125972]
Dr. Ladyman: A total of 4,715 lane kilometres of high occupancy vehicle lanes have been built or designated since 1997.
Departments: Internet
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to his Department was of the Act on CO2 website. [128591]
Gillian Merron: The cost of the design and production of the Department’s Act On CO2 micro-site was £110,270. The site is an integral part of the Act On CO2 campaign and all the advertising directs consumers to the site.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on its revised website launched in February 2007. [128593]
Gillian Merron: The new DFT website was launched on 26 January this year. A new Content Management System has been implemented and the project costs are £1.5 million.
These costs include accessibility and usability testing; design of a new information architecture based on user feedback and testing; development of a new visual design; the design and build of the system; migration of content; and the purchase of an enterprise software licence. The enterprise software licence allows the Department to migrate other DFT sites to the same Content Management System without incurring further licence costs. This will help to reduce hosting and maintenance costs across the Department.
Departments: Trade Unions
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many meetings (a) he and (b) his Department’s Ministers held with trade union representatives in 2006. [128766]
Gillian Merron: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Driving Offences: Cellular Phones
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of (a) deaths, (b) serious incidents and (c) other accidents caused by persons driving while using hand-held mobile telephones in each police force area in 2006. [128889]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested for 2006 will be available in summer 2007.
Gatwick Airport: Safety
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the Civil Aviation Authority’s decision to allow a fifth ground handler on the operation and safety of Gatwick Airport. [128800]
Gillian Merron: The responsibility for determining any limits on the number of companies permitted to provided ground handling services at a UK airport rests with the Civil Aviation Authority under the Airports (Groundhandling) Regulations 1997. The CAA’s assessment of the impact of revoking the limit on the number of ground handling service providers at Gatwick airport is set out in the CAA Official Record Series 2, number 1786, which was published on 20 February 2007.
In-flight Refuelling: Safety
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the safety implications of increasing the amount of in-flight refuelling in the aviation industry. [129021]
Gillian Merron: In-flight refuelling is not undertaken within any UK public transport aircraft operation, and the Civil Aviation Authority is not aware of any such activity within the wider civil aviation community. The authority has not received any proposition for civil aircraft to engage in in-flight refuelling, and no safety assessment has been made.
Public Transport: Rural Areas
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on improving public transport in rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [125973]
Gillian Merron:
Local and central Government support for local bus services is now around £2Â1/2 billion a year.
This total includes rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG) specifically to support rural bus services. Since RBSG's introduction in 1998, a total of over £440 million has now been allocated to authorities by means of this grant.
In addition, a total of £110 million has been awarded to authorities successful in rural bus challenge (RBC) competitions held from 1998 to 2003 to encourage innovative solutions to meeting rural transport needs. Many of the 300 projects initially supported by RBC funding are now continuing with mainstream funding from local authorities and other sources.
We have also changed the route registration rules to encourage flexibly routed, demand-responsive bus services and made these services eligible for bus service operators grant (BSOG) from the Department.
Our bus policy document ‘Putting Passengers First’, published in December, includes a range of proposals which we are now taking forward to improve bus and community transport services in rural and urban areas.
We have also implemented the community rail policy on many rural routes, particularly branch lines. In recent years, some lines have seen patronage increase by over 150 per cent. as community rail principles are implemented.
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents resulting in (a) fatalities and (b) serious injury for (i) drivers, (ii) passengers and (iii) pedestrians there were in each police authority in each of the last five years. [128920]
Dr. Ladyman: Tables showing the number of reported personal injury road accidents resulting in (a) fatalities and (b) serious injury for (i) drivers/riders, (ii) passengers and (iii) pedestrians in Great Britain: 2001-05 (the latest year for which figures are available), broken down by police force, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Tolls: Greater London
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) speeding fines, (b) London congestion charge fines and (c) parking fines were incurred by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in each year since 1997; what the value was of fines incurred in each category; and if he will make a statement. [126915]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) has paid the following fines:
| Total parking fines (£) | Congestion charge fines (£) | |
| n/a = Not applicable. | ||
Figures prior to 1999 could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
The Agency has paid no speeding fines.
Parking restrictions within central London may make it impossible sometimes to deliver secure or sensitive documents to buildings or allow people with a high public profile to attend or leave buildings without putting themselves or secure documents at risk. In these cases, GCDA will pay the fine and recharge these costs to the customer as appropriate.
Tolls: Scotland
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on ensuring that Scottish stakeholders participate in discussions on a national system of road pricing. [128345]
Dr. Ladyman: Department for Transport officials and I are working very closely with the Scottish Executive as proposals for local road pricing schemes are being developed and as we take forward the debate on national road pricing.
The Secretary of State met the Scottish Minister for Transport in October to discuss road pricing, and they have exchanged correspondence since.
The Scottish Executive have a standing invitation to the Department’s road pricing local liaison group through which we work with local authorities that are considering introducing local road pricing schemes.
Transport: Southern Region
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding the local transport authority in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk received (i) in total, (ii) per mile of road and (iii) per head of population in each year since 1997. [128015]
Gillian Merron: Tables 1 to 6 show the total local transport funding allocated to the aforementioned authorities for each year since 1997 (i) in total, (ii) per mile of road and (iii) per head of population.
Total local transport funding, as included in the tables, comprises
capital for the delivery of local transport plans (and for up to 1999-2000, the Transport Policies and Programmes submissions that preceded them), including for major local authority schemes, (which can vary substantially from year to year and between authorities);
specific grants to local authorities for bus services;
the Community Infrastructure Fund.
| Bedfordshire | ||||||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Cambridgeshire | ||||||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Essex | ||||||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
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