| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
25 Jun 2007 : Column 511W—continued
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of greenhouse gas emissions he expects air travel to represent in the next 20 years. [140188]
Gillian Merron:
Estimates of aviation emissions in 2030 were provided in Aviation and Global Warming
published by the Department for Transport in 2004 and are available on the Department’s website at:
Aviation: Fuels
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the aviation industry's progress towards its aim of improving fuel efficiency by 50 per cent. from 2000 to 2020. [145743]
Gillian Merron: The aviation industry's sustainable aviation progress report 2006 available at www.sustainableaviation.co.uk includes information on progress towards this goal set by the Advisory Council on Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE).
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change there was in the aviation industry’s fuel efficiency per seat between 2000 and 2005; and what assessment he has made of the implications of this trend for the possibility of meeting future targets. [145744]
Gillian Merron: The Government do not collect this information. The aviation industry’s “Sustainable Aviation Progress Report 2006” available at www.sustainableaviation.co.uk includes a graph setting out aggregated airline fuel efficiency in litres per revenue tonne kilometre between 2000 and 2005.
Bus Services: Concessions
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Scottish Executive, (b) the Welsh Assembly Government and (c) other interested and relevant parties to discuss the mutual cross-border recognition of concessionary bus passes. [144827]
Gillian Merron: The Concessionary Bus Travel Bill, currently before Parliament, contains a power to allow, via future regulations, for mutual recognition of bus passes across the UK. The Department had initial discussions with the Devolved Administrations about the proposal and all indicated support for including the power in the Bill. However, they also acknowledged that we would need to discuss it further and work together to resolve the various technical and resource issues before mutual recognition could be pursued in practice.
The issue of mutual recognition of passes within the UK has also been discussed at meetings of both the Department's Concessionary Fares Working Group and the Concessionary Fares Stakeholder Users' Group.
Local authorities in England already have the flexibility—which the Bill does not change—to offer more than the statutory concession to their residents, taking into account local circumstances, for example, free travel in the vicinity of the local authority, which could include, across borders.
Cycling: Hampshire
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many cycle routes or paths are available in (a) Portsmouth, (b) Southampton and (c) Hampshire; what their total length is; and what targets there are for future provision; [145837]
(2) how much was spent on the (a) provision and (b) maintenance of dedicated cycle routes or paths in (i) Hampshire, (ii) Southampton and (iii) Portsmouth in each of the last three years; and how much he expects will be spent in each of the next three years. [145838]
Mr. Tom Harris: Provision of cycling facilities is the responsibility of the Local Highway Authority and their strategy for cycling provision is set out in their Local Transport Plan (LTP).
Published figures for cycling facilities in the LTP and associated documents are not available in the form requested, but are expressed in the following table. Future spend on provision and maintenance is not sufficiently detailed to give a cycle only perspective.
| 2003 - 04 | 2004 - 05 | 2005 - 06 | |
|
Expenditure on cycle schemes (Cycle tracks or lanes only) (£000) | |||
| (1 )Includes new schemes and improvements or extensions to existing. | |||
Cycling: Helmets
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the number of cycling fatalities which would have been avoided in each of the last five years if a helmet had been worn by the cyclist. [145444]
Dr. Ladyman: No such estimate has been made by the Department, however the evidence indicates that cycle helmets provide protective benefits in the event of a collision and therefore prevent and reduce injuries. Research suggests that between one third and one half of pedal cycle casualties attending hospital sustained an injury to the head or face (see DFT Road Safety Research Report No. 30, a copy of which is in the House Library).
Cycling: Safety Measures
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on dropped (a) kerbs and (b) central refuges to accommodate cyclists. [145010]
Gillian Merron: Policy on dropped kerbs and central refuges for cyclists is contained in the Department’s publication “Cycle Friendly Infrastructure”, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Highways Agency on the provision of dropped (a) kerbs and (b) central refuges to accommodate cyclists; and if he will make a statement. [145011]
Dr. Ladyman: Although there have been no recent discussions with the HA, dropped kerbs and central refuges for cyclists are routinely delivered as part of the Highways Agency’s programme of smaller scheme improvement works. Within the current spending review (CSR04—2005-06 to 2007-08) some £300 million has been allocated towards making better use of the network including measures to improve accessibility such as cycle provision.
Cycling: Standards
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cycling proficiency tests were (a) taken and (b) passed in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority. [145416]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department does not hold this information. Local authorities in England deliver a range of types of cycle training including Bikeability and other, less comprehensive, training such as the cycling proficiency test. Approximately a third of Year 6 pupils receive cycle training.
The Department has worked with over 20 organisations including local authorities, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the CTC to develop a new national cycle training Standard to update the old style cycling proficiency test to provide the on-road skills needed to handle modern traffic conditions. In March, we launched Bikeability—the award scheme for cyclists in England trained to the new standard. During the six month pilot phase, 5,000 children completed Bikeability training up to level 2: the level required to enable most children to cycle to school.
We are encouraging local authorities to deliver Bikeability training and have grants available to help both instructors with the cost of being trained to deliver Bikeability and local authorities to adopt national standards. Grants totalling £1.25 million have also been made available this year to local authorities in England to provide additional training places.
Dartford Tunnel
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport from which local authority areas the largest number of responses came to his Department's recent consultation on changes to charges at the Dartford crossing. [145025]
Dr. Ladyman: The largest number of consultation responses from which an address could be identified were from the Dartford and Thurrock areas.
Departments: British Airports Authority
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff his Department employs who previously worked for BAA; and if he will make a statement. [145381]
Gillian Merron: The Department does not keep this information in a form that can be accessed without disproportionate costs being incurred.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of his Department's employees left the Department to take up employment by BAA in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [145382]
Gillian Merron: The Department does not record this information in a form that can be accessed without disproportionate costs being incurred.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of his Department's staff are seconded to BAA; how many were seconded in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [145383]
Gillian Merron: The Department has no staff currently seconded to BAA. One member of staff was seconded to BAA in 2005.
Departments: Credit Cards
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental (a) credit, (b) procurement and (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years. [145301]
Gillian Merron: The following table shows the total spend by staff in the Department via credit, procurement and fuel cards during the last three complete financial years.
| Total spend | |||
| Type of card | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
The procurement card figure includes spend using the Government procurement card (GPC) for purchasing low value goods and services and corporate cards for some official travel and related expenditure, issued under the umbrella of the OGC buying solutions pre-tendered national framework contract. The Department does not issue official credit cards.
Departments: Foreign Relations
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Memoranda of Understanding are in force as a result of agreements with foreign Governments entered into by Ministers in his Department; and what executive actions each entails. [144465]
Dr. Ladyman: Records of Memoranda of Understanding are not held centrally in the Department and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Legal Costs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by his Department on legal fees in each of the last five years. [139388]
Gillian Merron: In each of the past five years the Department for Transport has spent the following on legal fees:
| £ | |
| Notes: 1. In the year 2002, Legal Services Directorate was part of both DfT and ODPM (now DCLG). 2. The Driving Standards Agency can only provide answers from 2003. 3. The Vehicle Certification Agency has a nil return within UK. In respect of its overseas offices it is less than £2,000 per annum over the last five years. 4. The Government Car and Despatch Agency accounting practices do not record legal costs arising from work carried out by Treasury Solicitors and private practice separately. | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |