Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 12 July 2007
House of Commons Commission
House of Commons: Pay
Mr. Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many full-time non-manual staff of the House who are not officers of the House receive salaries of (a) more than £40,000, (b) £30,000 to £40,000, (c) £25,000 to £30,000, (d) £20,000 to £25,000 and (e) under £20,000 per year. [148656]
Nick Harvey: As at 1 April 2007, the number of full-time non-manual staff at the pay levels requested were as follows:
| Basic annual rate of pay as at 1 April 2007 | Number of full-time non-manual staff |
Transport
A21
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been allocated for the planning of road improvements along the A21 in the 2007-08 financial year. [149316]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Highways Agency plans to spend approximately £1.6 million during 2007-08 on planning three proposed major road improvements on the A21—Tonbridge bypass to Pembury Dualling, Kippings Cross to Lamberhurst improvements and improvements to the A21 Baldslow junction.
A69: Greenhead
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 March 2007, Official Report, column 1517W, on the A69: Greenhead, whether the A69 Greenhead diversion scheme contract obliged the Northumberland county council engineer to obtain prior approval from officials of her Department before certifying for payment ICE contract clause 60(6) interest. [148579]
Mr. Tom Harris: The contract did not oblige the engineer to obtain prior approval from the Department for Transport before he made a certificate.
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 March 2007, Official Report, column 1517W, on the A69: Greenhead, whether her Department authorised the Northumberland county council engineer to certify for payment £103,974.92 clause 60(6) interest in connection with the A69 Greenhead diversion scheme. [148580]
Mr. Tom Harris: There was no legal requirement on the engineer to seek prior approval from the department before he made a certificate. If the engineer had nonetheless done so, the contract would not have obliged him to take any notice of the department’s response.
Aviation: Fuels
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will review the findings of the Aviation White Paper on fuel efficiency per seat. [149370]
Jim Fitzpatrick: “The Future of Air Transport” White Paper, 2003, referred to the fuel efficiency gains that could be achieved arising from fleet replacement and technology improvements.
The Department for Transport carbon dioxide forecasts and underlying assumptions are published in “Aviation and Global Warming”, 2004. This can be found at:
“The Future of Air Transport Progress Report”, published in December 2006, committed us to producing revised emissions forecasts in 2007.
Bus Services: Gravesham
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus journeys were made in Gravesham in each year since 1997; and how many passenger kilometres such journeys represented in each year. [149310]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department collects statistics on bus passenger patronage through an Annual Survey of Public Service Vehicle operators, complemented by quarterly surveys of the largest operators. The statistics are not collected at a level of detail to provide information for Gravesham.
Departments: Consultants
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Department spent on (a) management consultants and (b) other external consultants and advisers in each year since 2000; and which of these consultants undertook work for the Department with a total contractual value in excess of £10 million over this period. [146329]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department was formed in May 2002. Details of expenditure by the Department on consultants from 2002-03 to 2006-07 are shown as follows:
| £ million | |
Identifying which consultants undertook work for the Department with a total contractual value in excess of £10 million could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
Government Shareholding
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2007, Official Report, columns 1283-4W, on Government shareholding, what the nature and status is of the special shares held by her Department in (a) Eurostar (UK) Ltd, (b) London and Continental Railways Ltd, (c) Union Railways (North) Ltd and (d) Inter-Capital and Regional Rail Ltd. [148947]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Government hold non-balance sheet special shares in all four companies. None of the shareholdings confers voting rights but they do provide Ministers with certain rights sufficient to safeguard the business and ensure continuity of the project.
Great Western Trains: Standards
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will initiate a review of the quality of the service offered by First Great Western. [149369]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department for Transport monitors punctuality, reliability and service quality of all franchises on a monthly basis.
Motor Vehicles: Accidents
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) deaths there have been and (b) serious injuries have been sustained in accidents involving a vehicle registered in another EU country in each year since 2000, broken down by country; and in how many cases in each year the European registered vehicle was exceeding the speed limit. [149171]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information on the country of registration of vehicles involved in reported personal injury road accidents is not recorded. However since 2005, the Department has collected information on whether vehicles involved in accidents are foreign registered.
In 2005, there were 59 fatalities and 348 seriously injured casualties resulting from accidents involving foreign registered vehicles. Of these, there were two fatalities and four seriously injured casualties resulted from accidents in which the foreign registered vehicles had ‘exceeding the speed limit’ as a contributory factor.
Railway Stations: Disabled People
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of accessibility at rail stations in (a) Leeds and (b) West Yorkshire; what plans she has to improve accessibility at those stations; and what estimate she has made of the cost of doing so. [149237]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department does not hold information on the level of accessibility at stations in Leeds or across West Yorkshire. Station accessibility is assessed by train operating companies and collated by the Association of Train Operating Companies. The information is published at www.nationalrail.co.uk
To improve access at stations, we have allocated £370 million Access for All funding up to 2015. Stations have been included in the programme based on footfall, weighted against the incidence of disability locally (using information contained in the 2001 census). Huddersfield, Keighley and Shipley have been selected for inclusion in the programme up to 2011. These will be provided with a step—free route into the station and to, and between, each platform. It is too early to give an accurate estimate of the likely cost of these works.
Other inaccessible stations in Leeds and West Yorkshire will be considered for inclusion in the next tranche of stations to be announced later this year.
Railways: Brighton
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what improvements have been planned for the Brighton to London Victoria train line in 2007-08. [149317]
Mr. Tom Harris: The then Secretary of State for Transport my right hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire, South (Mr. Douglas Alexander) announced on 4 April 2007, the results of the recent consultation on the implementation of the Brighton Main Line (BML) Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS).The key decision is that, at the busiest times of day, the Gatwick Express will run beyond Gatwick to Brighton, doubling the number of express trains between Brighton and London Victoria in the high peak. This service change will take place in December 2008.
Railways: Safety
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many instances of train surfing were reported in each of the last five years, broken down by railway network. [149729]
Mr. Tom Harris: This information is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British Transport police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, email: general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk
Justice
Armley Prison: Suicide
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many suicides have taken place in HM Prison Armley in each year since 1987. [148651]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is contained in the following table and associated notes.
| Number of self-inflicted deaths at HMP Leeds( 1) | |
| (1 )The Prison Service definition of self-inflicted deaths is broader than the legal definition of suicide and includes all deaths where it appears that a prisoner has acted specifically to take their own life. This inclusive approach is used in part because inquest verdicts are often not available for some years after a death (some 20 per cent. of these deaths will not receive a suicide or open verdict at inquest). Annual numbers may change slightly from time to time as inquest verdicts and other information become available. | |
Coroners
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many and what proportion of verdicts returned by coroner’s inquests (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each coroner’s region were (i) death by accident or misadventure, (ii) death from natural causes, (iii) suicide, (iv) open verdicts, (v) death from industrial diseases, (vi) death from dependent abuse of drugs, (vii) death from non-dependent abuse of drugs, (viii) homicide and (ix) all other in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement; [148597]
(2) how many and what proportion of coroner’s inquests (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each coroner’s region were adjourned and not resumed in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement; [148598]
(3) how many and what proportion of coroner’s inquests (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each coroner’s region had a verdict returned in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [148599]
Bridget Prentice: Due to the comprehensive data, the information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
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