Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 24 October 2007
Transport
Bus Services: Concessions
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will ensure that grants to local authorities to cover the concessionary bus pass scheme fully reflect the number of (a) qualifying residents in and (b) visitors to an area. [160096]
Ms Rosie Winterton: From April 2006, older and eligible disabled people have been guaranteed free off-peak local bus travel within their local authority area. The Government provided an extra £350 million in 2006-07 and a further £367.5 million in 2007-08, via the formula grant system, to fund the extra costs to local authorities.
The Government are providing local authorities in England an extra £212 million from April next year for the national bus concession. This extra funding is based on generous assumptions about the probable cost impact of the new concession, including visitor “hotspots”. We are confident this funding will be sufficient in aggregate.
The £212 million will be distributed by a non-ringfenced special grant via a formula. The Department has recently published a consultation paper on the formula basis for distribution of the special grant. It includes a number of different options for distributing the new funding, taking account of likely cost drivers including eligible residents and visitors. This new consultation supersedes the Department for Communities and Local Government's consultation on the formula grant options for concessionary fares. Local authorities have been asked to respond to the special grant consultation by 23 November.
In addition, we have announced that we will be providing local authorities with approximately £30 million for the issuing of the national pass.
Heathrow Airport
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what modelling her Department has undertaken of runway lengths in relation to Heathrow airport's expansion; and if she will make a statement. [160430]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Results of modelling of a third runway at Heathrow, and the underlying assumptions, will be set out in our consultation later this year.
Lorries: A1
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will assess the merits of restricting heavy goods vehicles to the inside lane of the A1 dual carriageway between Grantham and Newark. [159322]
Mr. Tom Harris: There are no proposals to carry out such an assessment, as this section of the A1 is relatively flat and the Highways Agency is not aware of any particular problems caused by heavy goods vehicles using the outside lane on this stretch of the A1. However, the ongoing replacement of the existing roundabout at Gonerby Moor, with a split level junction, will remove an identified source of congestion on the A1. This work should be completed in late spring/early summer next year.
Lorry Drivers: Fines
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether foreign lorry drivers given on-the-spot fines will be required to pay the fine before the vehicle is allowed to proceed. [160039]
Road Works: A1
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she expects work to be completed in the vicinity of the Gonerby Moor roundabout on the A1 in Lincolnshire; and if she will make a statement. [159321]
Mr. Tom Harris: The A1/B1174 Gonerby Moor junction improvement is being constructed at present. It is expected that the junction will be open for traffic in February 2008.
There will be minor works to complete after this date including planting. These will not delay the opening of the road.
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pedestrians and cyclists aged between 0 and 15 years (a) died and (b) were seriously injured on UK roads in 2006. [160072]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department collects personal injury road accidents data only for Great Britain.
The information requested is available from table 34 of “Road Casualties Great Britain: 2006 annual report”. Copies of the report have been deposited in the Libraries of the House. This table can also be found on the Department’s website at the following web address:
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change there was in the number of road deaths of children aged up to 15 years between 2000 and 2006. [160073]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There has been a 12 per cent. decrease between 2000 and 2006 in the number of child (0-15 years old) fatalities resulting from reported personal injury road accidents.
Mr. Leech:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many children aged up to 15 years (a) killed and (b) seriously injured on UK roads in each of
the last 10 years were killed (i) on their journey to or from school and (ii) within 300 metres of their home; and how many were travelling (A) on foot, (B) on a bicycle and (C) in a vehicle in each case. [160074]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department collects personal injury road accident data only for Great Britain. Information on the number of children injured within 300 m of their home is not available.
The number of children (aged 0-15 years) (a) killed or (b) seriously injured in reported personal injury road accidents on their way to or from school, by (i) foot, (ii) pedal cycle and (iii) in other vehicles for the past 10 years for Great Britain is given in the table.
| Children (aged 0-15) | ||||||||
| Number of casualties | ||||||||
| Pedestrian | Pedal cyclist | Other vehicles | Total | |||||
| Killed | Serious | Killed | Serious | Killed | Serious | Killed | Serious | |
House of Commons Commission
Anniversaries: Oliver Cromwell
Mr. Kidney: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what plans he has for Parliament to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the death of Oliver Cromwell. [159080]
Nick Harvey: I understand that no proposal has been made to the Administration Committee to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the death of Oliver Cromwell. The hon. Member may wish to contact the Cromwell Association which is planning events around this anniversary.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 17 October, on the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, how much was allocated to each recipient under the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund in each year since inception. [159901]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund database contains details of amounts paid to each recipient from April 2004 onwards, but a breakdown of annual payments is not recorded centrally. I have arranged for a list of recipients of grant from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, since April 2004, to be placed in the Library of the House.
Agriculture: South West Region
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will increase the funding of the South West Rural Enterprise Gateway to help farmers diversify. [159328]
Jonathan Shaw: The South West Rural Enterprise Gateway has received DEFRA funding under the England Rural Development programme and Objective One of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (the latter specifically for its activities in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly). This funding was to support the development of farm and rural businesses, including skills acquisition.
Future support in the region under the Rural Development programme for England will be delivered by the South West of England Regional Development Agency. The Agency is working with the Enterprise Gateway on plans to take forward its delivery responsibilities for the new programme, which will include support for farm diversification and other rural business development activities. The precise level of funding will be a matter for the South West of England Regional Development Agency.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims for the single farm payment remain to be validated, broken down by year of application; and if he will make a statement. [159551]
Jonathan Shaw: For the 2005 Single Farm Payment scheme (SPS), there are 12 claims where processing is not complete. All of these claims are held up by legal issues such as probate.
For SPS 2006, there are 434 claims where processing is not yet complete. 223 of these claims have received partial payments and the Rural Payments Agency is continuing to process these claims to provide top up payments where applicable. The other 211 are claims for which a payment is yet to be made. Many of these are complex cases involving probate, business partnership changes and domestic issues. It is likely that on completion of processing, some of these claims will not be eligible for payment. Where it is confirmed that payments are due, these will be made as soon as possible.
The figures are as at 17 October 2007.
Angling
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans his Department has to implement the recommendations of the 2005 Securing the Benefits report on the fishing industry with regard to recreational sea angling; and if he will make a statement. [159719]
Jonathan Shaw:
Recommendations in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report “Net Benefits” concerned with inshore fisheries in England, including recreational sea angling (RSA), were addressed in
DEFRA's “Charting a New Course”. These publications are available in the Library of the House.
Progress to implement RSA recommendations has included:
i. A consultation on proposals to increase the minimum landing size for bass launched in November 2005. I will be making an announcement on this shortly;
ii. Establishment of a central focal point within DEFRA for RSA interests;
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