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29 Oct 2007 : Column 864W—continued

Departments: Secondments

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 16 October 2007, Official Report, columns 971-72, on Departments: secondments, in what teams the seconded members of staff have worked during the course of their secondment. [160532]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Secondees in the central Department for Transport and its agencies are working in the following areas:

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 16 October 2007, Official Report, columns 971-72W, on Departments: secondments, when each seconded member of staff joined her Department. [160533]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The start date of inward secondees to the central Department for Transport and its agencies are as follows:


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Organisation Start date

Kent Fire Brigade

2004

First Group Plc.

2005

French Transport Ministry

2005

RNIB

2006

Strathclyde Fire Brigade

2006

QinetiQ

2007

Energy Saving Trust

2007

Deloitte

2007

Freshfields

2007

PricewaterhouseCoopers

2007

Swedish Transport Ministry

2007

Civil Aviation Authority

2007

KPMG

2007

Dutch Department for Roads and Waterways

2007


Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) of 16 October 2007, Official Report, columns 971-2W, on Departments: secondments, (1) what measures are in place to ensure that seconded staff do not work on matters which may affect their official employer; [160534]

(2) what requirements for confidentiality are placed on staff seconded to her Department from outside Government. [160535]

Jim Fitzpatrick: As an acting civil servant a secondee owes duties of confidentiality and loyal service to the Crown. These require the secondee to exercise care in the use of information which the secondee acquires in the course of their official duties and to protect information which is held in confidence, in accordance with the department’s staff handbook. Secondees are also subject to the Official Secrets Act 1989 and in certain circumstances to The Business Appointment Rules.

Considerable care is taken when negotiating the secondment terms and conditions to ensure that all parties are content that the secondment will present no opportunity for real or perceived conflicts of interest. These considerations are set out in written terms and conditions which must be formally agreed by the secondee and his/her parent organisation before the secondment can commence.

Departments: Standards

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of her Department’s public service agreement targets (a) take and (b) do not take account of rural proofing. [159636]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Under the new Public Service Agreement (PSA) framework the Department for Transport will be responsible for leading the PSA ‘Deliver reliable and efficient transport networks that support economic growth’. This PSA is specifically focused on the contribution that transport makes to economic growth. Wider priorities for the Government’s transport policy are covered separately in other PSA outcomes to which transport is a significant contributor. Where relevant, rural proofing will be taken into account in the development of specific policies to implement the PSA.


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Departments: Written Questions

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of questions tabled to her Department for answer on a named day received a substantive reply on the day named in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [161338]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2007, 718 named day parliamentary questions were tabled to the Department with 605 (84 per cent.) answered on the date specified.

My ministerial colleagues and I aim to ensure that hon. Members received a substantive response to their named day question on the named day. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, but the Department for Transport makes every effort to achieve these timescales.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) records are incorrect; and how many customer complaints the DVLA has received in the last 12 months, broken down by the regional origin of the complaint. [159131]

Jim Fitzpatrick: 33 million vehicle records are maintained at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Of these 2.6 per cent. of the vehicle keepers cannot be traced directly from the record. There are 42 million driver records also held at DVLA. 18.5 per cent. of these cannot be traced directly.

DVLA has a variety of initiatives in place to increase accuracy levels. These are set out in my answer given today to the hon. Lady (UIN 159199).

Customer complaints are not broken down by region but by the type of enquiry received.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Databases

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the accuracy of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority database; and what steps have been taken to improve levels of accuracy of the database. [159199]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) conducts Biennial surveys to assess the accuracy of its databases. The last survey, in 2005, estimated that 97.4 per cent. of vehicle keepers could be accurately traced from the record. The figure from the drivers record was 81.5 per cent. The more frequent interactions with motorists on vehicle registration matters are reflected in the figures.

Drivers and vehicle keepers are required to notify DVLA when changes occur in personal details and vehicle keepership and steps have been taken to enforce and improve this process by:


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Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Telephone Services

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of calls to help lines provided by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for use by (a) members of the public and (b) hon. Members were not answered in the last period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [161814]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The most recent period for which figures are available show that 6.6 per cent. of all call attempts were not answered. It should be noted that these calls / customers might have subsequently got through. Detailed breakdowns are not available specifically for hon. Members.

Driving Offences: Fines

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average cost was to issue a penalty charge notice in the last period for which figures are available. [159123]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not kept centrally.

Driving Offences: Local Councils

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance her Department gives to councils on (a) the issuing of penalty charge notices, (b) the collection of fines and (c) towing away private vehicles. [159120]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Guidance on these matters is given in the Department for Transport's Local Authority Circular 1/95 on Decriminalised Parking Enforcement Outside London. We are currently consulting on new England-wide guidance to replace the 1995 circular and complement proposed civil enforcement legislation under the Traffic Management Act 2004: Parking Policy and Enforcement Operational Guidance to Local Authorities in England. Both documents are on the Department's website at:

Copies have also been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Driving: Safety Measures

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of the EU directive in December
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which restricts the numbers of miles drivers can drive without having a rest period; and if she will make a statement. [161687]

Jim Fitzpatrick: A new EU Regulation on drivers’ hours (Regulation (EC) 561/2006) setting maximum limits on driving time and minimum requirements for break and rest periods for most drivers of large commercial vehicles came into force on 11 April 2007. It does not restrict the number of miles a driver can drive before taking a rest period.

The new EU Regulation clarified and simplified the previous 1985 Regulation making it easier to enforce. An assessment of its effect has not been completed as it has only been in force since April.

Fisheries: Compensation

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she expects payments to commence under the London Gateway Port disturbance payment compensation scheme to fishermen who fish predominantly in the reclamation area. [161131]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Details of and the timing of payments under the privately agreed London Gateway Port disturbance payment compensation scheme are a matter for London Gateway Port Ltd.

Freight: Roads

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to encourage the migration of freight from road to rail, with particular reference to the (a) A1(M), (b) A14 and (c) A47 major trunk roads; and if she will make a statement. [161761]

Mr. Tom Harris: The Department provides two grants to encourage the migration of freight from road to rail. The Freight Facilities Grant helps offset the capital cost of providing rail freight handling facilities and the Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme assists companies with the operating costs associated with running rail freight transport. These grants are not targeted at particular roads but are available to freight flows which would otherwise move by road where rail is more expensive. During 2007-08 these schemes will secure the removal of over 1 million lorry journeys from our roads.

Gateway Reviews

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department spent on carrying out Gateway Reviews in each of the last five years, broken down by budget heading. [160530]

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 17 September 2007, Official Report, column 2191W.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2007, Official Report, column 2192W, on Gateway reviews, what percentage of the projects which returned (a) red, (b) amber and (c) green upon Gateway reviews have subsequently been successful. [160500]


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Jim Fitzpatrick: Projects and programmes ordinarily commission multiple Gateway reviews during their lifecycle. These reviews typically reduce the criticality of their recommendations (ie moving from red to amber to green) over time as a project becomes more established and their environment less fast-changing.

The dynamic nature of a Gateway status makes it impossible to link ‘colour’ and eventual outcome in the way requested.

Heathrow Airport

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department has taken to model the public health impacts of proposals for Heathrow expansion; whether public health modelling will inform the consultation document on Heathrow Airport expansion; and if she will make a statement. [160431]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The focus of our assessment has been on the conditions we laid down in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper for further development—namely that it should meet critical noise and air quality limits, both of which we recognise have implications for human health. Our forthcoming consultation will invite views on the evidence brought forward. We have made it clear that we would expect any proposals for future development to be the subject of a health impact assessment at the planning stage.


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