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29 Oct 2007 : Column 879W—continued
Taxis: Licensing
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate she has made of the number of private hire vehicles that will apply for a special restricted PSV operator’s licence if Clause 26 of the draft Local Transport Bill becomes law; [157990]
(2) what discussions she and officials from her Department had with representatives of the licensed taxi or licensed minicab sector before including Clause 26 in the draft Local Transport Bill; and if she will make a statement; [157991]
(3) how many responses to the consultation on the draft Local Transport Bill, referred to Clause 26 of the draft Bill; and how many of them (a) supported and (b) opposed the proposals in the clause. [157992]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The decision to include clause 26 in the draft Local Transport Bill was prompted by a recommendation of the Bus Partnership Forum’s Innovation and Inclusion Task and Finish Group. The recommendation that holders of private hire vehicle (PHV) licences should be allowed to obtain a special public service vehicle operator’s licence to provide local bus services, in the same way as licensed taxis can do already, was seen as giving added flexibility to meet local transport needs, particularly in rural areas.
In the knowledge that there would be full consultation on the draft Bill, clause 26 was not discussed specifically with the taxi and PHV trades before being included in the draft Bill. We have received a small number of representations—both for and against the proposal. Those against the proposal referred in particular to the particular circumstances of PHV operation in London. We are now considering all the responses as part of the post-consultation analysis process which will determine the final content of the Bill.
We have made no estimate of the potential uptake of the proposal, but expect it to be relatively modest (in line with the use made of the existing power for taxis to provide local bus services). The proposal is simply intended to give PHV owners an added flexibility where they see an opportunity to use it. We would expect the provision to be of more value in rural areas where a smaller vehicle might be more cost-effective on a particular route.
Tolls
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to ensure the inter-operability of local congestion charging schemes. [160112]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government intend to ensure that local schemes are interoperable, so that road users who wish to do so can use different schemes with just one account and one electronic fee collection device. The Government hope to encourage all local schemes to facilitate such a situation voluntarily, but the Draft Local Transport Bill includes provisions that would allow the Government to regulate, if necessary, to ensure that this happens in England. Consultation on the draft Bill closed on 7 September and the Department will be announcing its conclusions shortly.
Transport: Finance
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much transport funding made available in the pre-Budget report and Comprehensive Spending Review will be spent on projects which have not yet been announced; and how much funding made available in the Review has been ring-fenced for existing or previously announced projects. [159200]
Mr. Tom Harris: A detailed breakdown of programme budgets within the Department for Transport covering the three years of the CSR has not yet been made; an announcement will be made in due course.
Waterloo Station
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to what use the Eurostar platforms and facilities at Waterloo will be put after the opening of the new terminal at St Pancras; and if she will make a statement. [159194]
Mr. Tom Harris: Officials at the Department for Transport are continuing to work closely with Network Rail and Stagecoach South West Trains (the train operating company) to finalise the design and costs associated with the partial conversion of Waterloo International potentially to accommodate limited domestic passenger services from December 2008.
Options for the medium to long term use of the platforms are being assessed by officials and Network Rail as part of a wider strategy for the upgrade of Waterloo Station as described in the adjournment debate in March 2007.
Treasury
Abortion
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the ratio of abortion to conception was for (a) women under 20 and (b) all women in the two years for which figures are available. [161578]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the ratio of abortion to conception was (a) for women under 20 and (b) for the whole population for the two most recent years for which statistics are available. (161578)
ONS routinely publishes figures on the percentage of conceptions leading to abortion by age of woman and not the ratios.
The table below shows the percentage of conceptions leading to abortion (a) for women under 20 and (b) for the whole population in England and Wales, 2004-2005 (the most recent years for which figures are available). Figures for 2005 are provisional.
Available figures are estimates of the number of conceptions that resulted in a live birth, stillbirth or legal termination.
| Percentage of conceptions leading to legal abortion by age of woman in England and Wales | ||
| Percentage leading to legal abortion( 1) | ||
| Age at conception | 2004 | 2005( 2) |
| 1 Legal terminations under the 1967 Abortion Act. 2 Figures for 2005 are provisional. | ||
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the number of deaths caused by (a) alcohol misuse and (b) drug misuse in England and Wales in each of the last five years. [161118]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 29 October 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate has been made of the number of deaths caused by (a) alcohol misuse and (b) drug misuse in England and Wales in each of the last five years. I am replying in her absence. (161118)
The latest year for which figures are available is 2006 for alcohol-related deaths. Table 1 below presents the number of deaths from alcohol-related causes in England and Wales for 2002-2006.
ONS reports annually on deaths related to drug poisoning and drug misuse in England and Wales. The latest available results are for 2005 and figures from 1993-2005 can be found in Health Statistics Quarterly,(1) copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library. The figures are also available on the National Statistics website.(2) Table 2 below shows the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug poisoning, where any drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act was mentioned on the death certificate, for 2001-2005.
(1) Office for National Statistics (2007) Report: Deaths related to drug poisoning: England and Wales, 1993-2005. ‘Health Statistics Quarterly 33’, 82-88. Table 3: Number of deaths related to drug misuse: by sex and country, 1993-2005.
(2) Data available to download at:
| Table 1: Deaths from alcohol-related causes,( 1) England and Wales, 2002-06( 2) | |
| Number of deaths | |
| (1 )Selected using the National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes for the definition are listed below: F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol G31.2—Denegration of nervous system due to alcohol G62.1—Alcoholic polyneuropathy 142.6—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy K29.2—Alcoholic gastritis K70—Alcoholic liver disease K73—Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K74—Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (excluding K74.3-K74.5—billiary cirrhosis) K86.0—Alcohol induced pancreatitis X45—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol YI5—Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent (2 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | |
| Table 2: Deaths from drug misuse,( 1) England and Wales, 2001-05( 2) | |
| Number of deaths | |
| (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and Y10-Y14 and where a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was mentioned on the death record. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | |
Banks
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his Department's policy to guarantee retail deposits held by UK citizens with banks operating in the UK but which are not British-owned or operating as British subsidiaries. [156043]
Kitty Ussher [holding answer 10 October 2007]: A bank authorised to operate in the UK by virtue of its authorisation by the regulator in an EEA member state with a branch in the UK may elect to participate in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if the scope or level (including percentage) of the protection afforded to depositors by the FSCS exceeds that afforded by the deposit-guarantee scheme in its home state. If the bank does not elect to participate in the FSCS or the protection afforded to depositors by its home state deposit-guarantee scheme exceeds that afforded by the FSCS, or the bank does not have a branch in the UK, UK depositors will be protected by the deposit-guarantee scheme in the home member state.
A foreign bank whose home state is outside the EEA with a branch in the UK will need to be authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and must participate in the FSCS. UK depositors with a foreign bank from outside the EEA which does not have a branch in the UK will not be protected by the FSCS but may be afforded some protection by any home state deposit guarantee scheme, subject to the provisions of local law.
A UK subsidiary of a foreign bank which accepts deposits will need to be authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act and must participate in the FSCS, irrespective of the home state of the foreign owner.
Breast Cancer: East Midlands
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of breast cancer were (a) diagnosed and (b) cured in the East Midlands in each of the last 10 years. [161439]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 October 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of breast cancer have been (a) diagnosed and (b) cured in the East Midlands in each of the last 10 years. (161439)
Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancers registered in the East Midlands government office region between 1995 and 2004 (the latest year for which figures are available) are given in Table 1 below.
It is not possible to say whether or not patients are cured. For most cancers, but not breast, five-year survival rates are often taken to be ‘cure' rates.
Long-term Breast Cancer Survival for government office regions, up to 2003 are available on the NS website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=14172&;More=n and are given in Table 2 below for the East Midlands.
Five-year age-standardised relative survival (%) from breast cancer in the East Midlands government office region for patients diagnosed between 1994-96 and 1997-99 and followed up between the ends of 2001 and 2004 are given in Table 3 below.
| Table 1: Newly diagnosed cases of breast cancers( 1) registered in the East Midlands, females, 1995 to 2004 | |
| Number | |
| (1) ‘Breast cancer' is defined by codes C50 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Source: Office for National Statistics Years 2000-04—Table 4 ‘Cancer Statistics: Registrations, England’ series MB1. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=8843&;Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 | |
| Table 2: Breast Cancer—Predicted long-term relative survival( 1) (percentage) for the East Midlands, women aged 15 to 99 years at diagnosis (age-standardised( 2) ) | |
| Number/Percentage | |
| Women = Number of women included in the analyses. Deaths = Number of deaths occurring among these women during the stated period. (1) Period approach (2001-03). (2) Age-standardisation with age-specific weights given by the proportions of women diagnosed with breast cancer in England and Wales during 1986-90 in each of six age groups (15 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60- to 69, 70 to 79, 80 to 99 years). Source: Office for National Statistics. | |
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