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27 Nov 2007 : Column 294W—continued
Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what financial information is regularly supplied to him by the (a) London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and (b) Olympic Delivery Authority and how frequently it is supplied. [165426]
Tessa Jowell: I have been asked to reply as Minister for the Olympics.
The (a) London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and (b) Olympic Delivery Authority provide me and the Olympic Board with monthly financial updates of their spend to date against their respective budgets.
Transport
Aviation: Lee on Solent, Daedalus Airfield
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps taken by the management of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency led to the denial of access to Lee on Solent Aerodrome to the local community and general aviation; and if she will make a statement; [168236]
(2) what discussions the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has had with (a) Hampshire Police Authority and (b) others on the closing of Daedalus airfield to (i) general aviation and (ii) the local community; and if she will make a statement. [168520]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The airfield at Daedalus is leased to and operated by the Hampshire Police Authority, which is, as operator, responsible for its safety. As a user of the airfield, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has had regular discussions with Hampshire Police.
Solicitors acting for the Lee Flying Association recently wrote to a number of parties, including the MCA, threatening to bring judicial review proceedings in respect of the recent decision of, I understand, the Hampshire Police Authority to close the airfield to general aviation due to safety concerns. The Hampshire Police have now suspended that decision for 28 days.
The Government are currently considering the situation and in the circumstances, it would be inappropriate and premature for me to say any more at this stage.
Aviation: Medical Equipment
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations cover the carrying of defibrillators on civilian passenger airlines flying in and out of UK airports; and if she will make a statement. [168638]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There are no regulations requiring the mandatory carriage of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) although emergency medical kits are required on all long distance flights. Many UK airlines do carry AEDs on a voluntary basis and this information is generally available on their websites.
Cycling
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what discussions she has had with local authorities on measures to encourage cycling since her appointment as Secretary of State for Transport; [164623]
(2) what meetings she has had with representatives of the cycling community since her appointment as Secretary of State for Transport. [164632]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Both Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of the cycling community and local authorities to discuss a wide range of issues, including how to encourage cycling.
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what entertainment or hospitality members of her Department's management board have received in each of the last three financial years; and if she will make a statement. [164745]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Paragraph 4.3.5 of the Civil Service Management Code sets out the rules on the registration of hospitality. The Government are committed to publishing an annual list of hospitality received by members of departmental boards. The first list for 2007 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current calendar year.
Departmental Orders and Regulations
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many regulations her Department has (a) made and (b) revoked in the last 12 months. [167085]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In the 12 months commencing 1 October 2006 the Department for Transport produced 142 general statutory instruments and 1,530 local statutory instruments.
The number of statutory instruments which were revoked or became spent during this period could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Property
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by her Department on renovation and refurbishment of its properties in each of the last five years. [164365]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The data requested are not in all cases readily distinguishable from other building costs without incurring disproportionate costs. However, the information, where available for the properties occupied by the Department, is as follows:
| £ | |
Eurostar
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what discussions she has had with Network Rail on the timetable for future use of the former Eurostar platforms at London Waterloo; [167663]
(2) when she expects South West Trains to begin running the first commuter services from the former Eurostar platforms at London Waterloo; and what timetable she envisages for the use of the remaining platforms. [167865]
Mr. Tom Harris: Ownership of Waterloo International transfers to the Department at the end of March 2008 following Eurostar’s de-commissioning of the facility as an international station. The Department is currently working 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 to accommodate some domestic passenger services. Works on site are expected to commence soon after the station transfers to the Department and will take several months to complete. Services could then operate into and out of Platform 20 of Waterloo International from the start of the timetable change date in December 2008.
Options to make use of all five platforms are being assessed by the Department and Network Rail as part of the medium term proposals to deliver the Department’s strategy for providing additional capacity as set out in its White Paper on Delivering a Sustainable Railway which was published in July 2007.
The medium term proposals would require significant infrastructure alterations at Waterloo. Additionally, it would be linked to the procurement of additional rolling stock to lengthen trains. The timescale for implementation is likely to be around 2012-14.
Fixed Penalties: Appeals
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many recorded challenges against penalty charge notices there were in each region in each of the last five years; and how many of these were successful. [164649]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not held by the Department.
Information about the number of appeals against parking penalty charge notices in England and Wales is collected by the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) outside London and by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) inside London. The information on those websites is not presented by regions.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many recorded challenges against penalty charge notices there were in each local authority area in each of the last five years; and how many of these were successful. [164650]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held by the Department.
Information on the number of appeals against parking penalty charge notices in England and Wales is collected by the National Parking Adjudication Services (NPAS) outside London and by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) inside London. The NPAS and PATAS figures are published in their annual reports and can be downloaded from the following website addresses:
http://www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk/annual reports.htm.
Minibuses: Licensing
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on the interpretation of new driving licence regulations for minibus drivers with post-1997 licences; and if she will make a statement. [168565]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has had extensive discussions with the Department for Children, Schools and Families previously the Department for Education and Skills. As a result guidance on the options available for incidental driving of minibuses was issued in April 2006.
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations took place prior to the implementation of new regulations in respect of minibuses for drivers with post-1977 licences; and if she will make a statement. [168713]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The second European Council Directive (No. 91/439/EEC) introduced higher standards for drivers of passenger carrying vehicles. The Department consulted during 1994 on the “Implementation of the Second EC Directive on the Driving Licence” that introduced changes to the driving of minibuses.
Road Traffic: Schools
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on measures to reduce traffic generated by the school run since her appointment as Secretary of State for Transport. [164625]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State for Transport met the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families earlier this month to discuss how the two Departments might encourage more children to travel to school by bus, cycling or walking and thereby reduce traffic generated by the school run.
The Department for Transport and Department for Children, Schools and Families have been working together for several years now to reduce traffic generated by the school run and in 2003 launched our joint ‘Travelling to School’ project, setting out how we want all schools in England to develop an approved school travel plan by 2010 in order to reduce car use for journeys to and from school and to allow many more children to take regular exercise. At the end of March 2007 more than 14,000 schools (56 per cent.) already had an approved plan and we are on target for all schools to have such a plan by 2010.
The 2006 National Travel Survey suggests that the proportion of children travelling by car has now started to fall. 32 per cent. of children age five to 16 travelled to school by car in both 2004 and 2005 but this has fallen to 30 per cent. in 2006.
The Department for Transport and Department for Children, School and Families continue to work together to make further progress.
Roads: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which roads in Wales her Department defines as trunk roads for the purposes of the provisions relating to road-charging schemes in the Local Transport Bill. [168622]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In clause 109 of the Local Transport Bill, “Welsh trunk road” is defined as a road for which the Welsh Ministers are the traffic authority (within the meaning of section 121A of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984).
Transport: Heavy Goods Vehicles
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans her Department has for trials of larger and heavier lorries on UK roads. [167074]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There are no plans to trial larger and heavier goods vehicles in the UK. The Department has commissioned a desk study into the issues surrounding longer and heavier goods vehicles, but the purpose of this is not to advise on whether to allow trials, rather it is to better inform any future decisions.
Electoral Commission Committee
Absent Voting
Angela Watkinson: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what discussions the Electoral Commission has had on measures to improve the efficiency and security of postal votes. [167996]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission advises me that it has been involved in extensive discussions on measures to improve the efficiency and security of postal votes. These have taken place at pre and post-election seminars with local authorities and with police and other relevant bodies, including the Royal Mail and the Ministry of Justice.
Justice
Asylum: Crime
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many asylum seekers convicted of crimes are being held in each prison in England and Wales. [167716]
Mr. Hanson: Information on the numbers of asylum seekers who are held in custody is not held centrally and would involve detailed cross referencing of BIA case files with Prison Service records to ensure accuracy. As a result, the information required to answer this question cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Computer Misuse Act 1990
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prosecutions were brought and (b) convictions obtained for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in 2006. [167115]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Mr. Coaker) on 19 March 2007, Official Report, columns 667-68W.
Information for 2006 will be available shortly.
Crime: Firearms
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted for possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [165680]
Mr. Hanson: Information on the number of persons found guilty at all courts of offences for possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition in England and Wales, by police force area for the years 1997 to 2005 can be found in the following table.
Information for 2006 will be available shortly.
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