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3 Dec 2007 : Column 853W—continued
The business units within the Department currently use separate accounting systems which record expenditure differently. The totals include either the value of purchase orders raised or actual spend incurred. Purchase order values record the anticipated spend level, but the actual invoice value for completed work may differ and could be paid in a future financial year.
The Professional Services Forum definition of consultancy has been applied since 2005-06 resulting in more accurate coding of expenditure.
Departmental Correspondence
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of inquiries received by her Department from the public were responded to within (a) one week, (b) 14 days, (c) 28 days, (d) two months and (e) three months in the last period for which figures are available; and in what percentage of cases it took (i) over three months and (ii) over one year to respond. [167374]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Cabinet Office publishes a report to Parliament on an annual basis on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2006 was published by way of a written ministerial statement on 28 March 2007, Official Report, column 101W. Information for 2007 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the calendar year.
Information on handling correspondence from the public is not held in the required format.
Departmental Land
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what land surplus to her Department’s requirements it is (a) selling, (b) leasing and (c) intending to (i) sell and (ii) lease; and what the size and name of each relevant site is. [168848]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The requested information has been placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the office costs for her Department's special advisers for 2007-08 are expected to be, including costs of support staff; and how many full-time equivalent civil servants work in support of such special advisers. [164922]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Two civil servants support the special advisers to the Secretary of State for Transport. Both provide support of a non-political nature in accordance with the code of conduct for special advisers.
Individual civil servants’ salary details are not disclosed in order to protect the privacy of the individual concerned. Office costs will be accounted for in the 2007-08 departmental annual report and accounts.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department and its agencies spent on managing their corporate identities in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167340]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In the financial year 2006-07 the Department’s agencies spent £205,000 on work related to maintaining corporate identities. More than £90,000 relates to preventing internet fraud at DVLA.
Departmental Special Advisers
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who the special advisers in her Department are; what expertise each has; and what the cost of employing them was in the latest year for which figures are available. [163425]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 147-150WS.
Driving: Disabled
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will assess the viability of a temporary system of disability permits for those suffering from short-term limiting conditions lasting less than the three years required for receipt for the Blue Badge. [170569]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department recently conducted an independent strategic review of the Blue Badge Scheme which considered, among other things, who should be eligible for a badge and the issue of temporary disability. We will outline our plans in this area in a comprehensive Blue Badge Reform Strategy, which is due for publication by spring 2008.
Excise Duties
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people renewed their vehicle excise duty online in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007 to date. [170199]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is as follows.
3,793,557 people renewed their car tax online in 2006.
7,432,852 people renewed their car tax online up to 30 October 2007.
Exhaust Emissions
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate her Department has made of the number of cars in (a) England and (b) London which are in emissions bands (i) G, (ii) C-F and (iii) A-B. [169816]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of cars licensed (in thousands) at the end of December 2006 in London and England were as follows:
| All Cars | Band G | Band C-F | Band A-B | |
Haven Gateway Partnership
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings (a) she and (b) her officials have had with (i) Haven Gateway Partnership and (ii) lobbyists engaged by Haven Gateway Partnership in the last 12 months. [166912]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There have been no ministerial meetings with the Haven Gateway Partnership in the past 12 months. Representatives from the Highways Agency have attended two Haven Gateway Transport sub group meetings, and three Transport Forum meetings.
The partnership comprises a range of bodies and Ministers and officials will have met representatives from the individual bodies represented in the partnership in the course of regular business.
Health Insurance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package. [167925]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Only one employee in the Central Department receives private health insurance as part of their employment package. None of the Department’s agencies provide this employee benefit.
Heathrow Airport
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many extra flights she has estimated will pass through the airspace of each London borough if a third runway is built at Heathrow Airport per (a) hour, (b) week and (c) year; [169299]
(2) if she will place in the Library information on the proposed flightpaths that would be created to serve a third runway at Heathrow Airport. [169300]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The aircraft routes for a third runway and mixed mode within the vicinity of Heathrow are only indicative and it is therefore not possible at this stage to state how many flights would pass through the airspace of each London borough.
The indicative flight paths are shown in the consultation document “Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport”, Figures 8-11 and 19-20. These figures give an estimated overview of the average number of daily departures and arrivals across the affected airspace.
A copy of this document has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department for Transport’s website:
Ports
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings (a) she and (b) her officials have had with (i) Hutchinson Ports and (ii) lobbyists engaged by Hutchinson Ports in the last 12 months. [166980]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I met Hutchison Ports senior managers on 18 October. Other ministerial meetings in the past 12 months with representatives of the ports industry, or industry conferences at which Hutchison Ports will have been represented, are the British Ports Association’s (BPA) annual lunch in March, attended by the then Minister of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman), a meeting I had on 16 October with the UK Major Ports Group and the BPA, and a conference I attended, the first annual UK Ports and Shipping Forum, on 14 November.
Departmental and Highways Agency officials have had a series of meetings with Hutchison Ports over the past 12 months to discuss a variety of topics of relevance to the port including European and national port policy, contingency planning, and provision of rail and road infrastructure.
Salisbury Railway Station: Closures
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether, under the terms of their franchise, South West Trains is permitted to close the travel centre at Salisbury Railway Station (a) without consultation and (b) without equivalent alternative arrangements being made. [169287]
Mr. Tom Harris: South West Trains cannot close the Travel Centre at Salisbury Station without consultation, unless the facility will be used for an alternative railway use such as a waiting room. Such closures can be treated as a minor modification which is governed by the closure provisions in the Railways Act 2005.
Trains: Standards
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will make a journey in a Desiro Class 450 train unit to assess the level of passenger comfort provided. [169825]
Mr. Tom Harris: Officials from the Department, acting for the Secretary of State, have made multiple journeys on the Desiro Class 450 trains to assess the level of comfort.
Stagecoach South Western Trains (SSWT) have carried out an ergonomic study on the class 450s. The findings of this report have been independently reviewed by Passenger Focus, the passenger representation body, and have been made public by SSWT on their website.
Transport: Research
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of how her Department's spending programme for each of the next three years will reflect the priorities identified in the Eddington review; and if she will make a statement. [165974]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 19 November 2007]: In the Department's response to the Eddington study, ‘Towards a Sustainable Transport System’ (Cm 7226), figure 3.1 sets out the Department's spending plans, for the next three years and beyond, against the three major areas of investment highlighted by Eddington: city and regional networks, national networks, and international networks.
In implementing the comprehensive spending review settlement, the Department will look at all uncommitted funding decisions to ensure that these are consistent with the Eddington study and with the Stern review. The best transport solutions will be those that give the biggest contribution, per £1 of taxpayers' funding, to the Department's five goals of:
maximising the competitiveness and productivity of the economy;
cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases;
protecting people's safety, security and health;
improving quality of life; and
promoting greater equality of opportunity.
Transport: Sustainable Development
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on producing the White Paper, Towards a Sustainable Transport System; and how many copies were printed. [168684]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The total publication costs for the discussion document, “Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Supporting Economic Growth in a Low Carbon World” is £11,175.96 (not including VAT). This includes the cost for typesetting, printing, publication costs, use of copyright and mailing services.
The aforementioned costs do not include the time taken for officials to prepare the document.
In total, 922 copies were printed off in the initial run. The Department for Transport received 380 copies, the Stationery Office received 350 copies, and the remainder were directly distributed to key stakeholders.
To keep down costs, the report is also available on the Department for Transport website:
Woodhead Southerly Tunnel
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with the National Grid on its plans to lay cables along the Woodhead Southerly Tunnel. [167555]
Mr. Tom Harris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with national grid on its plans to lay cables in the Woodhead Southerly Tunnel, which it owns.
Justice
Criminal Law
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which measures enacted in criminal justice legislation over the last five years are not yet in force; and if he will make a statement. [166173]
Maria Eagle: The majority of measures enacted in Criminal Justice legislation over the past five years have been implemented.
The Serious Crime Act 2007 and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 were given royal assent this year and are not yet in force.
There are various minor measures in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 relating to the consequential amendments and repeals of provisions in other legislation that have yet to be enacted. The operation of the legislation has not been adversely affected.
The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 was commenced on 1 October 2007 except in so far as it inserts new provisions into the Public Order Act 1986.
In respect of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, this Act contains provision that relate to matters of which the owners are not the Ministry of Justice (or the Home Office). The information in respect of this Act could therefore be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
The following table shows measures enacted in other pieces of legislation that are not yet in force.
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