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10 Dec 2007 : Column 11W—continued
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the potential effects on the number of road accidents of introducing British Summer Time in winter and double British Summer Time in summer. [172336]
Jim Fitzpatrick: A Government commissioned report by the Transport Research Laboratory published in October 1998, investigated the effects of the UK adopting single/double summertime (i.e. GMT plus one hour in the winter, from October to March, and GMT plus two hours in the summer, from March to October) thereby making the evenings lighter throughout the year. It concluded that, there could be a net saving of over 400 people killed or seriously injured per year in Great Britain, including over 100 deaths.
The 1998 research did not identify casualty savings by age.
Sustainable Operations
John McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether her Department is on course to meet the commitment in the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate targets (a) to source at least 10
per cent. of its electricity from renewables by 31 March 2008 and (b) to increase recycling figures to 40 per cent. of waste by 2010. [171978]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is as follows.
(a) The Department has already achieved the “renewables” target with 62.5 per cent. of electricity being obtained from renewable sources and 10.1 per cent. derived from Combined Heat and Power.
(b) The Department has already achieved the waste recycling target with 57.1 per cent. of waste being recycled.
Transport for London: Underground Railways
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with Transport for London (TfL) relating to TfL's bid to take over the London Underground maintenance contracts originally awarded to Metronet. [163475]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with TfL on a range of issues including Metronet.
West Coast Railway Line: Watford
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons were for setting a timetable for the West Coast Mainline with fewer stops made in Watford. [168692]
Mr. Tom Harris: One of the key objectives of the modernisation of the West Coast Main Line is to provide capacity for growth in passenger and freight over the next 30 years with substantially faster and more competitive journey times. Therefore, from the December 2008 timetable change, much greater use will be made of the fast lines with up to 11 trains every hour. This means that only two of these can call at Watford Junction.
The more fast line trains that call at Watford Junction, the lower the frequency that can operate to and from Euston. This would then reduce the benefits to passengers overall of the scheme, because the West Coast Main Line service as a whole would not be able to accommodate the projected demand. As a result of the new timetable, two of the 11 hourly services will call at Watford Junction. Watford Junction passengers are also able to interchange with a range of services at Milton Keynes.
Northern Ireland
Consultants: Government Departments
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contracts his Department has with external consultants; what the total value, including all VAT and disbursements, of these contracts are for the current financial year; how long each contract lasts; and what the forecast total value is of each contract. [163802]
Mr. Woodward:
The following table shows the current list of contracts with external consultants that the NIO has and their forecast value for 2007-08 together with the estimated time for completion of the
contract and the remaining value after the current year. VAT is only included where this is not reclaimable by
the Department under the Contracted-out Services regime for non-business activities.
| Brief description | Number of contracts | 2007-08 (£000) | Length | 2008-09 (£000) |
| (1) Forecast | ||||
Departmental Corporate Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions he has accepted corporate hospitality in the last 12 months. [171305]
Mr. Woodward: Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code sets out the rules on the registration of hospitality.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many confirmed data security breaches there have been in his Department in the last 36 months; and what action was taken after each occurrence. [170247]
Mr. Woodward: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on departments’ procedures will be made on completion of the review.
Departmental Publicity
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [167951]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) spent £258,000 on advertising between December 2006 to November 2007.
Drugs: Belfast
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons were (a) charged with and (b) convicted of possession and supply of illegal drugs in North Belfast in each of the last 10 years. [170496]
Paul Goggins: The following table shows the number of persons charged with possession and supply offences in North Belfast from 2002-03 until 2006-07. PSNI has advised that figures for persons charged in the years prior to 2002-03 are not readily accessible.
| Number of persons charged with possession and supply of illegal drugs in North Belfast for the years 2002 - 07 | |||
| Persons charged—possession offences | Persons charged—supply offences | Total number of persons charged( 1) | |
| (1 )Persons can be charged for both a possession and a supply offence. | |||
Figures detailing the number of persons charged and the number convicted are collected separately. It is not
possible to reconcile charge based data from PSNI with prosecution and conviction data, since data on charges from PSNI relate to the number of offences, whereas data on prosecutions and convictions relate to the number of offenders brought before the courts.
The following table shows the number of persons convicted of possession and supply offences in North Belfast from 2000-05. Prior to this, prosecution and conviction data were based on the police division to which an offence was reported, and are therefore not directly comparable.
| Number of persons convicted of possession and supply of illegal drugs in North Belfast for the years 2000 - 05 | |||
| Persons convicted of possession of illegal drugs | Persons convicted of supply( 1) of illegal drugs | Persons convicted of possession with intent to supply illegal drugs | |
| (1) Includes being concerned in supply/offering to supply a controlled drug. | |||
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