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18 Dec 2007 : Column 1441W—continued
South West Trains
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of changes in congestion on South West Trains rail services following the decision not to allow South West Trains use of old Eurostar platforms at Waterloo station; and if she will make a statement. [173279]
Mr. Tom Harris: A decision not to allow Stagecoach South Western Trains (SSWT) rail services to make use of Waterloo International terminal has not been made.
It is primarily the railway infrastructure outside Waterloo that limits the number of trains that can use the station rather than the number of platforms. Therefore the need is to run longer trains rather than more trains. So we are planning a large scheme to make all the platforms long enough to accommodate 10 and 12 car trains and to modify the junction layout on the approaches to the station. Such a scheme would allow the use of up to 50 per cent. longer trains than currently use the short platforms and would result in a large increase in capacity. The scheme also presents opportunities at Waterloo International to reconfigure the passenger circulation space and the interchange with other transport modes, and to better integrate the station into the surrounding area. Such an ambitious scheme requires very detailed planning to make the most of this unique opportunity.
In order to make the best use of the facility in the meantime, the Department is working closely with Network Rail and SSWT to finalise the design and costs of the partial conversion of Waterloo International to accommodate some domestic services. Therefore some services could use platform 20 of Waterloo International from the timetable change date in December 2008.
Thameslink Railway Line: Consultants
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department has spent on consultants for work relating to the Thameslink programme since 1998. [175405]
Mr. Tom Harris: Prior to July 2005, the Strategic Rail Authority managed the Thameslink project who spent approximately £5.9 million on consultants.
The Department took over the project from the SRA in July 2005, since when it has spent £1.3 million on consultants.
Transport
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government has taken to understand the travel (a) needs, (b) behaviour and (c) aspirations of each section of the community. [174163]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department for Transport’s aim is transport that works for everyone. It is committed to understanding the transport needs of all social groups and has a wide-ranging programme of work to support this.
In June 2007, the Department published an evidence-based review on mobility, which looked at travel choices, behaviour and attitudes, as well as barriers to travel and measures to overcome barriers for different social groups, including children and young people, adults on low income, those living in rural areas, black and minority ethnic groups, women, disabled people and older people.
In November 2007, the Department also published two research reports looking at travel needs, behaviours and aspirations of older people and young adults.
These reports can be found on the Department for Transport’s website.
Further research is also currently being undertaken on disabled people’s travel needs, behaviours and aspirations.
Transport for London: Finance
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007 to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet, Official Report, columns 605-6W, on Transport for London: finance, what assessment she has made of the effect on the grant and borrowing totals in each year of the entry of Metronet into administration. [172074]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The comprehensive spending review 2007 settlement sets out the expected levels of Transport for London grant and borrowing to 2017-18 and makes provision for costs arising from Metronet's administration. It is now for Transport for London to manage their costs and priorities within their overall financial envelope.
Woodhead Tunnel
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will delay any decision on whether to allow cables to be laid in the southerly Woodhead tunnel until the publication of the final Yorkshire and Humber Route Utilisation Strategy. [172361]
Mr. Tom Harris: The decision on whether to lay cables in the southerly Woodhead tunnel is a matter for National Grid, who owns the tunnel. National Grid's proposal would not preclude future consideration of reopening the route for rail use.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the Woodhead tunnel was taken out of railway use. [172362]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Woodhead route was taken out of use in 1981. This was because of the significant decline in coal and other heavy freight movements across the Pennines and the fact that an alternative route with spare capacity was available between Sheffield and Manchester.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the potential strategic significance of the Woodhead railway tunnel for improving transport links, with particular reference to targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions. [172363]
Mr. Tom Harris: No assessment has been made of the potential strategic significance of the Woodhead route for transport uses. Additional capacity on trans-Pennine rail routes is being funded as part of the Government’s £15 billion commitment to rail set out in the recent White Paper. The White Paper outlines the contribution rail is making towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether she has conducted an appraisal of the (a) costs and benefits and (b) the value for money of reopening the Woodhead tunnel to rail freight against the building of the Mottram-Tintwistle bypass through the Peak District National Park. [172364]
Mr. Tom Harris: No appraisal has taken place on the costs and benefits of re-opening the Woodhead tunnel to rail freight in the context of the proposed Mottram-Tintwistle bypass. The need for a bypass is driven by regional and local road traffic and environmental factors.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if she will intervene to prevent National Grid from implementing any plans to utilise the Woodhead tunnel for power cables and other purposes which would prevent the tunnel being able to be used in future for rail. [172365]
(2) if she will commit to safeguarding the trans-Pennine rail route with particular reference to the Woodhead tunnel for future rail use. [172366]
Mr. Tom Harris: The decision on whether to lay cables in the southerly Woodhead tunnel is a matter for National Grid, who owns the tunnel. There is no case for the Secretary of State to intervene. National Grid’s proposal would not preclude future consideration of reopening the route for rail use.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the reopening of the Woodhead tunnel with the (a) Delivering a Sustainable Railway White Paper, (b) Towards a Sustainable Transport System paper and (c) Eddington transport study. [172367]
Mr. Tom Harris:
The approach set out in Towards a Sustainable Transport System adopts many of the recommendations made by the Eddington transport study. Proposing a single solution, such as the re-opening of the Woodhead route, to a problem that has not been clearly identified is not compatible with the approach proposed in Towards a Sustainable Transport System or the Eddington report. The rail
White Paper—Delivering a Sustainable Railway, published in July 2007 does not identify a need to re-open lines to deliver additional capacity.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether she plans to convert any of the Woodhead tunnels to road use. [172984]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 10 December 2007]: There are no plans to convert the Woodhead tunnels to road use.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications his Department has had with injured personnel who received their injuries during service in Afghanistan and Iraq since January 2001; and if he will make a statement. [168064]
Derek Twigg: From the point of wounding to discharge from medical care, the progress of all injured personnel is managed and monitored by the Defence Medical Services (DMS), to ensure that they receive appropriate treatment and care at every stage. Patients are kept informed of the progress of their treatment, and the likely course that it will take. Welfare staff and single service representatives also maintain the appropriate links between the patients and their home units when they are in hospital or receiving treatment elsewhere, such as at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court.
For those who have left the armed forces we have, since the beginning of 2007, put in place arrangements for the Department’s Veterans Welfare Service to monitor those discharged with a seriously disabling injury; this covers cases of both physical and psychological injury. While this monitoring is primarily focused on welfare matters, the service will identify relevant sources of assistance where there is a medical issue.
Finally, Ministers themselves often meet injured personnel and their families, both when visiting operational theatres, and in medical facilities back in the UK.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) commanders and (b) foot soldiers surrendered to (i) the International Security Assistance Force and (ii) the Afghan National Army in each month during 2007. [172155]
Des Browne: The Ministry of Defence does not collect the information requested.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) who decided that details of the Musa Qaleh operation should not be released for reasons of operational security; [173960]
(2) what assessment he has made of whether the operational security of the Musa Qaleh operation was breached by the Sunday newspapers and by radio and television over the weekend of 8 and 9 December 2007. [173961]
Des Browne: It is MOD policy not to release details of future operations because this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces. Media reporting over the weekend 8 to 9 December did not prejudice the conduct of the Musa Qaleh operation.
Armed Forces
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the average length of service of serving soldiers is; [174662]
(2) what the average age of retirement for a soldier was in the last period for which figures are available. [174712]
Derek Twigg: The average length of reckonable service for a serving Regular Army soldier as at 1 March 2007 is nine years and two months.
The average age of retirement for a Regular Army soldier on completion of service, based on the soldiers completing service between 1 April 2006 to 28 February 2007, is 41 years and four months.
Armed Forces: Cadets
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial contribution his Department has made to the (a) Army, (b) Sea and (c) Air Cadets for each of the last five financial years. [169807]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence has made the following financial contribution to the various cadet forces over the last five financial years:
| £ million | |||
| Financial year | Sea Cadets | Army Cadets | Air Cadets |
Armed Forces: Health Services
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving military personnel have been treated as in-patients by the National Health Service over the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what proportion of those admittances were the result of incidents and accidents on frontline deployments. [170590]
Derek Twigg:
Statistics are not held in the form requested. However, the most recent assessment by the Defence Medical Services of the number of military
in-patients being treated at UK NHS hospitals on a particular day (1 November 2007) showed that there were 23 service in-patients being treated in NHS hospitals hosting Ministry of Defence hospital units (MDHUs), and 19 in-patients being treated under the auspices of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) at Birmingham hospitals. A small number of military in-patients will also have been treated at other NHS hospitals. The precise number in this category on a particular day is not recorded centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We assess from earlier data collection that around a further 15 to 25 service personnel are treated as in-patients in NHS hospitals on a typical day, in addition to those in the hospitals hosting the RCDM and MDHUs.
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many former servicemen and women are in care homes funded by his Department; and what his Department spent on this in 2006-07. [172891]
Derek Twigg: There are 70 war pensioners in care homes whose nursing care is funded by the Ministry of Defence. £3.03 million was spent funding this in 2006-07.
Armed Forces: Housing
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on providing private rented accommodation for service personnel including and above the rank of colonel and their families in each of the last six years. [173517]
Derek Twigg: The following table lists the amount that has been spent on providing Substitute Service Family Accommodation for the rank of Colonel and the equivalents in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force broken down for each of the last six years.
| Total (£ million) | |
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