| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
26 Feb 2008 : Column 1356W—continued
The Highways Agency is responsible for the A31 and A35 through the Dorset area. There are currently no plans for improvements to the A31 within Dorset. However, on the A35 there are proposals to improve the capacity at three roundabouts before the 2012 Olympics. They are as follows:
| Route | Improvement | Estimated cost (£ million) |
Salisbury Station
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she received proposals from South West Trains under the Network Modifications (Closures) regime contained in the Railway Act 2005 to close the travel centre at Salisbury station; and when she expects to announce her decision. [187309]
Mr. Tom Harris: The proposal was received by the Department on 20 November 2007. The decision to approve this minor modification has been made. The determination was issued on 25 February.
Sea Rescue: Northern Ireland
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment she has made of the effects on maritime safety and rescue in and around Northern Ireland waters of the decision of the Irish Republic to close the coast guard stations in Donegal; and if she will make a statement; [188554]
(2) what assessment she has made of the effects on measures against illegal and illicit shipping in and around Northern Ireland waters of the decision of the Irish Republic to close the coast guard stations in Donegal; and if she will make a statement. [188555]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Should the Irish authorities decide to close coastguard stations in Donegal, provision of maritime search and rescue services in the waters around Northern Ireland will be unaffected. HM Coastguard will continue to provide 24 hr co-ordination of Search and Rescue in and around Northern Ireland waters from its station in Bangor.
Regular operational search and rescue liaison meetings are held between HM Coastguard and the Irish Coast Guard.
Seas and Oceans: Legislation
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she last discussed the Marine Bill with her Cabinet colleagues; and if she will make a statement. [188710]
Jim Fitzpatrick: My right hon. Friend regularly participates in Cabinet discussions on all aspects of the legislative programme, including the Marine Bill.
South West Trains
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of decreasing the mainline express stock on the Portsmouth to Waterloo mainline outside peak hours. [188489]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department for Transport has made no such assessment and is not aware of any off-peak capacity issues on this particular route.
Transport: Voluntary Work
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will assess the merits of moving from a system of local authority grants for the provision of volunteer transport services to a system of contracts. [188332]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for local authorities to make decisions on how they procure or support volunteer transport services, taking into account the legislative framework and their local circumstances. Information is available to local authorities about volunteer transport services, including a review commissioned by the Department of voluntary transport and carried out in close association with the Community Transport Association.
Waterborne Freight Grant
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the budget was for, and what payments were made under, the waterborne freight grant in each year since its inception. [188894]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 25 February 2008]: Prior to 2007, the Department funded both the waterborne freight grant (resource) and water freight facilities grant (capital) schemes from a budget of between £8-12 million.
In April 2007, the mode neutral sustainable distribution fund (SDF) was created to fund rail and water freight grants and road efficiency schemes. £18.5 million of resource and £7 million of capital funding has been available from the SDF this year.
No waterborne freight grants have been awarded by the Department since the scheme's inception in 2004. This is not due to a lack of available budget but to the fact that potential applicants have difficulty in satisfying constraints imposed by the European Commission when
the Government sought State Aids clearance. These require schemes to be viable without grant support within a three-year period.
The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the waterborne freight grant scheme.
Duchy of Lancaster
Sub-Committee on Health and Wellbeing
Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will include subjective wellbeing in the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee on Health and Wellbeing. [188285]
Phil Hope: The terms of reference of the Sub-Committee on Health and Wellbeing already enable it to discuss subjective wellbeing.
V: Finance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much matching funding his Department has channelled through the charity V to date. [189110]
Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on 20 February 2008, Official Report, column 743W.
Olympics
Humanitarian Aid
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much was spent on domestic humanitarian assistance in each of the last three years, broken down by source budget. [187333]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 20 February 2008]: In my answer of 26 February 2008, Official Report, column 136W, to the hon. Member I set out the budget for the Humanitarian Assistance Unit in each of the last three years. It is not possible to split this budget up in terms of support for domestic incidents and support for international incidents.
The funding for the Humanitarian Assistance Unit all comes from the budget allocated to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many unmanned aerial vehicles have been lost or destroyed in Afghanistan in the last 12 months. [187197]
Des Browne:
A total of 27 Desert Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles operated by UK forces in Afghanistan have been lost in the past 12 months. This number
reflects the high operational tasking of this system. We continue to refine our operational procedures to minimise the loss rate, but it is inevitable that some losses will occur.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the budget change in his Department will be in each year of the 2008 to 2011 Comprehensive Spending Review period in cash terms. [189414]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The near-cash budget in nominal terms (equivalent to direct resource DEL plus capital DEL) for each year of the comprehensive spending review (CSR) period is set out in table D14 of the CSR White Paper (Cm 7227), published in October 2007. For ease of reference the table is included as follows:
| Financial year | Budget (£ million) | Change on previous year |
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2007, Official Report, column 1032W, on Iraq: peacekeeping operations, how many of the media assignments facilitated since April 2007 were for a single media outlet or organisation; and from which exclusive access to information arose. [170120]
Des Browne: Our records indicate that of the 52 media assignments to Iraq since April, 45 were for single individuals or media outlets. The others were group visits. All programmes take account of the operational situation at the time, security requirements and the preferences of the individual journalist or organisation and therefore differ from visit to visit.
Territorial Army: Recruitment
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the decision to restrict recruiting for certain units in the Territorial Army over the next two financial years remains in place. [189183]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have nothing to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 20 February 2008, Official Report, column 703W.
Northern Ireland
Members: Correspondence
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 608W, on territorial waters: Northern Ireland, when he expects to write to the hon. Member for Thurrock; and if he will explain the reason for the delay. [187807]
Paul Goggins: I am sorry that it is taking a significant amount of time to prepare a response. The issue raised by the hon. Member are complex and cover both transferred and reserved matters.
Under Schedule 3 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 the foreshore, sea bed and subsoil and their natural resources (except so far as affecting harbours) are reserved matters. Thus, marine nature conservation in the territorial waters is the responsibility of the Secretary of State. However, at operational level, his functions are carried out by the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland (Environment and Heritage Service).
Given the delay, I would be happy to meet with the hon. Member to discuss the issue in more detail.
Wales
Armed Forces: Training
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the written ministerial statement by the Secretary of State for Defence on 31 January 2008, Official Report, columns 24-26WS, on the Defence Training Review Rationalisation Programme/BORONA programme, how many new net jobs Package 1 of the programme will be created in Wales. [187409]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The precise number of jobs to be created during the construction and operational phases of the project will not be known until current contractual negotiations between the MOD and Metrix have been completed.
Departmental Sick Leave
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of working days lost by his Department’s staff was attributed to stress-related conditions in the most recent year for which figures are available. [187866]
Mr. Paul Murphy: In the fiscal year 2006-07, five working days were lost by Wales Office staff to stress-related conditions.
Environment Protection
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what environmental protection matters were discussed at the British-Irish Council Meeting on 14 February; and what agreements were made. [188167]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The British-Irish Council (BIC), held its 10th summit meeting on 14 February at the Royal hospital Kilmainham, in Dublin, Ireland. It is customary for each summit to focus on a single theme. The focus of this summit was on misuse of drugs, which is a workstream led by the Irish Government. The next summit meeting will be held in Edinburgh in September 2008.
The UK leads the Environment Workstream and the last ministerial meeting was held in Northern Ireland on 1 February 2008. At that meeting, it was agreed that BIC should continue to intensify co-operation and
exchange of information between the members on a number of important environmental areas including unavoidable climate change, understanding extreme weather events, integrated coastal zone management and managing radioactive waste. The next ministerial meeting of the BIC Environment will take place in Jersey in 2009.
Young People: Advisory Services
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the use of the additional funding provided by the Department for Children, Schools and Families for (a) Connexions services and (b) the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds; and if he will make a statement. [187843]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I have regular discussions with colleagues in the Welsh Assembly Government on all issues concerning education, including the provision of skills and opportunities for young people.
Connexions services are for England only. In Wales, Careers Wales, an independent organisation funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, provides this service. It has six local delivery companies providing a comprehensive careers advice and guidance service to people of all ages, operating across the Welsh regions. Similarly, the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds programmes also apply to England only. Youth service in Wales is provided through the Welsh Assembly Government via the National Youth Service Strategy, published in March last year.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |