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25 Mar 2008 : Column 93W—continued
Aviation
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport at how many international airports in the UK Boeing 747 aeroplanes may not land due to the length of the runway. [196170]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority, as the UK’s independent aviation regulator. I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member.
Bus Services: Contracts
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what plans she has to alter the tendering process for bus-operated rail replacement services; [193983]
(2) whether she has received complaints from bus operators on the tendering process for rail replacement bus contracts. [193984]
(3) how much Network Rail has spent on rail replacement bus services in each of the last five years; [193985]
(4) how many train operating companies (a) own and (b) are owned by a bus operating company; [193986]
(5) how many train operating companies share a parent company with a bus operating company; [193987]
(6) what recent meetings she has had to discuss the tendering process for rail replacement bus contracts. [193988]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department of Transport does not have any role in specifying the tendering process for bus-operated rail replacement rail services. Train operators are responsible for securing alternatives for rail services, should it not be possible to operate the specified rail service in full.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many journeys were taken on Eurostar by staff of her Department in each of the last three years. [194970]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2008, Official Report, columns 43-4W, on departmental telephone services, which of the telephone numbers used by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are premium rate; and how much has been raised in respect of calls to these lines in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [196729]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) offers Premium Rate Driving Licence check and vehicle check telephone service to verify driver and vehicle details and an additional Date of
Liability line which provides information on the expiry of the current tax disc. Calls to these services are charged at 49p per minute.
The vehicle check service is now offered via the web free of charge and call volumes have dropped by 90 per cent. over the last 18 months. DVLA is looking to pilot a web service for the driving licence check later this year.
Income for the first 11 months of 2007-08 is £611,702.53.
Great Western Trains
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to her written ministerial statement of 26 February 2008, on First Great Western, (1) on what dates First Great Western are required (a) to present their Remedial Plan to her Department and (b) to publish their Remedial Plan; [191712]
(2) how long her Department has been working on the Remedial Plan with First Great Western. [191713]
Mr. Tom Harris: Prior to 26 February, the Department had been discussing the contents of a possible Remedial Plan to be issued by First Great Western in response to the Remedial Plan Notice.
The Department for Transport has been discussing the Remedial Plan itself with First Great Western since 28 February 2008, which is the date on which First Great Western was required to submit the Remedial Plan to the Department for Transport. First Great Western is not required to publish the Remedial Plan.
The Remedial Plan is contractualised as a Remedial Agreement, which will be incorporated into the First Great Western franchise agreement. The amended franchise agreement will be available through the Department for Transport's Public Register.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to her written ministerial statement of 26 February 2008, Official Report, columns 73-4WS, on First Great Western franchise, (1) if she will put a copy of First Great Western's Remedial Plan in the Library, once it is agreed; [191742]
(2) if she will place in the Library a copy of (a) all First Great Western's monthly reports to her Department and (b) her Department's assessment of their progress against their Joint Improvement Plan and 40-point Recovery Plan. [191748]
Mr. Tom Harris: These documents are commercially confidential. However, the Remedial Plan is contractualised as a Remedial Agreement, which will be incorporated into the First Great Western franchise agreement. The amended franchise agreement will be available through the Department for Transport's Public Register.
Motorcycles
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motorcycles of 50cc or under are being used on roads; and what the trend has been in use of these vehicles over the last five years. [196080]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of licensed motorcycles of 50cc or under in Great Britain over the last five years were as follows:
| Year end | Number of licensed motorcycles of 50cc or under ( T housand) |
Motorcycles: Accidents
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents there have been involving 16-year-olds driving 50 cc or under motorcycles in each of the last five years. [196079]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving at least one 16-year-old driving a 50 cc or under motorcycle, in 2002 to 2006, are shown in the table.
| Number of accidents | |
Railways
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what responsibilities (a) her Department and (b) Network Rail has for (i) train path allocations and (ii) network growth. [191813]
Mr. Tom Harris: Train path allocations are commercial agreements between Network Rail and the train operators, which are independently regulated by the Office of Rail Regulation.
The Government have set out both the growth they wish to see on the network during the five year review period 2009-10 to 2013-14, and the funds available to pay for meeting that demand. Network Rail and the train operators are developing the detail of how to implement this, subject to independent evaluation by the Office of Rail Regulation.
Railways: Land
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2007, Official Report, column 1438W, on railway track, what consultations her Department held with BRB (Residuary) Ltd before a sale was agreed for each of the areas of land indicated in the answer. [193981]
Mr. Tom Harris:
Prior to disposing of any land in its ownership, BRB (Residuary) Ltd. consults with interested parties, including the Department for Transport in accordance with the guidance that I issued to them in July 2007. Details of that guidance are outlined in my
statement to the House of 26 July 2007 and are available in the Library of the House and on BRB(R)'s website at:
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment her Department has made of the impact on road maintenance costs of allowing heavy goods vehicles weighing up to 60 tonnes; and if she will make a statement; [190566]
(2) what assessment her Department has made of the impact on safety of other road users of allowing heavy goods vehicles weighing up to 60 tonnes on the roads; and if she will make a statement. [190567]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The impact of such vehicles on safety and road infrastructure is being considered in a study, the report of which should be published in full shortly.
Roads: Safety
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Highways Agency spent on safety improvements in each year since 2001, broken down by county; and what the Agency’s safety improvement budget is for each of the next three years, broken down by county. [195425]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Agency cannot identify all monies spent on safety improvements without incurring disproportionate costs to obtain this information.
Rolling Stock
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many useable carriages and units she estimates are held in sidings or depots. [195237]
Mr. Tom Harris: This is a matter for the rolling stock companies who own the trains, though the Department for Transport is not aware of any substantial quantity of usable rolling stock held off-lease.
Trains
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 2758W, on Intercity Express: consultants, what (a) benefits and (b) value for money gains she expects to arise as a result of her Department’s detailed involvement in the specification process. [194550]
Mr. Tom Harris: There is a good business case for the introduction of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) train on the network’s main intercity routes.
The Intercity Express programme offers better value for money than would otherwise be available from continuing with the current mix of trains, or from pursuing other train options.
Depending on the total number of routes chosen for deployment, and the tenders from the market, the benefits of the Intercity Express Programme are expected to exceed costs by around £3 billion over the life of the train.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies: Finance
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what method is used for calculating the funding for academies. [196260]
Jim Knight: The principle followed is that an academy should be funded at the same level as a maintained school in the same circumstances, so far as circumstances allow. Therefore the largest component of an Academy’s General Annual Grant (GAG), the school budget share, is calculated using the relevant local authority’s school funding formula, together with the Learning and Skills Council’s formula for sixth form provision. Other grants such as School Standards Grant and specialist school funding for which there is a national formula are calculated on the same basis as for maintained schools. Academies have certain additional grants to recognise additional responsibilities. They cannot reclaim value added tax, so a VAT grant is paid; and they also receive a grant based on the local authority’s spend per pupil on central services. Start-up grants are also payable in the period after opening, to support the educational transformation required of an academy.
Children in Care: General Certificate of Secondary Education
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of children in care obtained A* to C GCSE grades in (a) English and (b) mathematics in each of the last 10 years. [195965]
Kevin Brennan: We do not collect information about the numbers of looked after children who achieve A*-C GCSE grades in English or mathematics separately. However, these data are available at a local level enabling local authorities to set targets for the attainment of looked after children at key stage 4 which include English and mathematics, These targets are negotiated with the National Strategies and Government offices and form a statutory part of a local authority’s local area agreement.
As our Care Matters programme demonstrates we are committed to improving the education of looked after children. At national level the DCSF is matching data on looked after children to the National Pupil Database (NPD), which provides a wide range of data on the educational attainment of children and young people. From 2009 an initial analysis of looked after children to attainment data along with a range of other data will be available, including English and mathematics at GCSE.
Data collected since 2000 and published in ‘Outcome indicators for looked after children twelve months to 30 September’, show the percentage of children who were looked after for at least 12 months achieving five GCSEs (or equivalent) at grades A*-C. Data for England are shown in the following table.
| Number and percentage of children who are looked after continuously for at least 12 months in year 11 who achieved five A*- C GCSE grades (or equivalent)( 1) , 12 months ending 30 September 2000-06, England | ||
| Number | Percentage( 2) | |
| (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Expressed as a percentage of all looked after children in Year 11. Source: OC2 Survey | ||
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