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12 May 2008 : Column 1296W—continued
Felixstowe to Nuneaton Railway Line: Finance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on the Felixstowe to Nuneaton rail route in each year since 1997; how much her Department plans to spend in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012 and (e) 2013; and how much of this expenditure is intended to improve the freight carrying capacity of the line. [204023]
Mr. Tom Harris: The amount of money spent on the Felixstowe to Nuneaton route since 1997 is a matter for Network Rail. The White Paper—‘Delivering a Sustainable Railway’—provided for £200 million to create a strategic freight network of which £50 million has been proposed for Ipswich to Nuneaton capacity enhancements. A further £80 million of Productivity—Transport Innovation Fund money was announced in October 2007 for gauge and capacity enhancements between Peterborough and Nuneaton.
All this expenditure is intended to enhance freight capacity on the route but will benefit passenger services as well. The annual breakdown of spend on these projects between 2009 and 2013 is a matter for Network Rail.
GoVia
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2008, Official Report, column 1117W, on GoVia, by what date she expects to have made an announcement regarding the South Central rail franchise. [203524]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 6 May 2008]: The Government will be making a further announcement with regard to the South Central franchise before the end of May.
M20: Noise
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1445W, on M20: noise, how many sites having been designated as high priority for resurfacing have been resurfaced when the road surface has been assessed as being structurally sound. [203876]
Official Vehicles: Accidents
Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many accidents (a) ministerial vehicles and (b) accompanying police vehicles have been involved in each of the last 10 years, broken down by ministerial office; and what the cost of repairs was in each case. [204010]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Official cars for Ministers are provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency. There have been no accidents involving ministerial cars and accompanying police vehicles since the Agency was formed in 1997.
Oil: Prices
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2008, Official Report, columns 2263-4W, on oil: prices, whether she plans to revise her projections for the future price of oil in (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2020. [204668]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 9 May 2008]: The Department for Transport uses oil price projections from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) in its transport modelling. On 2 May 2008, BERR published revised oil price assumptions to (a) $65; (b) $68; and (c) $70 for the years requested. These are in 2007 prices and refer to their central scenario.
We are in the process of using these updated projections to make new road traffic and congestion forecasts. The new oil price projections will also be incorporated into the latest versions of Department guidance and software used in developing business cases for funding by promoters.
Railways: Construction
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what preparatory steps she has taken in connection with the possible future construction of high-speed rail lines. [203339]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 1 May 2008]: The Secretary of State has invited Network Rail to lead work on the development of our understanding of the complex options that may be needed in the future, in the context of the Department for Transport’s wider strategic planning process. This will include looking at the feasibility and potential role of new railway lines, whether high speed or conventional.
Railways: Consultants
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2008, Official Report, column 173W, on railways: consultants, (1) what work is being carried out by consultants on behalf of her Department on the feasibility of a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham; [202168]
(2) what work is being done by her Department on the feasibility of a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham. [202169]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 28 April 2008]: The Secretary of State has invited Network Rail to lead work on the development of our understanding of the complex options that may be needed in the future, in the context of the Department for Transport’s wider strategic planning process. This will include looking at the feasibility and potential role of new railway lines, whether high speed or conventional.
Roads: Canvey Island
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds have been allocated by her Department at national and regional level to Essex county council's feasibility study into an additional access road for Canvey Island. [204603]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The question of a proposed access road to Canvey Island is a matter for Essex county council, as local highway authority. The Department for Transport has not specifically allocated any funding for a feasibility study for any proposed scheme either at national or regional level.
Trains
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will take steps to ensure that the electric version of the proposed Inter-City Express will be equipped with an automatic coupler to facilitate the attachment of a diesel locomotive. [204179]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 8 May 2008]: It is a requirement of the Invitation to Tender, published by the Department for Transport last year, that electric IEP trains can be automatically coupled to diesel powered vehicles.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role her Department will have in the procurement process for the new Inter-City Express rolling stock. [204180]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 8 May 2008]: The Department for Transport has been leading the procurement process to-date, and will continue to do so through to completion in 2009.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will take steps to ensure that rail vehicles intended for use on (a) Thameslink and (b) Crossrail routes will be compatible for use on either line. [204181]
Mr. Tom Harris
[holding answer 8 May 2008]: Thameslink and Crossrail are similar in concept. Both aim to connect together national rail routes with a high frequency metro style service through central London. However, Thameslink uses existing tunnels built in the 19th century, whereas Crossrail will use a new, purpose built tunnel. As a result the constraints on the physical
size of the trains are different for the two projects and for that reason it is unlikely that they will be fully compatible.
Transport
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what date she expects to publish her Green Paper on transport challenges; and what topics will be covered by the Paper. [203337]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 1 May 2008]: Since the publication of “Towards a Sustainable Transport System” in October 2007, the Department for Transport has been discussing with stakeholders how to define the challenges that we will need to address in our transport strategy for 2014 and beyond. Those discussions finished at the end of March. We aim to publish our response to these stakeholder discussions, and our view on how the process of generating and selecting options should work, shortly.
Work and Pensions
Employment
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his statement of 16 January 2008, Official Report, column 944, that there was record employment under Labour, including record numbers of British jobs, how many (a) people and (b) working age people were in employment in each year since 1997; what the (i) employment rate and (ii) working age employment rate was of (A) the UK population, (B) UK citizens, (C) UK born citizens and (D) non-UK citizens in each year; what the figures were in each quarter since 1 January 2006; and if he will make a statement on Government targets for the employment rate in the UK. [181903]
Mr. Timms: The information requested, as well as information on all those aged 16 and over in employment, is given in the following tables.
The Government's aim is to maximise employment opportunity for all, with a long-term aspiration of an employment rate of 80 per cent.
| Table A : UK population | |||
| (i) Employment rate (percentage) | (ii) WA employment | (iii) 16+ employment | |
| Table B: UK Nationals | |||
| (i) Employment rate (percentage) | (ii) WA employment | (iii) 16+ employment | |
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