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15 May 2008 : Column 1687W—continued
2007-08 DCMS internal figures are final, NDPB figures are provisional and local authority figures will not become available until June 2008. We forecast that 2007-08 local authority gains will be £154.5 million and that we will therefore exceed our target. Final efficiency savings figures will be reported in the 2008 DCMS autumn performance report. Latest headcount figures show a reduction of 76 posts at 31 March 2008. The Department was carrying 35 vacancies at 31 March 2008 and even excluding these posts we have still exceeded our target. Latest relocation figures show the relocation of 586 posts at 31 March 2008. We have identified over 900 posts in total to relocate over the period and are therefore on course to exceed our target.
Departmental Domestic Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions he has visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [204399]
Andy Burnham: In the last 12 months, Ministers in this Department have visited Scotland six times and Northern Ireland once. There have been no visits to Wales.
All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the ministerial code.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the March 2008 Emerging Technologies Group. [204917]
Andy Burnham: I am arranging for copies of the minutes from the Emerging Technologies Group's meeting of 10 April to be placed in the House Libraries, with the commercially sensitive information removed.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he was first informed of the research into return path usage among the elderly commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government, referred to in the minutes of the Emerging Technologies Group meeting on 27 February in relation to the digital switchover assistance scheme. [204918]
Andy Burnham: The Department was first told of the research at the Emerging Technologies Group meeting of 27 February.
Olympic Games: China
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people will attend all or part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games from (a) UK Sport and (b) Sport England; and at what cost. [205747]
Andy Burnham:
UK Sport inform me that a total of eight people from UK Sport are attending all or part of the Beijing Olympic Games. The cost of this at current
exchange rates is around £27,000, excluding living expenses. UK Sport state that these representatives are going to ensure the UK's lead agency for performance sport is properly represented, but also to deliver key objectives and attend formal meetings around their designated anti-doping, major events and international influence roles.
Sport England inform me that Sport England will be represented by their chief executive and the director of property, and state that both have significant roles to play in terms of Sport England's increasingly strong role around talent and Olympic venues ahead of London 2012. The chief executive and director of property are attending the Beijing Olympic Games as part of the British Olympic Association's guest programme for one week in August, at a cost of £9,550 per person. Sport England state this is the price set by the BOA.
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: Construction
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what landscaping contracts for the 2012 London Olympics have been let; and what plans she has to consult landscaping contractors in connection with the Games site. [205356]
Tessa Jowell: In March this year the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) selected world leading landscape architects IDA Design Hargreaves Associates to design the Olympic Park for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The ODA also short-listed four world-class contractors bidding to undertake the management of landscaping the northern area of the Olympic Park and all return bids are due next month. The ODA is on course to appoint a contractor this autumn.
The ODA hosted a very successful Industry Day last year and hold regular meetings with the British Association of Landscape Industry and the Horticultural Trade Association and continue to engage the market as they move closer to letting distinct pieces of work.
In addition, to help businesses access 2012 related contracts, the London 2012 Business Network was launched in January of this year. A key part of this is CompeteFor, an online brokerage service that matches the profiles of suppliers and buyers, enabling businesses to directly compete for contracts, including landscaping contracts. I would encourage companies in the constituency of the hon. Member to take advantage of this.
Olympic Games 2012: Employment
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many people working on 2012 Olympic Games construction projects are on apprenticeships; and what proportion of the workforce this represents. [205323]
Tessa Jowell:
The latest figures show that there are currently over 2,700 people working on the Olympic sites. 74 of these are trainees or apprentices; this represents 2 per cent. of the work force. However, as part of a wider programme to improve the skills and
employment levels in East London and beyond, the Olympic Delivery Authority and partners are aiming for a target of at least 2,000 people into apprenticeships and work placements up to 2012.
Transport
Departmental Equality
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether her Department met the civil service diversity targets set out on page 51 of Cabinet Office Annual Report 2007 by April 2008. [204710]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The latest published statistics against overall civil service targets were at October 2007, and are available on the civil service website at:
The final measurement against the targets will be published in autumn 2008. The most recent figures for the Department for Transport are for 31 March 2008:
| Percentage | ||
| DfT | Civil s ervice t arget | |
Departmental Translation Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by her Department on translation and interpretation services in 2007-08, broken down by language. [205176]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport and its agencies do not hold the data in an appropriate format to provide the breakdown requested and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The information that is available is in the following table.
| 2007-08 | ||
| £000 | ||
|
Translations and interpretations, including DfT share of EU Council Secretariat translations | ||
|
Translations, mostly Welsh but also including British Sign Language | ||
Driving: Diabetes
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will review the criteria by which those with type 1 diabetes have had retention of their driving licences, including for heavy goods vehicles, reviewed. [205770]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Drivers with type 1 diabetes (insulin treated) who meet the published medical licensing standards can hold a Group 1 (car/motorcycles) licence subject to regular review.
Persons with insulin treated diabetes are also able to drive goods vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes, subject to individual assessment of their ability to meet the higher medical standards required.
Medical standards are subject to regular review by the Secretary of State's Honorary Medical Advisory Panels and may be amended in the light of relevant new evidence.
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will make it her policy to introduce conditional driving licences prohibiting (a) nighttime driving, (b) driving with passengers and (c) motorway driving until a suite of driving tests and examinations have been passed over a period of years; and if she will make a statement. [204491]
Jim Fitzpatrick: On 7 May, the Secretary of State launched the ‘Learning to Drive’ consultation, which sets out our proposals for the reform of driver training and testing. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Our proposed approach is one based on education and incentivisation, rather than restriction. We believe the evidence supports this approach. However, we are keen to hear everybody’s views, and our consultation seeks opinions about our general approach as well as specific measures.
Luton Airport
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the projected change in numbers of
flights (a) to and (b) from Luton airport by 2020 is; what percentage of flights using Luton airport were domestic in the latest period for which figures are available; and what percentage she expects to be domestic in 2020. [203293]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport’s forecasts for Luton airport are set out in table G8 of the UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts report (November 2007). Luton airport is projected to have 130,000 air transport movements in 2020. The split between domestic and international flights is not readily available. However, we estimate that of the 17 million passengers forecast to use Luton in 2015, 12 per cent. would be domestic passengers.
According to the latest statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority, there were 69,491 international flights and 13,828 domestic flights at Luton in 2007.
Roads: Accidents
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many drivers aged (a) 17 to 20, (b) 21 to 29, (c) 30 to 39, (d) 40 to 49, ( e) 50 to 59, (f) 60 to 69 and (g) over 70 years of age had (i) at least one accident and (ii) a driving licence in each year since 1997. [205107]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Information is not available on drivers involved in accidents at an individual level. The following table therefore may include double counting, where a driver may be involved in more than one accident in a year.
The numbers of car drivers aged (a) 17 to 20, (b) 21 to 29, (c) 30 to 39, (d) 40 to 49, (e) 50 to 59, (f) 60 to 69 and (g) 70 and over years of age involved in reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain from 1997 to 2006 are shown in the table.
| Number of car drivers involved in reported personal injury road accidents | |||||||
| Driver age | |||||||
| 17-20 | 21 -29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70 and over | |
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