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30 Jun 2008 : Column 580W—continued

	2003-04		2004-05		2005-06		2006-07
Department	Number of cars	Annual contracted value (£)	Number of cars	Annual contracted value (£)	Number of cars	Annual contracted value (£)	Number of cars	Annual contracted value (£)
Cabinet Office(1)	8	472,100	8	487,400	10	626,300	8	531,700
ODPM/DCLG(3)	6	321,800	6	366,800	6	392,400	6	393,900
DCMS	4	235,600	4	255,000	4	275,300	4	279,600
DfEE/DfES	7	384,900	7	399,200	7	457,400	7	464,900
DFID	2	107,600	2	119,800	2	130,400	2	132,200
DTI	5	275,500	5	286,300	6	325,500	6	325,500
FCO(2)	4	214,500	4	231,700	5	298,100	5	324,500
Department of Health	6	425,200	6	382,200	6	380,600	6	387,100
HM Treasury	5	295,400	5	303,300	5	342,500	5	346,700
Home Office	7	408,900	7	386,900	7	478,100	7	487,500
DCA	4	230,400	4	248,300	5	319,900	5	339,000
Law Officers	2	106,400	2	113,100	2	132,100	2	133,900
Northern Ireland Office(4)	5	362,600	5	373,700	5	438,400	5	434,400
Privy Council Office	1	56,000	3	195,400	3	142,200	3	204,100
Scotland Office(5,6)	1	49,200	1	56,700	1	61,100	1	62,200
Wales Office(4)	2	130,100	1	66,400	1	74,700	1	74,600
DEFRA	5	286,000	5	294,700	5	324,200	5	323,300
DTLR/DfT(5)	4	232,600	4	239,200	4	261,900	4	263,300
DWP	6	339,400	6	357,500	6	406,400	5	407,800
Total	84	4,934,200	85	5,163,600	90	5,867,500	87	5,916,200
(1) Cabinet figures include cars for Ministers in the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister's Office, the Chief Whip in the House of Commons, the Minister without Portfolio and the Deputy Prime Minister (since May 2006). (2 )The Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs was a post held jointly between the FCO and the DTI. THE GCS costs were met by the FCO. (3) Machinery of Government changes in May 2006 created the DCLG and the Deputy Prime Minister's Office from the DPO. (4) The right hon. Peter Hain MP was both Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Secretary of State for Wales. GCS costs were met by the NIO. (5) The right hon. Douglas Alexander MP was both Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland. GCS costs were met by DfT. (6) The GCS car and driver provided to the Scotland Office was shared by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and the Advocate General.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account is taken of levels of carbon dioxide emissions arising from the manufacture and importation of cars in deciding which cars are available for Ministers to use. [214013]

Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 26 June 2008]: No account is taken of the manufacturing process when purchasing vehicles. There is no requirement for car manufacturers to state the overall environmental impact of the manufacturing process. However, the Government
30 Jun 2008 : Column 581W
Car and Despatch Agency is set targets by Ministers to reduce tailpipe emissions and use alternative engine and fuel technologies in its fleet.

Parking

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the capacity is of car parking facilities at each building operated by her Department and its agencies. [209052]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The requested information has been placed in the Library of the House.

Data for the Driving Standards Agency and a listing by building for the regional sites operated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Railways: Pensioners

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government plan to take to encourage railway companies to make fares more affordable to pensioners. [214405]

Mr. Tom Harris: Older people are already entitled to discounted travel on the national rail network through the Senior Railcard which is available for £24 per year, and gives around one-third off most rail fares. The scheme is run by the Association of Train Operating Companies and all train operators are required by the Department for Transport to participate.

Railways: Standards

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government have taken to promote the interests of railway customers. [214404]

Mr. Tom Harris: Last year we committed £10 billion to deliver the biggest single increase in rail capacity for a generation. This includes the delivery of 1,300 extra train carriages to run longer trains.

As we undertook in last year's rail White Paper, a new system of simplified fares was announced in April this year.

We have also asked Passenger Focus to assess how well the current system of fares and ticketing meets passengers' expectations so that we can consider the options for further improvement.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government have taken to hold the railway industry to account for major disruptions in service to customers. [214406]

Mr. Tom Harris: Network Rail is regulated by the Office of Rail Regulation who take enforcement action in the event of the company breaching its network licence.

The Department for Transport monitors the performance of passenger train operating companies, and takes action in the event of a contravention of the franchise agreement.

30 Jun 2008 : Column 582W

Railways: West Midlands

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government have taken to improve railway services in the West Midlands. [214403]

Mr. Tom Harris: The following improvements are planned for the West Midlands:

more and faster long-distance trains on the West Coast Main Line;

increased capacity on Cross-country trains;

new trains on West Midlands suburban services;

increased capacity on Birmingham suburban services;

re-construction of Birmingham New Street station, and improvements to other West Midlands stations; and

expected extension of the Birmingham Cross-city route to Bromsgrove.

Roads

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many A roads have been passed from local authority to Highways Agency control in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [213962]

Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 26 June 2008]: Since June 2003, two long sections of road were transferred from the local authority to Highways Agency control: the A2070 between Brenzett and junction 10 of the M20 in September 2003 and the A120 between Stansted and Marks Tey in Essex in March 2005.

The “New Deal for Trunk Roads in England”, published in 1998, proposed de-trunking the A259 between Brenzett and Folkestone and trunking the A2070 from Brenzett to the M20 as an alternative strategic route.

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