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1 July 2008 : Column 743W—continued
Details of all donations reported to the Commission including the name of the donor, the amount and the date that the donation was accepted, but not including the date notified to the Commission, can be found on the Commission's website at:
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what assessment the Speaker's Committee has made of the adequacy of information published by the Electoral Commission on numbers of donations reported late by regulated donees; and if he will make a statement. [215349]
Sir Peter Viggers: The Speaker's Committee has a number of specific, statutory functions in relation to the Electoral Commission. It has made no assessment of the kind referred to by the hon. Member.
Scotland
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many officials work in his Department. [215789]
David Cairns: Staffing numbers in the Scotland Office are published in the Office's Annual Report, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library.
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2007, Official Report, column 1062W, on departmental official hospitality, when he expects the list for hospitality received by senior civil servants in his Department in 2007 to be published. [215277]
David Cairns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster gave him on 7 May 2008, Official Report, column 885W.
Transport
Airports: Death
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many deaths occurred in UK airports in each year since 1997; and how many of these were attended by (a) the ambulance service and (b) port medical inspectors or other medical practitioners at airports in a professional capacity before death occurred. [214559]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Aviation: Summertime
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will commission research into the effects on morning levels of freight transport and aviation noise levels of a change to British Summer Time in winter and double British Summer Time in summer. [214787]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There are no current plans to commission research on the effect of British Summer Time or Double British Summer Time.
Dartford Tunnel: Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the net revenue from crossing tolls at the Dartford River Crossing was in each of the last five years. [214440]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 30 June 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 February 2008, Official Report, columns 551-52W, to the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which transport projects have been funded or committed to be funded by the net revenues received from the tolls at the Dartford River Crossing. [214441]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 30 June 2008]: The Transport Act 2000 requires that all net revenues from the charging scheme at Dartford-Thurrock river crossing are spent on transport.
Gross revenues from the charging regime at the crossing come to the Department to add to what is available to spend on transport. The revenues are not kept in a separate pot for specific projects.
Since 2003, when the charging scheme was introduced, the Department has made available £1 million per year to Kent county council, and between £0.75 million and £1 million per year to Thurrock council, to help deliver local transport projects. This is in recognition of the impact of the crossing on local residents. This arrangement will cease with the introduction of the local discount scheme later this year.
London to Cardiff Railway Line
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether it is her policy to support the development of a high-speed rail link from London to Cardiff. [215445]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Secretary of State invited Network Rail to begin work to develop longer-term options for the railway network. As part of this, on 23 June 2008 Network Rail announced a strategic review of the case for new rail lines. The review will consider five of Network Rail's strategic routes, north and west of London: Chiltern, East Coast, West Coast, Great Western and Midland Main Lines. It is too early to say what the results of this study will be or where any potential new lines might go. The study is expected to be complete in July 2009.
Motor Vehicles: Fees and Charges
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if she will make it her policy to link increases in changes in motoring-related fees to rate of inflation measures by the Consumer Prices Index; and if she will make a statement; [215299]
(2) what the annual percentage increase in the level of fees set by Statutory Instruments Nos (a) 1581, (b) 1577 and (c) 1578 of 2008 are; and what account she took of the rate of inflation in setting these levels. [215301]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In setting motoring-related fees consideration is made of the underlying inflationary position, but Government Trading Funds, such as the Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA), have a statutory obligation to recover the full costs incurred in line with the Trading Funds Act 1973. Therefore to tie such fees to the Consumer Price Index would prove too restrictive an approach.
The broad level of increase in the fees of the Statutory Instruments (SI) in question is 5 per cent. Some individual fees have increased by greater than this percentage as a result of rounding to the nearest pound. Inflation was
one of a number of factors taken into account when setting the level of the fee. Other factors included supporting better targeting of VOSA's enforcement activities and continuing refurbishment of equipment and facilities. Further details are available in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Statutory Instruments laid before Parliament.
Noise: Roads
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate her Department has made of the changes in traffic noise levels associated with A roads in (a) Hampshire and (b) England over the last 10 years; [213963]
(2) what funding is made available to local authorities to reduce the effect of traffic noise from A roads which are near to residential areas; [213964]
(3) what account she has taken of the effect on levels of road traffic noise from A roads which results from house building targets; and what assessment has been made of the effect of such levels on existing communities. [213965]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 25 June 2008]: The management of local roads, including decisions on which road treatment to use, are a matter for each local highway authority. This Department provides funding to English local authorities (outside London) through the Local Transport Plan settlement, which they can use on road schemes such as those to reduce the effect of traffic noise. They can also use the Revenue Support Grant provided by the Department for Communities and local government. Neither funding is ring fenced and authorities have discretion how to spend their allocations based upon their local priorities. Funding for highways in London is a matter for the Mayor.
The Highways Agency has not undertaken work to estimate changes in traffic noise levels on the strategic road network over the last 10 years. However, the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended) include provisions to improve the information available to the public about noise and its effect. The regulations require the preparation of strategic noise maps for urban areas, major roads, major railways and major airports. Following the completion of mapping an action plan is to be drawn up to manage noise and reduce it where possible. Mapping and action plans are to be prepared on a five year cycle. All mapping for this current cycle has been completed. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs plan to prepare guidance and consult on drafting action plans later this year.
The noise impact of proposed housing developments, including any impact on road traffic noise, is a matter to be determined at the local level. In the assessment of a planning application, noise nuisance may be a material consideration and taken into account when weighing up the merits of a case.
Parking: Fines
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many appeals were made against the issuing of parking fines to the Independent Parking Adjudicator in the most recent year for which figures
are available, broken down by area, and of those how many (a) were upheld, (b) were quashed, (c) were referred back to the issuing authority for further consideration and (d) are outstanding; [214597]
(2) how many penalty charge notices in respect of alleged parking infringements were issued by local authorities in each year since 1993. [214730]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 30 June 2008]: This information is not held centrally by the Government, but the figures for the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued by local authorities, appeals made against the issuing of PCNs and appeals upheld are set out in the annual reports of the Parking Adjudicators, Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) (for London) and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) (for outside London).
The reports of the PATAS are available at:
The reports of the TPT (formerly NPAS) are available at:
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cases where drivers involved in reported road traffic accidents failed to stop there were in each of the last five years. [214571]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of vehicles involved in reported personal injury road accidents that failed to stop (i.e. hit and run) in 2003 to 2007 are shown in the following table:
| Number | |
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the combined annual budget is for road and related infrastructure improvements for the South West; and on what criteria such funding is allocated. [215444]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department for Transport's budget for 2008-09 includes £212 million expected to be spent on support for road and related infrastructure improvements in the south-west. This consists of £169,158 million block grants to south-west local authorities for highway maintenance and integrated transport, £39,208 million for major schemes, each generally costing above £5 million, and approximately £4 million grant paid in respect of recently detrunked roads. The figures exclude minor improvements on strategic roads and investment funded by PFI credits.
Block grants are calculated on the basis of formulae reflecting need: details of the formulae used and their rationale can be found on the Department's website at:
Grants to authorities are not ring fenced, and actual spend on road improvement is the responsibility of individual authorities.
Estimated spend on major projects reflects advice from the region on priorities to be funded within their Regional Funding Allocation. Regional allocations are based on a formula reflecting their population.
Traffic Offences: Cameras
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance she has issued to local authorities on making traffic camera video footage available on the internet; and if she will make a statement. [215341]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department for Transport has not issued guidance to local authorities on making traffic camera video footage available on the internet.
Defence
Afghanistan: Armed Forces
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the strength of the (a) Afghan National Army and (b) Afghan National Police Force is. [214387]
Des Browne: The latest available figures indicate that the current assigned strengths of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police are around 58,000 and 80,000 respectively.
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average annual pay is for (a) military and (b) civilian ground vehicle crew members undertaking fuel resupply duties in Helmand province, Afghanistan. [213655]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information required to calculate the average annual salary of military personnel currently undertaking fuel resupply duties in Helmand Province is not held centrally, and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate costs. However, an indicative annual remuneration package, including pension benefits, for a member of the armed forces undertaking fuel resupply in Afghanistan would be a minimum of approximately £25,000. Civilian contractors undertaking fuel resupply in Afghanistan are employed under NATO contracts, and the Ministry of Defence does not therefore have access to detailed remuneration arrangements for individual drivers.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel from each country were serving in the International Security Assistance Force at the latest date for which information is available. [214140]
Des Browne: We do not comment on the numbers of deployed troops from other nations, which are matters for the countries concerned. However, they are listed with periodic updates on the International Security Assistance Force website, which can be found at:
Armed Forces: North West
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many regiments have been based in the North West over the last three years; and how many are planned to be based there in the next three years. [214211]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following units have been based in the north west over the last 18 months:
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