| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 July 2008 : Column 924W—continued
Parking Offences: Fines
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many parking tickets were issued by each local authority in respect of foreign registered vehicles in the last 12 months; how many were paid; and if she will make a statement; [213977]
(2) how much local authorities have failed to collect in respect of parking fines levied on vehicles registered overseas in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [213978]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally. The enforcement of decriminalised traffic contraventions is a matter for the relevant local authorities. They are not required to provide such information to the Government.
Parking: Disabled
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of those applying for a Blue Badge disabled driver’s permit had their application declined in (a) Chorley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK between 1987 and 2007. [213561]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since 2002, the Department for Transport has collected data on the proportion of successful Blue Badge applications made to top tier local authorities in England.
(a) No data are available at an individual district council level, such as Chorley.
(b) In 2006-07, there were 10,743 new applications for Blue Badges in Lancashire. Approximately 6 per cent. were unsuccessful.
(c) This compared with 419,268 new applications for Blue Badges in England as a whole in 2006-07. Approximately 12 per cent. were unsuccessful.
Individual English local authorities may still hold data from 1987 but this is not held centrally. The Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Irish Assembly also collect separate Blue Badge data for their own administrative areas.
Railways: Standards
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations she has received from hon. Members and members of the public relating to performance of train operating companies in the last 12 months. [211416]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department receives representations relating to train operating companies’ performance in a variety of formats. A number of such representations have been received over the last 12 months. The exact number received could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department’s high level output specification requires the industry to achieve 92.6 per cent. rail punctuality by March 2014, as measured by the industry-standard public performance measure moving annual average. Rail punctuality reached 90 per cent. in May 2008, which is the highest level recorded to date.
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will publish the information provided to the Renewable Fuels Agency by companies under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) monthly reporting requirement for the first month of the RTFO's operation, broken down by (a) fuel type, (b) quantity of fuel in litres, (c) biofuel feedstock, (d) feedstock origin, (e) land use on 30 November 2005, (f) standard and (g) carbon intensity. [215372]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) is continuing to process and reconcile the data in question, and has only provided the Department with very provisional summaries at this stage. The RFA is currently considering its reporting strategy, including the content and timing of reports, in liaison with stakeholders. The RFA has a statutory duty under section 14 of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007 (SI 3072) to report annually to Parliament on matters such as this. In addition, the Secretary of State for Transport has asked for quarterly reports from the RFA on the sustainability of the biofuels used under the RTFO. The first of these quarterly reports is due to be submitted in the early autumn.
Road Traffic Offences: EU Action
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will hold discussions with European Union partners on the introduction of common enforcement measures for unpaid (a) parking and (b) traffic fines incurred in respect of vehicles registered in another member state; and if she will make a statement. [213946]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government recognise that further action needs to be taken at European level to enable more effective enforcement of civil road use contraventions, and is considering how best to achieve this.
Road Traffic Offences: Fines
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what mechanisms exist to enable the recovery of (a) parking and (b) traffic fines incurred
in respect of foreign registered vehicles from the owners or registered keepers of the vehicles; and if she will make a statement. [213980]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Provisions included in the Local Transport Bill will, subject to the consideration of Parliament, enable the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to provide information received from foreign registration authorities to UK authorities. This will help UK local authorities to identify and pursue keepers of foreign registered vehicles for unpaid penalties.
Roads: Accidents
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of drivers involved in fatal traffic accidents were (a) uninsured and (b) driving a car that did not have a valid MOT in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) sex and (ii) police authority region. [214740]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not available.
Research reported in the published “Road Safety Research Report No. 75: Fatal vehicle occupant collisions: An in-depth study” (published on 26 February 2007) found that in a study of nearly 1,200 fatal accidents about 7 per cent. involved an uninsured driver. This report is available at the following link:
Roads: Lorries
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate has been made of the cost of the effect on road infrastructure of the journeys made by non-UK-registered heavy goods vehicles in the latest period for which figures are available. [213945]
Jim Fitzpatrick: As part of the freight data feasibility study that concluded earlier this year the study team estimated the total annual cost of damage to UK roads by foreign hauliers to be £16.8 million.
Roads: Noise
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance her Department and its agencies have issued on the level of use and the suitability of noise retardant material to resurface (a) A roads and (b) residential roads. [214192]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Highways Agency manages the strategic road network in England. To reduce traffic noise on their roads, all new roads and major maintenance schemes on trunk roads, including motorways, are surfaced with quieter asphalt. The Highways Agency’s specification requires that any new surfacing has the capability of providing a noise reduction of least 2.5 dB(A), or in very noise sensitive areas, a reduction of at least 3.5 dB(A), when compared to a typical conventional surface.
The management of local roads, including decisions on which road treatment to use, are a matter for each local highway authority. However, this Department has endorsed “Well-maintained Highways”, the code of practice on highways maintenance published by the UK
Roads Board, which encourages highways authorities to consider noise reduction measures when maintaining roads. The code can be found at:
Roads: Surveys
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the expected completion date is for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey into public attitudes towards road pricing; and which companies ONS is using to conduct the research. [215260]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The ONS Omnibus Survey is ongoing. The research is conducted by ONS, who do not use subcontractors.
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will place in the Library a copy of the BMRB research commissioned by her Department into the public acceptability of road pricing. [215261]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The research carried out by BMRB Social Research and the Centre for Transport and Society was published on the DfT website on 8 May 2008:
Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Roads: Tolls
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 7 May 2008, Official Report, column 893W, on roads: tolls, what use will be made of satellite technology to assist such road pricing research. [214995]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The winning bidders for the road pricing demonstration project have yet to be announced, and therefore the precise technical solutions to be demonstrated are yet to be determined. However, we expect that satellite technology will play a part in the systems that the successful bidders will be trialling.
Stations: Crime
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many crimes against a person were committed at (a) rail stations that met secure station status and (b) other stations, broken down by (i) sex of offender and (ii) incident type in each year since 1997. [214741]
Mr. Tom Harris: This information is not held by the Department for Transport, but by the British Transport Police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, E-mail:
parliament@btp.pnn.police.uk.
Wood
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much timber and timber products were procured by her Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years; and at what cost; [213755]
(2) how much timber and timber products were procured by her Department and its predecessor originating from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed FLEGT partner in each of the last five years; and at what cost. [213756]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is as follows:
The Department for Transport does not record this information and could only be obtained disproportionate cost.
The only timber product recorded by the Department for Transport is furniture. The following table provides details of the furniture timber products procured by the Department for Transport over the last five years.
| Cost of items purchased (£) | |
All the furniture was procured through Office of Government Commerce furniture contracts which require the supplier to be able to provide chain of custody for all timber, back to an independently verifiable sustainable and legal source.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Nature Conservation: EU Law
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 May 2008, Official Report, column 1243W, on nature conservation: EU law, whether the value of each hectare of salt marsh created exceeds the value of the asset it replaces. [212637]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 20 June 2008]: The information is not available to say whether the value of each hectare of salt marsh created for the purposes of meeting the requirements of Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (the Habitats Directive) exceeds the value of the asset that it replaces. However, I can confirm that the Government seek to ensure that legal requirements arising from the directive are met in a cost effective and sustainable way. I can further confirm that the value of any assets lost would, in each case, inform the assessment of the options considered to meet any such legal requirements.
Women and Equality
Business Plans
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality with reference to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 609W, on departments: manpower, when her Department will publish a business plan for 2008-09. [201403]
Barbara Follett: The Government Equalities Office business plan was published on 18 April 2008. It is on the GEO website:
and a copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Equality
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps the Government Equalities Office has taken to strengthen the Government's equality agenda since its creation. [201419]
Barbara Follett: Since its establishment as a Government Department in October 2007, the Government Equalities Office (GEO) has set in train a range of initiatives to strengthen the Government's equality agenda. For example, the GEO concluded a consultation on the Discrimination Law Review and is preparing an Equality Bill for introduction in the next parliamentary session. It has been delivering on the Ministers for Women Priorities. The GEO has also implemented the EU gender directive, agreed the first ever equality public service agreement, launched the Equality and Human Rights Commission and set up the Black and Minority Ethnic Women Councillors Taskforce. Further details of the work of the GEO will be detailed in the departmental report which will be published before recess.
Health
Antidepressants
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government has (a) taken and (b) plans to take to amend legislation following the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s report of its investigation into GlaxoSmithKline and the anti-depressant drug Seroxat. [215450]
Dawn Primarolo: On 23 May 2008 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published a consultation on proposals to amend the Medicines for Human Use (Marketing Authorisations, Etc.) Regulations 1994 to ensure the United Kingdom’s legislation is fully in line with existing European Union (EU) law covering the circumstances when marketing authorisation holders should report new information which might influence the evaluation of the benefits and risks for a medicine to the MHRA. The proposed changes state explicitly that marketing authorisation holders should report information from clinical trials outside the licensed indication, report information arising from third countries and provide a timescale for the reporting of such information.
Copies of consultation (MLX 350) have been placed in the Library and are also available on MHRA’s website at:
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |