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8 Oct 2008 : Column 647W—continued
The Department and Executive Agencies do not appoint any marketing agencies under the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework. We have however incurred marketing spend. Figures for the Department and Executive Agencies for the 2007-08 fiscal year are as follows:
| Department for Transport | 2007-08 (£) |
Again the Department's major areas of marketing spend were in support of our marketing activities on the THINK! road safety campaign, Act on C02 campaign, Concessionary Bus Fares campaign, aviation security and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's continuous registration campaign.
Potters Bar Investigation Board
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the operation of the Potters Bar Investigation Board. [225146]
Paul Clark: The Potters Bar Investigation Board (PBIB) was appointed by the Health and Safety Commission following the fatal derailment at Potters Bar on 10 May 2002. Following the closure of all the PBIB’s recommendations, the Office of Rail Regulation’s Board reviewed the work of the PBIB this summer and agreed to its disbandment.
Public Transport: Official Visits
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many official visits he plans to take using public transport in the next 12 months; and which official visits were taken using public transport by his immediate predecessor. [225626]
Mr. Hoon: All official travel undertaken by me will be made in the most efficient and cost-effective way, in accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Code. The same rules applied to my immediate predecessor.
Railway Stations: Greater London
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations she has received on the proposed closure of the South London Line between London Bridge and London Victoria stations. [223730]
Paul Clark: There is no plan to close the South London Line. However, during the period of construction works at London Bridge to deliver the Thameslink Project, it is unlikely to be possible to operate direct trains between Denmark Hill and London Bridge.
Railways: Construction
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the average cost per mile of new high-speed rail track construction. [209070]
Paul Clark: According to the 2003 Strategic Rail Authority report on high-speed rail, the average cost for the channel tunnel rail link (CTRL) section one was £19 million per route-kilometre, although this excludes some major cost items associated with station works and sunk costs. The report considered that section of the CTRL characteristic of a high-speed line extending north from London. If costs for CTRL sections one and two are included, the average cost of the CTRL was £48 million per route-kilometre including tunnelling.
Precise costs vary depending on a number of factors including the route, whether construction is on a disused railway alignment or built on green fields and the need for major works such as tunnelling. Costs of operation and maintenance must also be considered. Average costs do not therefore tell the whole story, but recent work for the Department for Transport suggested a new double track high-speed rail line might cost £12-16 million per route-kilometre.
Network Rail recently announced a strategic review of the case for new rail lines. The study is expected to be complete next summer.
Schools: Publications
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will place in the Library a copy of any materials her Department has distributed to schools in the last three years. [222550]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Children are a key target audience for many of our road safety and environmental messages and will benefit for example from our recent £140 million investment into encouraging children to cycle to school via construction of new safer links to schools and investment in cycle training.
We are conscious of the significant volumes of material that head teachers receive, so the Department for Transport and our Executive Agencies do not distribute materials directly to schools. We and the Highways Agency have however produced road safety materials such as THINK! road safety campaign materials, which have been distributed to various partners—road safety officers in local authorities in particular. These partners will have given out our material in schools. We also receive frequent requests from teachers for our road safety materials which they will have used/distributed in schools.
South West Trains: Tickets
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it her policy to oppose the plans by South West Trains to reduce ticket office opening hours at 114 stations, following the August 2008 report from Passenger Focus; and if he will make a statement. [223763]
Paul Clark: The procedures for making changes to ticket office opening hours are set down in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA). The TSA permits operators to make changes to the opening hours of their ticket offices as long as the appropriate specified criteria are met.
If objections are raised and not resolved, the TSA provides for an arbitration process to be followed. This can include referral by the train operating company to the Secretary of State for Transport for a decision. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Secretary of State to comment on the proposed changes at this stage.
Duchy of Lancaster
Voluntary Work
7. Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Cabinet Office’s programmes to encourage voluntary action in the last 12 months. [224361]
8. Angela Watkinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s programmes to encourage voluntary work. [224362]
Kevin Brennan: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones) and the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay).
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government programmes to encourage voluntary work. [224365]
Kevin Brennan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones) and the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay).
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government programmes to encourage voluntary work. [224363]
Kevin Brennan: There have been a range of Government programmes that have encouraged and supported volunteering. The statistics from the 2007-08 Citizenship Survey show that the proportion of people who volunteered at least once in the last 12 months remains high at 73 per cent. of all adults.
Government Communications: Security
9. Michael Fabricant: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the security of data within the Government communications network; and if he will make a statement. [224364]
Mr. Watson: On 25 June 2008 the Cabinet Office set out mandatory measures to improve data security across Government. I can state that central Government Departments have reported that the majority of these measures are in place and they are working to complete their delivery.
Power of Information Task Force
11. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made by the power of information task force; and if he will make a statement. [224367]
Mr. Watson: The Power of Information Taskforce is making rapid progress and is on course to deliver the recommendations by the end of the year. Early success is demonstrated by the Show Us A Better Way competition—something The Guardian called the ‘X-Factor of public services’—to find new and innovative uses of public sector information. Progress can be followed on their blog at:
Information Assurance
12. Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what measurable improvements the Cabinet Office has recorded in regard to its responsibilities for information assurance. [224368]
Mr. Watson: On 25 June 2008 the Cabinet Office set out mandatory measures to improve data security across Government. I can state that central Government Departments have reported that the majority of these measures are in place and they are working to complete their delivery.
Voluntary Sector
13. John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to improve the operation and delivery of public services provided by the voluntary sector; and if he will make a statement. [224369]
Kevin Brennan: Public funding to the third sector to deliver services has more than doubled from £5 billion to £11 billion since 1997. The Government set out their plan to improve public service delivery, in 2006, and we are making good progress on these commitments. This includes, providing training for public sector commissioners; supporting innovation through the Innovation Exchange; investing in capital development through Futurebuilders; and improving the sustainability of the sector by making three year funding the norm rather than the exception.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which projects his Department has commissioned from (a) think tanks and (b) charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what the aim of each project was; which think tank or charity was commissioned; and how much was paid. [221602]
Kevin Brennan: The Cabinet Office commissions work from a range of organisations to help support its work across government including supporting the environment for a thriving third sector.
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central list of contractors for all projects commissioned and to compile one could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Disabled
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what proportion of staff in (a) his Department and (b) the executive agencies for which he is responsible are disabled; and what the average salary in his (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies is of (A) full-time disabled staff, (B) full-time non-disabled staff, (C) part-time disabled staff and (D) part-time non-disabled staff. [220181]
Mr. Watson: The civil service is committed to reflecting the society we serve at all levels—clearly, this includes disabled people. The recently published “Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity—A Strategy for the Civil Service” builds on what has already been achieved and sets out what the civil service wants to achieve in equality and diversity in employment over the next three to five years. The document is available on the civil service website at:
The following table shows the median earnings of disabled staff, broken down by full-time and part-time working patterns for all Departments and agencies. Further data on the disabled status of civil service staff are available on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk =2899&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422.
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