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27 Oct 2008 : Column 603W—continued


27 Oct 2008 : Column 604W

Parking: Disabled

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he plans to publish the results of his consultation on Blue Badge reform; and if he will make a statement; [228699]

(2) when he plans to publish the Blue Badge Reform Strategy; and if he will make a statement. [228700]

Paul Clark [holding answer 21 October 2008]: The results of the consultation were published on 20 October at the same time as our comprehensive £55 million Blue Badge Reform Strategy, which will address issues of fraudulent use and abuse of the scheme, extend eligibility and improve the consistency of application approval.

Copies of the results to the consultation and strategy can be found on the Department for Transport’s website at:

Railway Stations: Milton Keynes

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the original estimate was for the cost of the engineering work and platform upgrade at Milton Keynes Central station. [229327]

Paul Clark [holding answer 23 October 2008]: The engineering work and platform upgrade was estimated at £120 million and is expected to be delivered both on budget and on time.

Road Traffic Offences: Animals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the exclusion of cats from the terms of section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. [229314]

Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 23 October 2008]: Since 2001 we have received 18 letters on this subject.

Temporary Employment

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which companies have been used by his Department for providing temporary staff in each of the last five years; and what the value of contracts with each such company was in each of those years. [229075]

Mr. Hoon: A table showing the information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House. It provides actual expenditure on temporary staff by company by year.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency could provide the expenditure information only at disproportionate cost.

Trams

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when stage two of the tram trains trials will commence. [229475]

Paul Clark [holding answer 23 October 2008]: The trial will occur in two phases. The first phase will test the application on the conventional rail network (Penistone line) and will start in 2010. It will take two years to test the technical and operational feasibility of tram trains.


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There is an option for a second phase to test how the tram train operates between the conventional rail network and a street tram system. This is the subject of more detailed business case work by Network Rail.

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the decision on the operation of tram trains in England to be made. [229476]

Paul Clark [holding answer 23 October 2008]: On 18 March, the then Secretary of State announced the trial of tram-train technology on the Huddersfield-Penistone-Sheffield route (Penistone line). On 29 September, Northern Rail issued an invitation to tender (ITT) for the procurement of trial vehicles for use on the Penistone line. Network Rail is currently undertaking detailed design work for the amendment to the infrastructure.

Transport: Environment Protection

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 October 2008, Official Report, columns 52-4WS, on the EU Transport Council, what proposals on the greening of transport were included in the draft
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conclusions tabled by the French presidency; and what his policy is on each. [230123]

Mr. Hoon: The draft conclusions covered policies in the Commission's “greening of transport” package. The Government have submitted four explanatory memoranda to the Scrutiny Committees describing our position on the package and these are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agricultural Products

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) wheat, (b) barley, (c) fresh vegetables, (d) potatoes, (e) fresh fruit, (f) beef and veal, (g) pork, (h) bacon and ham, (i) mutton and lamb, (j) poultry meat, (k) eggs and (l) liquid milk was produced by volume in England in each year since 1997. [229492]

Jane Kennedy: The figures are shown in the following table.

Volume of UK production
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Wheat

Th. tonnes

15,018

15,449

14,867

16,704

11,580

15,973

14,288

15,473

14,863

14,735

13,137

Barley

Th. tonnes

7,828

6,623

6,581

6,492

6,660

6,128

6,370

5,816

5,495

5,239

5,079

Vegetables

Th. tonnes

2,937

2,863

2,952

2,923

2,865

2,573

2,543

2,591

2,737

2,650

2,526

Potatoes

Th. tonnes

7,128

6,422

7,131

6,178

6,674

6,921

6,058

6,246

5,979

5,727

5,635

Fruit

Th. tonnes

292

278

347

307

331

294

269

294

363

392

398

Beef and Veal

Th. tonnes

698

695

679

704

645

694

703

724

765

852

888

Pork

Th. tonnes

884

921

823

716

595

614

569

577

574

575

617

Bacon and Ham

Th. tonnes

242

240

243

224

217

216

214

211

214

209

185

Mutton and Lamb

Th. tonnes

342

373

392

383

267

307

310

319

336

332

328

Poultry meat

Th. tonnes

1,527

1,548

1,549

1,514

1,566

1,557

1,578

1,571

1,585

1,517

1,460

Eggs

Million dozen

903

883

842

817

861

856

843

892

884

853

825

Milk

Million litres

14,420

14,218

14,587

14,079

14,291

14,448

14,587

14,139

14,062

13,933

13,660

Source:
Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2007, DEFRA

Agriculture: Land

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effect of implementation of his Department's proposal to require arable farmers to set aside up to 5 per cent. of their land on food security in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [229331]

Jane Kennedy [holding answer 23 October 2008]: The impact on food production—and therefore food security—of the proposal for arable farmers to set aside a small percentage (as yet undefined) of their land for environmental purposes is expected to be very small, given that such land is likely to be located on farmers' least productive land.

The Government support the abolition of set-aside but the Secretary of State recognised the potential environmental impacts by commissioning additional environmental monitoring and asking Sir Don Curry to bring together key stakeholders to oversee this work and investigate mitigation options.

Sir Don Curry's High Level Set-Aside Group reported in July 2008 and the Secretary of State agreed that measures were needed as soon as practicable to mitigate the environmental impact of set-aside loss. The Secretary of State issued a statement on the next steps on 25 July,
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which included commissioning the Rural Payments Agency and Natural England to work up, by the end of the year, how the preferred option could be delivered in practice.

Final decisions on the overall approach, and the detailed arrangements which will determine the impacts, for example, on farming or the environment, will need to be taken in the context of the eventual outcome of the Common Agricultural Policy Health Check. The House will be kept informed of progress.


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