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29 Oct 2008 : Column 1031W—continued
Mediterranean Region: Navy
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what roles Royal Navy vessels were performing in the Mediterranean during (a) July, (b) August and (c) September 2008. [231091]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Royal Navy vessels on operations in the Mediterranean during July, August and September 2008 were engaged in maritime security and various duties associated with NATO tasking.
Plain English
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year. [230653]
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year. [231116]
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005. [230609]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Turkey: Navy
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels were stationed in or around the coast of Turkey during the month of August 2008. [231090]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: No Royal Navy vessels were stationed in or around the coast of Turkey during the month of August 2008.
Transport
Access for All Scheme
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding he plans to allocate to the Access for All fund in each of the next three years. [228469]
Paul Clark: Access for All was launched by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Glasgow, South (Mr. Harris) in March 2006 and is a 10-year, £370-million programme of investment. The main part of the programme is delivered by Network Rail, which is targeted to spend £35 million per year. In addition, the Department for Transport will make available approximately £6 million per year for small schemes funding, through to 2015. The exact amount will depend on the applications we receive and on Network Rail’s progress.
Cars: Exhaust Emissions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he plans to take to minimise the negative effects on the environment of cars in development, with specific reference to measures to promote (a) fuel economy and (b) the use of hybrid drives. [229862]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have a wide range of policies to promote the development of more fuel efficient and lower carbon vehicles.
At a European level we are supporting the development of mandatory new car CO2 standards which will require the fleet average of new cars to be reduced to 130g CO2/km by 2012. We also support adopting a longer term target of 100g CO2/km by 2020. These regulations will incentivise the development of all technologies capable of improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emissions—including hybrid drives.
In the UK we are investing more than £100 million in UK research, development and demonstration of a wide range of technologies for more fuel efficient and lower carbon cars, including supporting the development of more efficient engines, improved hybrid and electric vehicles and the use of new lighter materials.
Further detail on our policies in these areas can be found in the Department for Transport's annual report.
Departmental NDPBs
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2008, Official Report, column 417W, on departmental non-departmental public bodies, if he will provide the equivalent figures for each of his Department’s advisory non-departmental public bodies. [231211]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 28 October 2008]: The following table details the financial support that the Department for Transport has planned for its advisory non-departmental public bodies for the years 2008 to 2011.
| Department for Transport planned financial support to its advisory NDPBs) for the financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11 | |||
| £ million | |||
| Advisory NDPB | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| (1) None. | |||
The Department also provides secretariat and administrative functions in support of its advisory NDPBs and meets certain other costs from its own budgets.
Departmental Parking
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff parking spaces are provided by his Department, broken down by location. [228101]
Mr. Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 June 2008, Official Report, column 1064W.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1408-09W, on departmental post offices, how many items of mail were dealt with by (a) his Department’s, (b) the Highways Agency’s, (c) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s and (d) the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency’s mail service in the last 12 months. [229192]
Mr. Hoon: The requested information is provided as follows.
| Number of items of mail | |
| (1) Comprising London HQ and Rail Accident Investigation Branch. Data for Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Marine Accident Investigation Branch is not recorded and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. (2) Relates to Woodlands (Bedford). Requested information is not recorded at other Highways Agency sites. (3) Of the total 103,955,287 were prepared and presented in a way that gained mail discounts. A further 4,508,654 were despatched without any mail discounts. (4) The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) do not record this information. | |
Departmental Public Participation
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many citizens' juries his Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what issues were discussed at each event; and how many (a) Ministers and (b) members of the public attended each event. [227483]
Mr. Hoon: Since 1 July 2007 the Department for Transport and its agencies have not commissioned a citizens' jury.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is. [229187]
Mr. Hoon: The Department and its agencies have recruited 177 fast stream employees since inception in May 2002. The current average salaries of those still employed by the Department are split by pay band as follows:
| Current pay grade | Current average salary (£) |
Departmental Security
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department in each year since its creation. [228959]
Mr. Hoon: The Department for Transport was formed in April 2002 and currently includes seven agencies, a shared service centre and the central Department, with a total staff of over 19,000.
For the central Department, the records for replacement staff passes are available from April 2005 as follows:
| Passes | |
These records do not distinguish between passes replaced due to loss or theft and those replaced for other reasons. Lost or stolen passes are estimated to account for approximately 45 per cent. of all replacement passes issued.
For the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the number of staff passes recorded as lost or stolen in each year since 2002 is as follows:
| Passes | |
These records include staff passes for the DfT shared service centre, which became operational in April 2007. However, they do not distinguish between passes replaced due to loss and those replaced due to theft as cases are dealt with individually and not recorded in an aggregated form.
For the Highways Agency, records of replacement staff building passes are available from 2006 as follows:
| Passes | |
These records do not distinguish between passes that were reported as lost and those that were reported as stolen.
For the Government Car and Despatch Agency, records of passes reported missing are available from 2005 as follows:
| Passes | |
These records do not distinguish between passes that were lost and those that were stolen.
The Vehicle Certification Agency have recorded that no staff passes were lost or stolen since 2002.
For the Driving Standards Agency, records of staff passes reported as lost or stolen are available from March 2008 and show 26 passes reported to date. These records do not distinguish between passes reported as lost and those reported as stolen.
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, the Maritime Coastguard Agency and, prior to March 2008, the Driving Standards Agency do not centrally record the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen as cases are dealt with individually and not recorded in an aggregated form. To collect this information would incur disproportionate costs.
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people driving illegally without a licence or insurance who are resident in (a) north-west Cambridgeshire constituency, (b) Cambridgeshire, (c) the east of England and (d) England and Wales. [229292]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
There are no figures available for those that drive without a valid driving licence on a regional basis or for uninsured driving. For national
figures I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, columns 282-83W, to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers).
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