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17 Dec 2008 : Column 774W—continued
Departmental Travel
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 882W, on departmental travel, what the travel expenditure was of each of his Executive non-departmental public bodies in the last 12 months; and how many members of staff of such bodies travelled abroad on official business in that period. [243238]
Mr. Woodward: This is an operational matter for each of the Northern Ireland Office’s Executive non-departmental bodies, who operate independently of Government. I would encourage the hon. Member to write to the respective chief executives. Details of the NIO’s non-departmental public bodies can be found in the NIO 2008 departmental report at:
Departmental Vacancies
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacancies there are in his Department at (a) administrative officer, (b) executive officer I, (c) executive officer II and (d) staff officer grades, broken down by location. [244219]
Mr. Woodward: Within the Northern Ireland Office, grade D1 is equivalent to administrative officer and grade B2 is equivalent to staff officer. Grade C is equivalent to executive officer I and executive officer II. The following table sets out the vacancies for these grades, as reported by business areas in November 2008, broken down by location.
| Grade | Location | Vacancies |
Economic Situation
Mr. Paterson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1210W, on the economic
situation, on which dates he has held meetings with business representatives in the last 12 months. [243447]
Mr. Woodward: As the hon. Gentleman should be aware, economic issues are largely devolved in Northern Ireland. However, where appropriate, in the course of my duties I have had meetings with business representatives. The detail of some of these meetings are commercially confidential and it would not be appropriate for me to disclose any details.
European Union
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what official visits to Brussels he plans to make in the next 12 months. [243502]
Mr. Woodward: Meetings with officials and elected representatives in Brussels will take place as and when necessary.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1319W, on the Northern Ireland Assembly, on which days he had official meetings with members of the Northern Ireland Assembly in the last 12 months. [243250]
Mr. Woodward: The meetings I have had with members of the Northern Ireland Administration have been and continue to be related to the Government’s efforts to complete devolution in Northern Ireland. To that end, it would not be appropriate to discuss details of same. These meetings take place by arrangement any day of the week.
Queen Elizabeth II: Anniversaries
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with (a) the First Minister and (b) the Deputy First Minister on Northern Ireland’s contribution to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. [243203]
Mr. Woodward: I have not had any discussions with the First Minister or Deputy First Minister about the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen in 2012.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in discussions with the Royal Household about how to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans his Department has to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. [243204]
Mr. Woodward: My Department has not, at this stage, developed plans on how to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen in 2012.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in discussions with the Royal Household about how to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
Religion
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1321W, on religion (1) with the leaders of which denominations he has had official meetings in the last 12 months; [243378]
(2) on which days he had official meetings with church leaders in the last 12 months. [243379]
Mr. Woodward: I meet with leaders of all of Northern Ireland’s main Churches as appropriate.
USA
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1321W, on the USA, how many meetings he has had with members of the incoming US Administration; [243392]
(2) what meetings he has had with officials of the US Administration in the last 12 months. [243506]
Mr. Woodward: The United States has played and continues to play a critical role in the political process, further progress towards the devolution of policing and justice, and investment in Northern Ireland. Successive Secretaries of State have worked closely with the United States and maintained regular contact to discuss policy. I continue this policy.
Transport
A21: East Sussex
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the proposed timetable is for improvements to the A21; and if he will make a statement. [243599]
Paul Clark [holding answer 15 December 2008]: As advised in the Secretary of State's announcement on 16 July 2008, the proposed timetable for improvements to the A21 are:
A21 Tonbridge to Pembury dualling: 2012-13;
A21 Kippings Cross to Lamberhurst improvement: 2012-13.
This timetable is subject to the satisfactory completion of the necessary statutory processes, the availability of funding, and confirmation of priorities from the current South East England Regional Authority's Regional Funding Allocation advice refresh process.
The Highways Agency is investigating the potential for an earlier start of works in 2011-12 for the A21 Tonbridge to Pembury scheme.
There are no dates for the start of works on other A21 schemes.
A46: Nottinghamshire
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of traffic on the A46 in Nottinghamshire was accounted for by heavy goods vehicles in the latest period for which figures are available. [243958]
Paul Clark: In 2007 heavy goods vehicles accounted for about 10 per cent. of traffic on the A46 in Nottinghamshire.
Traffic data for individual motorways and 'A' roads for 1999 to 2007 are available at:
Airports: Security
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when and by what means he plans to take forward the proposals set out by his Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in his speech at the Airport Policing Conference on 12 November 2008. [243948]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We have announced our intention to include measures on enhancing airport security in the forthcoming Policing and Crime Bill which will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Aviation: Fuels
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on developing alternative fuels for aircraft. [243410]
Jim Fitzpatrick: None specifically on alternative fuels for aircraft but there are two small projects of interest: firstly, earlier this year the Department commissioned a study on carbon reduction options for domestic aviation. We expect to publish this shortly. Additionally the OMEGA project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFC) has a project investigating the possibilities and barriers for alternative fuels.
We are aware of the US CAAFI (Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative) and various commercial trials which we are following with interest.
Biofuels
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the written ministerial statement of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 67WS, on the Draft Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations (Amendment) Order 2009, (1) what assessment he has made of the effect on UK biofuel producers of correcting the discrepancy in the 2007 Order (a) for the current obligation period and (b) for the 2009-10 obligation period; [242582]
(2) whether Ministers or officials from the Department met representatives of biofuel producers to discuss the Government’s response to the discrepancy in the 2007 Order; [242583]
(3) whether Ministers or officials from the Department met representatives of obligated suppliers to discuss the Government’s response to the discrepancy in the 2007 Order; [242584]
(4) what communications he has had with the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments on correcting the discrepancy in the 2007 Order. [242741]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Government are currently consulting on proposals for amending the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007 (2007 No. 3072) to rectify the discrepancy issue by extending the definition of
“relevant hydrocarbon oil”. The Department wrote to stakeholders on 13 November 2008 to inform them of proposals to rectify the discrepancy for the next obligation year (2009-10). Due to the constraints of the primary legal powers the Department is not proposing to deal retrospectively with this issue for the current obligation year (2008-09).
As a result of the discrepancy the Renewable Fuels Agency estimates that around half of the fossil fuel supplied may not be taken into account in calculating suppliers’ renewable transport obligations. The extent of any shortfall in biofuel supplied will not be known until the end of the obligation year.
Following the identification of the discrepancy the Government informed both obligated and biofuel suppliers about this issue. Officials within the Department for Transport are continuing to engage with these suppliers about the effects of the discrepancy and the proposed solution. The draft amendment order will be subject to the affirmative procedure and the proposal to deal with the discrepancy will be considered by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments in due course.
Carbon Emissions
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the additional carbon dioxide emissions which would result from implementation of the European Parliament’s proposal to limit emissions from new cars to 120g of carbon dioxide for every kilometre travelled by 2012 if it were to be phased in over three years; and whether eco-innovations are to be included in calculations of progress towards achieving the target limit. [242897]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It should be noted that new car carbon dioxide emissions will need to be 130 g/km on average (rather than it being a limit), with the further 10 g/km being delivered from a range of other measures. The phased-in targets (as agreed on 1 December between the European Commission, the European Parliament lead negotiators and the French presidency) still represent a real challenge for industry and will require a significant increase in the rate of fuel efficiency improvements over and above those already seen under the carbon dioxide voluntary agreements. Our analysis shows that there is unlikely to be any difference in overall carbon dioxide savings between this system and the original Commission’s proposal which had lower penalties for non-compliance in earlier years.
Eco-innovations, if properly implemented, will similarly not lead to a change in the overall carbon dioxide emissions from the regulation. Any reduction in g/km carbon dioxide savings measured by the test cycle will need to be matched by additional g/km carbon dioxide savings from the eco-innovations.
Dartford-Thurrock Crossing
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue generated by Dartford Crossing tolls has been spent on transport infrastructure projects in the surrounding area in the last five years. [244064]
Paul Clark: Since 2003, when the charging scheme was introduced at the Dartford Crossing, the Department for Transport has made available between £1.75 million and £2 million per year to Thurrock council and Kent county council to help deliver local transport projects.
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