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17 Dec 2008 : Column 780W—continued
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answer of 28 October 2008, Official Report, column 831-33W, on departmental ICT, what the (a) expected completion date and (b) estimated cost was of each of the projects at their outset. [242168]
Mr. Hoon: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is not undertaking any IT projects.
The Department for Transport does not hold centrally collected records on IT projects, which are managed locally. The tables therefore show available information on major projects under way within DFT Central and each of its agencies.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to accelerate spending through existing maintenance contracts in line with the Government’s plans to increase infrastructure spending. [243802]
Paul Clark [holding answer 15 December 2008]: The Highways Agency has been asked to review the potential for accelerating its investment and renewals activity in order to deliver an economic stimulus. The review of priorities is under way and covers major construction projects as well as maintenance activity. Existing contracts are designed to manage a flexible workload to meet such variations.
The management of maintenance works for local roads is a matter for each local highway authority. My Department provided funding of £2.1 billion to local authorities, in England outside London, as part of the 2007 Local Transport Plan settlement for capital highway maintenance for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. Local authorities have discretion on how to spend this funding. This certainty of funding allows authorities to plan their maintenance to match their local priorities. Funding for local roads in London is a matter for the Mayor.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many individuals have worked in his Department on (a) paid and (b) unpaid work experience or internships in each of the last three years; on average how many hours a week were worked by such people in each year; what types of work each was involved in; what proportion were in full-time education; what proportion did not complete their set period of work experience; and how much those who received remuneration were paid on average per week in each year. [242110]
Mr. Hoon: The central Department and its agencies’ employment of (a) paid work experience or internship placements and (b) unpaid work experience or internships in each of the past three years is shown in the following table:
The Highways Agency maintains no central record of the number of students that have been placed in voluntary work experience.
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Driving Standards Agency can provide the information requested only at disproportionate cost.
| Department for Transport work experience and internship placements, last three calendar years | ||||||||
| Work Experience or Internship | Number of participants | Paid/ u npaid | If p aid, what weekly wage | Job role and business area | Weekly h ours | Calendar year | In full time education | Individual completed set period |
| (1) Unavailable: Responsibility delegated to the line and not held centrally. | ||||||||
Opportunities to undertake paid and unpaid work experience are provided by individual Government Departments as a means of providing an introduction to the Civil Service and a way of helping individuals to make longer-term career decisions.
Some work experience schemes are aimed at individuals with an interest in a specific area or profession such as the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the Government Legal Service. Others, such as the diversity internship programme which has the summer placement scheme for individuals with a registered disability and the summer development programme for individuals from a minority ethnic background, are available for graduates or undergraduates who might be considering the fast stream scheme.
Driving Offences: Insurance
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the number of taxed and insured cars that are regularly driven by a driver not included on the insurance certificate. [240433]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 8 December 2008]: A vehicle may be driven by the main policy holder, a named driver on his or her policy, or by any driver whose policy has a clause that allows that driver to drive any other vehicle with the owner's permission (commonly referred to as DOV cover) on a third-party liability basis.
No information is kept on the number of vehicles that are driven by a person who is not named on the insurance certificate.
We estimate around 2.2 million vehicles are being driven uninsured. The wider issue of uninsured driving is being tackled through a number of measures—for example police powers to seize uninsured vehicles and/or court prosecution.
Heathrow Airport
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the Government will revise their modelling of the economic case for a third runway at Heathrow to take account of the most recent estimates from the International Energy Agency of oil prices in 2030. [243960]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The estimated net benefits of additional capacity at Heathrow will be updated in the impact assessment that will be published alongside the ‘Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport’ decision, in January 2009.
The Department for Transport's forecasts use projections of oil prices from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). BERR's most recent projections (May 2008) are available at:
The IEA ‘World Energy Outlook 2008’ report projects a price of $120 per barrel in 2030 (expressed in 2007 prices). This falls within the BERR range of $45-$150 per barrel.
Higher Civil Servants
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department paid in annual basic wages to staff in senior civil service grades at 31 March (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [244266]
Mr. Hoon: The annual basic wages of senior civil servants in the Department for Transport at 31 March 2006 and 31 March 2007 were £14,299,021 and £15,224,781 respectively.
Lorries: Standards
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prohibitions have been issued to heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) (a) with mechanical defects, (b) that are overweight and (c) where drivers’ hours have been exceeded in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) region where the accident took place, (ii) the HGV’s country of origin and (iii) whether the HGV was left or right-hand drive. [242895]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was formed in April 2003.
The number of prohibitions issued to heavy goods vehicles (a) with mechanical defects, (b) that are overweight and (c) where drivers’ hours have been exceeded since 2003, broken down by (i) region, (ii) heavy goods vehicles country of origin has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
VOSA does not record details of whether a prohibition notice is issued to a left or right-hand drive vehicle.
Motor Vehicles: Safety
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) front and (b) rear seat belt wearing rates were among (i) males and (ii) females in each age group in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [244835]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 9 July 2008, Official Report, column 1584W. The results from the October 2008 seat belt wearing survey will be published as soon as practicable. As before, they will be available free of charge from the TRL website.
Railways: Fares
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what fare structure will operate on the domestic rail service between Ebbsfleet and London St Pancras starting in December 2009; and if he will make a statement. [243710]
Paul Clark: The fares structure for Southeastern’s domestic high speed services is set out in the Franchise Agreement.
Southeastern have created two sets of fares between London and Gravesend, one set being valid on any permitted route, which includes High Speed 1, and the other not valid on High Speed 1.
A premium may be applied to the fares which are valid on High Speed 1 at Southeastern’s discretion, subject to a cap. For fares between Ebbsfleet and any London station, the fare will be the appropriate “not HS1” fare plus a maximum of 35 per cent.
Southeastern has not notified the Department for Transport of the final level of premium.
Road Traffic: Halton
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effects on the north-west road network of a temporary closure of the Silver Jubilee bridge in Halton lasting (a) one week, (b) two weeks and (c) one month. [244190]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is not aware of any scheduled temporary closures of the bridge. The management of the Silver Jubilee bridge is a matter for Halton borough council.
However, as part of the Department’s value for money (VfM) assessment of a business case submitted by Halton borough council in 2006 for funding towards a major maintenance scheme on the Silver Jubilee bridge, we
assessed the authority’s estimate of the effect of a permanent closure of the bridge against the proposed maintenance work. Temporary closures were not assessed.
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