Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 22 January 2009
Leader of the House
Government Policy Statements
5. Mr. Harper: To ask the Leader of the House what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on ensuring that statements on significant developments in Government policy are made to the House. [250015]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. and learned Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues when deciding whether an oral statement should be made to announce Government policy. This is done against the general principle set out in the ministerial code that when Parliament is in session, the most important announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance, in Parliament, and taking into account the importance of the issue and the other business before the House.
The hon. Gentleman may wish to know that there were 88 oral statements last Session, more than one every other sitting day, and already this Session there have been 14 statements in just 18 sitting days.
Programme Motions
6. Mr. Amess: To ask the Leader of the House what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of arrangements for programming of Bills; and if she will make a statement. [250016]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend has made no formal assessment of the operation of programming, but it has a number of advantages, including greater certainty about the timing of debates on specific areas of a bill and the timing of bills.
The introduction of programming is one of a number of recent reforms to the legislative process such as pre-legislative scrutiny and evidence-taking public Bill committees.
Governance of Britain Green Paper
7. Mr. Allen: To ask the Leader of the House what progress has been made on the proposals in the Governance of Britain Green Paper which fall within her area of responsibility. [250017]
Chris Bryant: The House has agreed proposals for regional select and Grand Committees and we expect the committees to be nominated soon. In response to the Modernisation Committee's recommendations on revitalising the Chamber, we have introduced topical questions and debates.
Government Bills
8. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Leader of the House if she will review the proportion of House of Commons time allocated to Government Bills. [250018]
Chris Bryant: In 2006-07, the last Session for which published figures are available, the House sat for a total of 1,118 hours and 52 minutes. It spent 298 hours and 11 minutes on Government Bills, around a quarter of the total.
This does not include time spent in Committee off the floor of the House, nor on pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Bills for future Sessions.
This compares with around 188 hours on private Members' business, around 17 per cent. of the total sitting time, and 118 hours and 35 minutes on Opposition business, around 10 per cent. of the total.
Members’ Expenses
9. Simon Hughes: To ask the Leader of the House what assessment she has made of public opinion on arrangements for the publication of information on hon. Members' expenses. [250019]
Chris Bryant: The Government brought forward proposals to exempt information about payments made to hon. Members from the provisions of the Act in the belief that they would command general support in all parts of the House. When it became clear that they did not, we withdrew the proposals.
We are still proposing a new publication scheme, with more categories of voluntary publication than ever before, and a rigorous system of audit and assurance of hon. Members' allowances.
John Mann: To ask the Leader of the House (1) what discussions she has had with other hon. Members in advance of her decision to propose the exemption of hon. Members from provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to claims for expenses; [250204]
(2) how many letters she has received from hon. Members requesting exemption or partial exemption from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; [250205]
(3) which external bodies she consulted on her proposal to exempt hon. Members from provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to hon. Members’ claims for expenses. [250381]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend has frequent private communications with Members from all parts of the House on a range of issues relating to her ministerial responsibilities.
No external bodies were consulted about the tabling of the draft Freedom of Information (Parliament) Order 2009.
Ministerial Statements
Andrew Selous: To ask the Leader of the House what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on the criteria to be used in deciding whether an announcement should be made by means of an Oral Statement. [250014]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. and learned Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues when deciding whether an oral statement should be made to announce Government policy. This is done against the general principle set out in the Ministerial Code that when Parliament is in Session, the most important announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance, in Parliament, and taking into account the importance of the issue and the other business before the House.
Written Questions
Mr. Vara: To ask the Leader of the House on how many occasions in the last 12 months Ministers in her Office used their discretion to rule that a parliamentary question for written answer should be answered because it would be in the public interest to do so, even though to do so would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £700. [249146]
Chris Bryant: None. The situation described has not arisen. We aim to publish as much information as possible and would consider providing an answer, despite it exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold, if it was deemed to be in the public interest.
Olympics
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what expert advisers have been commissioned by her Office since its inception; on what topic each was commissioned; and whether the adviser so appointed made a declaration of political activity in each case. [246966]
Tessa Jowell: No expert advisers have been commissioned by my Office.
Departmental Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics if she will make it her policy that temporary and permanent employees of her Office employed at the same grade receive the same hourly rate of pay. [248406]
Tessa Jowell: Both temporary and permanent staff are placed on the appropriate pay band for their grade. The same bands apply equally to permanent and temporary staff.
Olympic Games 2012: Construction
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics on what date the relocation of Thornton Fields railway sidings was completed. [249794]
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority completed construction of the new sidings at Orient Way in May 2008. This was announced on 7 July 2008. The completion of Orient Way allowed work to begin early on the clearance of the Thornton’s Field site. That in turn was completed on 31 October 2008.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics on what date the contract to construct the velodrome for the London 2012 Olympics was awarded. [249798]
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority selected the British company ISG Interior Exterior in May 2008 for the Velodrome contract, with the contract being signed on 10 June 2008. ISG will set up on the Olympic Park site next month and the project remains firmly on track.
Church Commissioners
Churches: Listed Buildings
Mr. Hunt: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many church buildings are listed. [250272]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Church of England is responsible for approximately 13,000 listed buildings. This represents about 45 per cent. of all the grade I listed buildings in England.
Transport
Aviation: Carbon Emissions
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport over what period the data was collected which underlies Figure (a) 1.1, (b) 1.2 and (c) 1.3 in his Department's publication, UK Air Passenger Demand and carbon dioxide forecasts. [250393]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The period over which the data underlying Figures 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 of 'UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts 2009' were collected is set out in Chapter 2 of the same report, with further detail in Annexes A-D.
Box 2.2 (p. 16) explains that the forecast shown in Figure 1.1 is based on data from the period 1984-2004. Page 26 explains that the airport choice model used in producing the forecast shown in Figures 1.2 and 1.3 is based on cross-sectional data for 2005.
Figure 1.3 illustrates the forecasting model's success in predicting movements in passenger demand since 2005.
Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue has been generated by tolls on the Dartford-Thurrock crossing in each year since its opening. [249979]
Paul Clark: For the period of the Extension Agreement—between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003— the Highways Agency records show annual revenue of £68,363,698.02. Records of annual revenues before this date are not held centrally by the Department for Transport.
Details of the annual total revenues from the Dartford Crossing from 2003-04 onwards are placed in the House Library (Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Charging Scheme—Annual Accounts).
Departmental Catering
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which (a) food and (b) drinks suppliers have been used by his Department in each of the last three years; and how much his Department paid to each such supplier in each of those years. [248381]
Mr. Hoon: The requested information, where recorded, has been placed in the Library of the House.
Driver Information Systems: Licensing
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many licences for dynamic route guidance systems his Department has issued in each year since 1997. [249321]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table shows the number of licences issued since 1997.
| Number of licences | |
Driving Under Influence
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government has taken to reduce the incidence of drink driving. [249481]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I would refer my hon. Friend to section 3 of the Department for Transport’s Road Safety Compliance Consultation document, published on 20 November 2008, which sets out the Government’s latest proposal to deal with drink driving. A copy of the document is in the Library of the House and it can also be found on the Department’s website.
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to review the system of self-certification for the renewal of driving licences for those over 70 years of age. [250371]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency, in conjunction with the Department for Transport, has been reviewing the system in place in Great Britain for ensuring that all drivers are fit to drive.
The review on health and driver licensing has been used to inform a public consultation.
I can confirm that the Department for Transport is currently preparing for a public consultation.
Railways: Bus Services
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason his Department has decided to run a rail replacement bus service on Tuesday mornings from Ealing Broadway station to Wandsworth Road station; for what reason this service is not advertised; how long he intends that this replacement bus service should operate; what the estimated monthly cost of this service to the public purse is; and how much of this cost has so far been recouped in terms of passenger revenue. [249217]
Paul Clark [holding answer 19 January 2009]: Mindful of the requirements of relevant legislation, the Department for Transport is currently funding a rail replacement bus service between Ealing Broadway station and Wandsworth Road station. This service, which is a temporary measure until the Department can arrange a replacement rail service in this area, has been operating since 14 December 2008 at a four-weekly cost of £1,880 to the Department for Transport.
The Department for Transport does not recoup any revenue from this service. As a rail replacement bus service, a rail ticket has to be purchased for travel on the bus, therefore revenue will be directed to the appropriate train operator for that area.
The Department for Transport intended the bus service to be advertised from 14 December 2008. Following a contractual delay, the bus service has been advertised, from this week, at the stations it is contracted to call at which are Ealing Broadway, Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth Road.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |