Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Wales
Departmental Art Works
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which works of art from the Government Art Collection each Minister in his Department has selected for display in a private office. [259433]
Departmental Data Protection
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether his Department uses WPA2 encryption protocol on all its wireless networks. [259808]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office does not operate any wireless networks.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what auditing his Department undertakes to ensure that IT security policies are being followed; and on how many occasions (a) IT security policies have been breached by employees and (b) a member of staff has been sanctioned for a breach of such policies in the last 12 months. [259809]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office's IT services are provided by the Ministry of Justice, which has in place safeguards and auditing capabilities to ensure that IT policies are being followed by staff. No members of Wales Office staff have broken IT security rules in the last 12 months.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's IT security hierarchy; [259810]
(2) what scanning for vulnerabilities his Department conducts of each of its IT devices; what method is used for IT device scans; and how many vulnerabilities have been detected as a result of such scans in the last 12 months; [259811]
(3) what IT security policy his Department has; what procedures are in place to ensure the policy is being followed; what his Department's policy is on encryption of data when they leave departmental premises; and what sanctions are in place for failure to comply with this policy. [259852]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office is provided with its IT services by the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for IT security. Safeguards and audit capabilities are in place to ensure their policies are followed.
When leaving departmental premises, all data are required to be encrypted, and the capability to copy data onto removable media such as CDs or memory sticks is significantly limited. Staff found not to be complying with this policy risk disciplinary action.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of letters sent by his Department were given to (a) the Royal Mail and (b) another postal services provider for delivery in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [259978]
Mr. Paul Murphy: All the Wales Office's external mail is handled by the Royal Mail. All mail addressed to other Government Departments is handled by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.
Transport
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy for his Department to sign the Information Commissioner’s Personal Information Promise. [258947]
Mr. Hoon: The Government welcomed the promise as a commendable initiative to raise awareness of the importance of effective data protection safeguards, particularly for those organisations with no similar commitments already in place.
The Government take data protection very seriously. Following the Cabinet Office Review of Data Handling Procedures in Government, Departments have implemented a raft of measures to improve data security.
The Ministry of Justice is considering actively with the Information Commissioner’s Office how the promise might add additional value to those measures we have already signed up to. These include the Information Charters, the recommendations of the Data Handling Review and the Thomas/Walport Review and, of course, our legal obligations under the Data Protection Act and other legislation and regulations.
Departmental Leave
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for which bargaining units in his Department (a) public and privilege days and (b) annual leave entitlements accrue during (i) ordinary and (ii) additional maternity leave. [258629]
Mr. Hoon: All bargaining units within the Department for Transport except the Vehicle Certification Agency, allow accrual of public and privilege days and annual leave during both ordinary and additional maternity leave. Vehicle Certification Agency allows accrual of annual leave only during both ordinary and additional maternity leave.
Departmental NDPBs: Empty Property
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost in empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by (a) his Department, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, (c) the Driving Standards Agency, (d) the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, (e) the Government Car and Despatch Agency and (f) the Highways Agency is in 2008-09. [258522]
Mr. Hoon: The requested information is as follows:
| £ | |
Departmental Publications
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the terms of reference of his Department’s staff handbook streamlining project are. [258619]
Mr. Hoon: To review the staff handbook and people management policies to ensure they are up to date, comply with any changes in employment law and support the Department in achieving its objectives.
DVLA: Personal Records
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) customer case and (b) other files containing personal information have been lost by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [259391]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Individual cases are managed via an electronic casework system. This has been accredited to Government security standards and there has been no data loss from this system.
There are paper-based casework files that are held both at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency HQ and its local offices. These files are managed locally and the cost of collecting information for lost or misplaced files would be prohibitive.
Park and Ride Schemes: Coastal Areas
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many park and ride schemes operate in English seaside towns; where such schemes are located; what recent assessment he has made of the viability of such schemes; what the average public subsidy provided for such schemes in 2008 was; and if he will make a statement. [260005]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold central data on park and ride sites located in seaside towns. Local authorities are responsible for funding most park and ride schemes, mainly through the integrated transport block, which the Department allocates to support local transport plans (LTPs). The funding is for local authorities to invest in transport capital works, including park and ride, according to their local plans and priorities. It totals £576 million for the 2008-09 period.
Local authorities also make appropriate assessment of the on-going viability of park and ride schemes. It would not be appropriate to initiate a specific nationwide
audit of park and ride schemes on top of the other audit and reporting processes Government require from local authorities.
The Department does provide funding for major transport projects of over £5 million. In 2008, one major scheme in a coastal town for which there was a park and ride element received £16.2 million of Government funding. However only a small proportion of that amount would have been dedicated to the park and ride element.
Park and ride schemes play an important part in helping to tackle congestion in many localities. They are one of a range of policy tools suggested by the full guidance on the second local transport plans (2006 to 2011), published in December 2004 and shortly due to be revised for the next planning round.
Railways: Sussex
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will direct a redrafting of the timetable for rail services in Sussex to take account of the needs of rail passengers as part of the Sussex Route Utilisation Strategy. [259781]
Paul Clark [holding answer 27 February 2009]: Route Utilisation Strategies seek to balance capacity, demand (passenger and freight), operational performance and cost, to address the requirements of funders and all stakeholders. Network Rail is in the course of developing a Route Utilisation Strategy for Sussex, in conjunction with, and on behalf of, rail industry partners and wider stakeholders. It would be inappropriate for Government to issue directions.
Rolling Stock
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason he has required Southern to transfer rolling stock to First Capital Connect from April 2009; and what assessment he has made of the consequences of this requirement for passengers on Southern’s services. [259405]
Paul Clark [holding answer 27 February 2009]: The Thameslink programme requires the introduction of a new timetable on the 22 March. This timetable is necessary to enable major works to start at London Blackfriars.
The timetable requires additional dual voltage rolling stock, which are currently being delivered from Bombardier.
Bombardier are late in the delivery of these new trains, and as a short-term measure, Southern are supplying up to eight dual voltage trains to First Capital Connect.
Southern will operate additional single voltage trains that can be provided from other operators maintaining the levels of service provided.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to reallocate coaches from the Gatwick Express service to other services operated by Southern; and if he will take account of current passenger loading in the reallocation. [259406]
Paul Clark [holding answer 27 February 2009]: There are currently no plans to reduce the number of coaches forming each Gatwick Express train. The class 460 trains will remain eight-car stock and it is envisaged that the refurbished class 442 trains will remain in 10-car formation.
Until the December 2008 timetable change, the Gatwick Express fleet was formed of 64 class 460 vehicles dedicated to use on Gatwick Express services.
Since December 2008, in addition to the class 460 services, six peak Gatwick Express services have been extended to and from Brighton. These services have been enabled through the leasing and refurbishment of 85 class 442 vehicles. Due to delays in the refurbishment programme, some of the extended Gatwick Express services have been formed of Southern class 377 trains. However, from 16 March it is envisaged that class 377 stock will no longer be used on the extended Gatwick Express service.
It is planned that, if sufficient class 442 vehicles are delivered from the refurbishment programme, they will also be deployed on the Eastbourne to London Bridge route from the end of March.
Bids for the replacement South Central franchise have now been received and are in the process of being evaluated. Contained within the bid submissions are the bidders’ plans to accommodate existing passenger loads and to provide for future demand, including details of the rolling stock that they propose to lease. The award of the franchise, and the commitments made by the incoming franchisee, are scheduled for announcement in early June.
Safer Roads Humber
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much public money has been paid to Safer Roads Humber to support the discharge of its objectives; from what sources such funding has been drawn; what rules are in place to ensure value for money from such funding; and if he will make a statement. [260007]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have provided financial support for road safety activities to the four local highway authorities in the area covered by the Safer Roads Humber partnership. The local authorities are responsible for final decisions about how much funding to allocate to the Safer Roads Humber partnership. The funding the local authorities put into the partnership is subject to the relevant audit requirements placed on the local authorities.
The funding support provided to the local authorities in the Humber area relating specifically to road safety in 2008-09 is shown in the following table.
| £ | ||
| Local authority | Contribution to area based grant | Specific capital grant |
Wheel Clamping: Scotland
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made for the purposes of policy formulation of the efficacy of the prohibition of wheel clamping on private land in Scotland. [259756]
Paul Clark: Wheel clamping on private land in Scotland is a devolved matter for the Scottish Executive. Wheel clamping on private land in England is a matter for the Home Secretary.
Northern Ireland
Cars: Theft
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many car-jackings have taken place in each district command unit in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years. [260142]
Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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