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4 Mar 2009 : Column 1604W—continued

Careless Driving: Fixed Penalties

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to bring forward proposals to give police forces the powers to issue fixed penalty tickets for careless driving; and if he will make a statement. [260376]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Proposals to make careless driving a fixed penalty offence were outlined in the Department's Road Safety Compliance Consultation which closed on 27 February. We are currently considering the responses and an announcement will be made in due course.

Departmental Art Works

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which works of art from the Government Art Collection each Minister in his Department has selected for display in a private office. [259437]


4 Mar 2009 : Column 1605W

Mr. Hoon: The following pieces from the Government Art Collection are on display in Ministers’ private offices in the Department for Transport.


4 Mar 2009 : Column 1606W
Minister Title of artwork Type Artist

Geoff Hoon

Persian Legend

Painting

Thelma Hulbert

Downstairs

Painting

Olwen Jones

Interior with Aluminium Sheet

Painting

Peter Jowett

Grey Aspect 2

Painting

Prunella Clough

Cypress Trees at Oppedette

Print

Craigie Aitchison

Jim Fitzpatrick

Night

Print

André Bicat

Stone Monument in Mist, Cornwall

Photograph

Howard Jeffs

Houses of Parliament III

Print

Oskar Kokoschka

Port of London I

Print

Oskar Kokoschka

Tower Bridge III

Print

Oskar Kokoschka

Cyberseries I

Print

Jessica Jones

Cyberseries II

Print

Jessica Jones

Paul Clark

Building Retaining Wall etc. near Park Street, Camden Town, 17 September 1836. Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway

Print

John Cooke Bourne

Building the Stationery Engine House, Camden Town 26 April 1837. Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway

Print

John Cooke Bourne

Vale of Keswick, Bassenthwaite Lake and River Greta

Print

James Baker Pyne

Harvest

Print

Richard Slater


Departmental Data Protection

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what period of time elapses before his Department’s electronic records are (a) archived and (b) destroyed; and what percentage of such records created in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008 have been destroyed. [259353]

Mr. Hoon: The following table shows relevant information for the central Department and the Executive agencies:

Record management

DFT Central

The archival and destruction arrangements for all documents held as part of the official record, including those electronically produced, are subject to business need and agreement between business units and the Departmental Records Officer. Information on the number of electronic records created and destroyed is not available.

Highways Agency

All HA electronic records have a standard retention period of 7 years followed by a review. At the end of the review period they will be retained, destroyed or transferred to the National Archives at the appropriate time. No archiving is done within the HA. The HA electronic records management system went live on 1 February 2009, therefore no formal electronic records were created in 2007 and 2008.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

Policies are in place for the archive and deletion of electronic data but the period for these actions varies in accordance with the business needs. No areas have deleted records for 2007 and 2008.

Government Car and Despatch Agency

Records management is the responsibility of individual units within the Agency. Destruction numbers are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

The MCA keep all of its records in hard copy format with archive and destruction following agreed retention and disposal agreements. As a result, no electronic records are archived or destroyed.

Vehicle Certification Agency

VCA does not have a separate electronic records policy but guidelines are in place for records management arrangements throughout the agency.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

DVLA core business data relate to full driver and vehicle records. These records are retained indefinitely to meet our core business requirements, for example law enforcement.

Driving Standards Agency

DSA applies different archiving and destruction timescales according to the nature of the data. Records are not kept on the creation or destruction of electronic information.


Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date his Department’s policy on the management of its electronic records took effect; and on what dates it has been reviewed. [259354]

Mr. Hoon: The dates on which the central Department and Executive agency policies on record management took effect and were reviewed is set out in the following tables:


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Date records policy took effect Date records policy reviewed

DFT(C)

Prior to formation of DFT in 2002

Regularly reviewed and updated when necessary, most recently in December 2007 and October 2008

HA

1994

Reviewed annually; January 2009

VOSA

2003

Parts of the policy are currently being reviewed

GCDA

Working to DFT(C) records policy

Will review GCDA records policy in 2009-2010

MCA

Working to DFT(C) records policy

Subject to DFT(C) review of policy and policy updates

VCA

Working to DFT(C) records policy

The policy for VCA is currently being reviewed

DVLA

2008 (for management of registered files)

Reviewed annually; December 2008


The dates on which the Driving Standards Agency’s policies on record management took effect and were reviewed is set out in the following table:

DSA p olicy Approved Reviewed

HR Data Retention Policy

November 2002

Currently under review

DSA Records Management Policy

March 2003

Currently under review

Appropriate use of IT and Communications Equipment Policy

August 2006

Reviewed version published July 2008

Annex M of Pearson Data Processor Agreement

December 2007

July 2008

Retention Schedule for the Integrated Register of Driver Trainers

May 2008

Review date not yet set

Fraud and Integrity Retention and Disposal Schedule

January 2009

Review date not yet set


Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s policy on the management of electronic records. [259355]

Mr. Hoon: A copy of the central Department’s policy on the management of electronic and paper records has been placed in the Library along with records policies for the Highways Agency and the Vehicle Operator Services Agency. The Driving Standards Agency has also placed the following documents in the Library:

The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency has policies on the storage, transmission and destruction of electronic protectively marked material but they are themselves protectively marked and it would not be appropriate to make them publicly available.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average number of days sick leave per staff member in his Department was in each of the last five years. [256389]

Mr. Hoon: Sickness absence is monitored by the central Department and its agencies on a monthly basis. The average number of working days lost for the Department for Transport is as follows:


4 Mar 2009 : Column 1608W

Average number of working days lost

2003

10.2

2004

10.7

2005

10.4

2006

10.2

2007

11.0

1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008

10.8

1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008

9.9

1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008

9.3


The figures to 2006 have been previously published in the “National Audit Office Report: The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies” dated 8 June 2007. The figures are based on an agreed departmental reporting methodology and reported within a calendar year. Figures for 2007 onwards are in accordance with the Cabinet Office reporting methodology introduced for all Government Departments. Reporting is now within financial years on a rolling year basis.

Heathrow Airport

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many discrete views were expressed in responses to the adding capacity at Heathrow airport consultation, broken down by (a) the code allocated to the view under the code frame used by Detica and (b) the response type in which the view was expressed; [259110]

(2) how many responses to the adding capacity at Heathrow airport consultation were received in the form of (a) Justine Greening Petition and (b) ‘Justine Greening your views of Heathrow’ postcards, as categorised by Detica under its code frame; and how many of these responses included free-text. [259111]

Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 26 February 2009]: A detailed analysis of the responses to the adding capacity at Heathrow airport consultation can be found in the “adding capacity at Heathrow airport report on consultation responses”, which was published on 15 January. Chapter 4 discusses response volumes, and Appendix B explains in detail the code frames used. 1549 ‘Justine Greening your views of Heathrow’ postcards, and 584 ‘Justine Greening Petition’ responses were received. However as the postcards were received before the start of the consultation, they were not analysed as individual responses. A detailed breakdown of discrete views contained both in petition and postcard responses, and in all other responses, can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.


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