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9 Mar 2009 : Column 10W—continued

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) consultants and (b) contractors are working on the flexible benefits project for the central units of his Department. [261591]

Mr. Hoon: One interim manager is working on the project. The supplier, Benefex Limited, is developing the solution.

Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the flexible benefits project for the central units of his Department has cost to date. [261592]

Mr. Hoon: No payment has yet been made to the supplier of the system.

Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether staff in the central units of his Department will be able to book season ticket loans via the shared service portal once the proposed flexible benefits website is operational. [261594]

Mr. Hoon: Applications for season ticket loans are currently paper-based but will continue to be processed by the Shared Services Centre.

Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which company won the tender to operate his Department’s flexible benefits project. [261595]

Mr. Hoon: The contract was awarded to Benefex Limited.

Driving: Licensing

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from motoring organisations on procedures for informing motorists of the requirement to renew photo-card driving licences every 10 years. [260890]


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Jim Fitzpatrick: No direct representations have been received from motoring organisations.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's latest estimate is of the number of cars not properly registered on their databases. [261507]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold this information in the format required.

The main issue the DVLA has with vehicles being incorrectly registered on its database is that the keeper's name and address may be out of date. There are 34 million licensed vehicles on the DVLA database and the latest survey, which tests whether they are all traceable back to their current keeper, showed that 95.7 per cent. of vehicle keepers could be traced starting with the DVLA’s main record. These figures cover all types of vehicles, not just cars.

M1

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost of widening the M1 between junctions 6a and 10 is; and how much of that sum will be paid from public funds. [261611]

Paul Clark: The currently estimated final (outturn) total cost of widening the M1 between junctions 6a and 10 is £294 million.

The whole of this sum will be paid from public funds.

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of the cost of the construction of the M1 widening between junctions 6 and 10. [261253]

Paul Clark: The latest estimate of the overall cost of the M1 J6a - 10 Widening scheme is £294 million.

M1: Nottinghamshire

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the roadworks in Nottinghamshire on the M1 motorway north of junction 25 to be completed; and if he will make a statement. [261869]

Paul Clark: It is expected that the improvements on the M1 J25-28 will be completed in October 2010.

M25

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of widening the M25 between junctions 1b and 3 was; and how much of this sum came from public funds. [261612]

Paul Clark: The total cost of the M25 J1b-3 widening scheme was £57 million as at 28 February 2009. All of this sum came from public funds.

M6

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of extending the M6 from Carlisle to Guards Mill was; and how much of this sum came from public funds. [261610]


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Paul Clark: As work is still ongoing with aftercare and landscape planting taking place the final outturn cost is not yet determined. The scheme outturn cost is presently forecast at approximately £150 million. This also includes capital works to upgrade the Mossband Viaduct and access provision for the Carlisle Northern Development Route.

The costs are to be met from public funds with a contribution of €8,510,000 provided by the European Union as the road forms part of the Trans European Network.

Motor Vehicles

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of cars on the road without valid (a) road tax and (b) insurance. [261544]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport published national statistics in December 2008 that estimated that the overall rate of unlicensed vehicles was 1 per cent. in 2008, equivalent to approximately 330,000 vehicles.

On insurance, a roadside survey (Operation V79) was carried out by the Department in March 2008. 6,689 vehicles were stopped at random by police and checked for compliance with driver and vehicle licensing regulations. The recorded level of uninsured drivers from this survey was 1.2 per cent. However, comparison of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s vehicle register and motor insurance database suggests the total figure of uninsured driving is likely to be higher. In 2005, a comparison of the two databases estimated that about 2.1 million licensed vehicles were being driven by uninsured drivers. The comparison looks at all vehicle keepers and motor insurance policies and does not rely on vehicles being spotted in use on the road. Further work continues on a more recent comparison of the two databases and is undergoing validity checks by departmental statisticians.

Motor Vehicles: Cleveland

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles have been seized from (a) disqualified and (b) uninsured drivers in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last two years. [260791]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Information on vehicles seized is not held on a constituency basis.

The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) receives information from all police forces on the number of vehicles seized. MIB figures for Cleveland police show that in 2008 196 vehicles were seized as a result of the driver not having a licence and 2,049 vehicles were seized for being uninsured. In 2007 a total of 1,829 vehicles were seized: however there is no breakdown available on the split between unlicensed and uninsured driving.

Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1271W on the M1: Bedfordshire, what other hard shoulder running schemes on the (a) M1, (b) M25, (c) M6, (d) M62, (e) M3, (f) M4 approaching London, (g) motorways around Manchester, (h)
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motorways around Birmingham and (i) motorways around Bristol are planned for 2009-10. [261510]

Paul Clark: Details of the hard shoulder running schemes on England's motorways are set out in “Britain's Transport Infrastructure Motorways and Major Trunk Roads” published on 15 January 2009. Copies of this document are available in the House Library or on the Department for Transport's website at:

The hard shoulder running schemes that are expected to enter construction in 2009/10 in addition to M1 J10-13 are M4 J19-20, M5 J15-17 and M6 J8-10a.

Public Opinion

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what expenditure has been incurred by his Department and its agencies on (a) opinion polling, (b) focus groups and (c) other forms of market research in each year since its inception; what such surveys were commissioned; and what the purpose was of each. [261251]

Mr. Hoon: The information requested could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Railway Stations: Finance

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department plans to spend on the maintenance and development of railway stations in (a) West Lancashire constituency and (b) England in the next three years. [262064]

Paul Clark: The information is not available in the format requested. But Network Rail is funded, as set out in the Office of Rail Regulation's Final Determinations for Control Period 4, to ensure that there is no worsening in the average condition of each category of station on the network during Control Period 4 (2009-10 to 2013-14).

At the same time, the Government are investing in improvements to stations through the national stations improvement programme, a programme of platform lengthening and the rebuilding of Birmingham New Street and Reading stations.

Railways Stations: Manpower

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of staffing at railway station ticket offices on levels of (a) graffiti and vandalism, (b) anti-social behaviour and (c) crime at rail stations; and if he will make a statement. [261573]

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has not made any assessments of the effect of staffed ticket offices on levels of graffiti and vandalism, antisocial behaviour or crime at rail stations.

The Government, the transport industry, local authorities and others are investing in and undertaking wide-ranging initiatives to tackle graffiti, vandalism, antisocial behaviour and crime at rail stations. These include staffing initiatives, staff training, CCTV surveillance, help points, good lighting and clear sight lines. There is also a range of legal measures available to transport operators to deal with antisocial behaviour.


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As part of the Secure Stations Scheme accreditation process, a record of crime and other incidents is required to be maintained and regularly monitored to identify any particular trends.

In recent franchise competitions, we have continued with the policy of asking franchise bidders to achieve Secure Stations Scheme accreditation to cover 80 per cent. of its franchise footfall.

Railways: Plastics

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) meetings, (b) correspondence and (c) telephone contacts officials in his Department have had with Iplas plc of Halifax on the procurement of rail sleepers, in the last 12 months. [260944]

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is not aware of any contact in the last year.

The procurement of sleepers is an operational matter for Network Rail as the owner and operator of the national rail network. My right hon. Friend should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to his questions:

Railways: Standards

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of train services have been (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in (i) England, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last 10 years. [260967]

Paul Clark: The latest 10-year period for which cancellation figures are available for England and Wales is February 1999 to February 2009. The proportion of planned passenger train services cancelled for their whole journey is given by year in the following table:

Cancellations (percentage)

1999-2000

1.1

2000-01

2.3

2001-02

1.8

2002-03

1.6

2003-04

1.3

2004-05

1.2

2005-06

1.2

2006-07

1.2

2007-08

1.1

2008-09

1.0


The Department for Transport does not hold information about delays and cancellations specific to the north-east, Tees Valley district and Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. Neither does the Department hold information about proportions of trains delayed on their journey; therefore, data specific to delays are unavailable.


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The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is responsible for publishing and monitoring data on rail performance, and for a breakdown by individual train operator, my hon. Friend may wish to consult ORR's publication ‘National Rail Trends’ on their website at:

Regional Transport Forums

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monitoring or reviewing his Department undertakes of the decisions of regional transport boards; and if he will make a statement. [261368]

Paul Clark: Regional transport boards or equivalent bodies have been established in most regions by regional bodies, local authorities and other partners to consider and advise on strategic transport issues in the region. Particular arrangements, roles and responsibilities vary between regions. The bodies have been established voluntarily by regions and the Department for Transport has no role in overseeing them.

Regional transport boards often play a part in preparing advice from the region to Government, for example on regional strategies and funding. Decisions on such matters are however for Government rather than the boards.


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