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2 Apr 2009 : Column 1428W—continued
Transport: Departmental Responsibilities
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how Ministerial responsibility for cross-border transport between each constituency part of the UK is allocated; and if he will make a statement. [265938]
Mr. Hoon: The transport responsibilities of the devolved Administrations and those responsibilities reserved to the UK Government are set out in UK legislation. In addition, the interest of the Strategic Rail Authority in the Arriva Trains Wales franchise agreement was transferred to the Secretary of State for Transport and the National Assembly for Wales by a statutory transfer scheme on 14 October 2005. Subsequently the Secretary of State for Transport and the Assembly entered into an agreement to govern the detailed manner in which they would exercise the rights and liabilities formerly exercised by the Strategic Rail Authority under the franchise agreement.
I work closely with the devolved Administrations to ensure that transport networks between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom are strengthened and fully integrated.
Underground Railways: Freight
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to enable the London Mail Rail tunnel to be used for transporting goods. [266466]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has no plans in relation to the Post Office Underground Railway system. Decisions on the use of the system are a commercial matter for the Royal Mail.
Waterloo Station
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Richmond Park of 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 16W, on Waterloo Station, whether agreement has been reached with South West Trains on the use of former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo. [264108]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is working with Network Rail to extend platforms at Waterloo station and across the whole South Western network to increase capacity on some suburban routes from eight to 10 carriage trains by 2014.
We are continuing to work with Stagecoach South West Trains to provide the additional capacity. These services are subject to concluding value for money negotiations. We expect these services to align with the Network Rail delivery date.
West Coast Railway Line
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the Chairman of the Office of the Rail Regulator to discuss the reliability of service on the Crewe-Euston route provided by London Midland; and if he will make a statement. [266589]
Paul Clark: The Secretary of State met recently with the Chairman of the Office of Rail Regulation, when the reliability of services on the West Coast Main Line was raised. The Office of Rail Regulation is giving particular attention to monitoring Network Rail’s performance on the route.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the reliability of the London Midland train service on the Crewe-Euston route on (a) weekdays and (b) Sundays. [266789]
Paul Clark: In the year to 28 February 2009 London Midland achieved an average punctuality of 86.5 per cent. across the franchise as a whole and 81.6 per cent. during the four weeks ending on that date. Performance on the Crewe to Euston route has been below this level.
Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and London Midland to address performance issues. London Midland has also developed an Improvement Plan, progress against which is monitored regularly. The Minster of State, Lord Adonis, meets senior representatives of the Rail Industry every four weeks to discuss performance.
Reliability of the London Midland train service on the West Coast Main Line route from Crewe to Euston has been a particular concern recently. Both Network Rail and the train operators on the route are being urged to seek improvements in punctuality and reliability.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Arms Trade
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the evidence of the Economic and Business Minister to the Committee on Arms Export Controls on 21 January 2009, HC 178-i, how many licence applications (a) have been made and (b) are still current for head-up display units since 2002, broken down by country of destination; and how many such applications have been approved by country of destination. [254162]
Ian Pearson:
The Government publish summary details of export licences issued, refused and revoked in their annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls. This is broken down by destination, including a summary
of the items covered by these licences, and where appropriate, the criteria against which the licence has been refused. Standard individual export licences (SIELs) are generally valid for two years from the date of issue, and open individual export licences (OIELs) generally for five years from the date of issue.
The Government’s annual reports, published since 1997, and quarterly reports, published since 2004, are available from the House of Commons Library and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website at:
The latest date for which information is available is 30 September 2008.
Head-up displays will be included in the goods description “military aircraft head-up displays”. The reports do not break down goods descriptions beyond this level of detail.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Sherwood of 8 July 2002, Official Report, column 653W, on export licences, whether licences are still being granted for export to the United States of components for (a) F-16 aircraft and (b) Apache helicopters destined for Israel; and if he will make a statement. [253722]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 3 February 2009]: The Government publish detailed information on export licences issued, refused and revoked by destination, including value and a summary of the items covered by these licences, in their annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls. Information on export licences issued for incorporation before onward export is given separately for each destination in the Reports. The Government's annual reports, published since 1997, and quarterly reports published since 2004, are available from the Libraries of the House and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website at:
Any such export licence applications would be considered on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and all relevant information and circumstances at the time of the application, while at the same time having regard to the factors listed in my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's statement of 8 July 2002 setting out the Government's approach to UK exports for incorporation and onward export.
Better Regulation Executive: Public Consultation
John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many policy suggestions have been submitted by members of the public via the tool on the Better Regulation Executive’s website; and how many of these have been (a) considered and (b) implemented. [266928]
Ian Pearson: The better regulation website was upgraded in May 2007 so that official responses from the relevant Government Department are provided to the originator within 90 days and published on the website.
Since that refresh there have been 622 suggestions submitted through the website from members of the public, SMEs and trade organisations to date. Of these suggestions 535 have been considered suitable for further consideration by Government Departments. Those not considered further include those with incomplete/false information, statements, commercial endorsements and other unsuitable material.
Of the 535 suggestions considered further:
26 are still under consideration by the relevant Government Department
86 were responded to by alternative means. When the idea is not a better regulation idea Government Departments respond as a ‘Treat Official’ directly to the suggestion originator
10 were responded to previously. When the same idea has already been put forward suggestion originators are sent the original response
294 after analysis by the relevant Government Department were not considered suitable to be taken forward for the reasons set out in the individual official response provided directly to all suggestion originators and posted on www.betterregulation.gov.uk
119 have been taken forward (approx 20 per cent.)
The 119 taken forward include:
Ideas incorporated into consultation
Ideas requiring further consideration (after 90 day official response time)
Ideas that were already being looked at by Government
Ideas implemented (approx 25 per cent.)
British Bankers Association
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what meetings to discuss the economy (a) the Secretary of State, (b) he, (c) other Ministers in his Department and (d) officials in his Department have had with the British Bankers' Association in each week since June 2007; what the (i) location and (ii) duration of each meeting was; whether a record of each meeting was kept; who attended each meeting; what the cost of each
meeting was, broken down by (A) administrative and (B) other costs; and if he will make a statement. [256578]
Ian Pearson: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Competitiveness and Small Business is the only BERR Minister to have had a meeting with the British Bankers Association. There was no formal agenda. Many officials including the Permanent Secretary have also had meetings with them to discuss a range of subjects which are the responsibility of this Department.
Broadband
Andrew Miller: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to ensure that provisions for wider availability of broadband access, referred to in the Digital Britain interim report, include mechanisms for widening public engagement with Parliament. [267283]
Mr. McFadden: The Digital Britain Report is looking at how to deliver universal access to broadband and options for maximising participation across the UK as well as looking to ensure that public services online are designed for ease of use by the widest range of citizens. However, the way in which we in Parliament engage with the public on-line is a matter for Parliament. The Digital Britain report should help to make that engagement more inclusive and ensure that all citizens can access it.
Business Link
Tom Brake: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many calls were (a) received and (b) answered by Business Link in each region in each of the last 12 months for which information is available. [247532]
Ian Pearson: The number of calls received and answered by Business Link in each region in 2008 is shown in the table.
| Number | ||||||||||
| North West | North East | Yorkshire | East Midlands | West Midlands | East of England | London | South East | South West | Total | |
The data are not available month by month and could be produced only at disproportionate cost. Data are unavailable prior to this date. Data for East of England have been rounded. Every call should be answered, in the first instance, via a customer service representative. During high call periods or after hours calls are picked up by an overflow or after hours service with callers contacted as soon as possible.
Business: Government Assistance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he plans to take to help small and medium-sized enterprises during the recession. [257543]
Ian Pearson: On 14 January 2009 we launched a wide range of measures to support businesses in the current economic climate, building upon the commitments we made in the pre-Budget report on 24 November 2008. Small and medium-sized businesses can find information and support at:
or by contacting the Business Link Helpline on 0845 6009006.
Since the Guarantee became operational on 14 January 2009 we have seen the value of eligible cases rise tenfold. These have now reached the stage where:
the value of eligible cases has increased from £3 million in week one to over £31 million in week eight;
the network of approved lenders has expanded from eight to 26, providing access across the whole of the UK; and
as of 25 March lenders have logged over 1,600 eligible cases with a value of over £175 million.
Our current weekly rate of eligible cases puts us on track to support £1.3 billion of lending to small businesses by end March 2010.
The Capital for Enterprise Fund is a £75 million fund (£50 million in Government funds and agreement to an additional £25 million from Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and RBS) targeted at small and medium businesses that have exhausted their normal borrowing capacity. The fund will be delivered by commercial fund managers and they are undertaking diligence on the business they will invest in. 231 businesses have registered their interest in the Capital for Enterprise Fund, of which 42 businesses, with a funding requirement of over £35 million, have met the eligibility criteria and supplied all the required information.
Joan Ryan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of the (a) enterprise finance guarantee scheme and (b) working capital scheme. [260189]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 2 March 2009]: The Government’s Real Help campaign publicises a range of support available to business, including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee. Businesses may find out about measures offering real help for businesses including an initial eligibility check via the Business Link website at:
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