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1 Jun 2009 : Column 9W—continued
Transport
Airports: Construction
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria his Department uses in assessing the merits
of proposals to expand airports; and if he will make a statement. [277009]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport undertook a series of wide-ranging studies to assess the merits of alternative airport expansion options in developing the 2003 White Paper, “The Future of Air Transport”. The largest of these, the South East Regional Airports Study (SERAS) announced in 1999, looked in detail at a large number of options for expanding airport capacity in the South East and East of England. Impacts were assessed in accordance with “The Appraisal Framework for Airports in South East and Eastern Regions of England”, available at:
www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/archive/2002/fd/appraisal frameworkforairport1384
This appraisal framework follows that in the then Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR)'s “Guidance on Methodologies for Multi-Modal Studies”, which formed the basis for the Department's current published transport appraisal guidance—available at:
which has been used, for example, in preparing the Impact Assessment accompanying the Secretary of State's decisions on adding capacity at Heathrow airport.
Aviation: EU Countries
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) scheduled and (b) charter flights there were from British airports to (i) the Netherlands, (ii) Luxembourg and (iii) Malta in each of the last five years. [276900]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following tables show the number of scheduled and charter flights departing from British airports to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Malta in each of the last five years.
| Table 1: Scheduled flights from British airports to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Malta | |||||
| Thousand | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Source: DfT analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data. | |||||
| Table 2: Charter flights from British airports to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Malta | |||||
| Thousand | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (1) Less than 50 flights. Source: DfT analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data. | |||||
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on alcoholic beverages in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [277355]
Mr. Hoon:
Generally, the Department for Transport operates a no alcohol policy. In exceptional cases, where the Department is holding a special event or staff are attending a venue away from their normal office and working long hours necessitating an evening meal, some
limited provision of alcoholic drinks at public expense may be permitted at the discretion of a senior civil servant. Spend incurred in such situations is not centrally recorded and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Buildings
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on office removal contracts in each of the last five years. [276458]
Mr. Hoon: The requested information is provided in the following table.
| £ | ||
| Central Department | Executive Agencies | |
| Notes: Central Department Excludes expenditure at DfT HQ and Marine Accident Investigation Branch as the requested data are not separately recorded and are only obtainable at disproportionate cost. Executive Agencies Excludes expenditure at the Government Car and Despatch Agency, and Maritime and Coastguard Agency as the requested data are not separately recorded and are only obtainable at disproportionate cost | ||
Departmental Rail Travel
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on (i) standard and (ii) business class rail travel in each of the last three financial years. [276491]
Mr. Hoon: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Reviews
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) review and (b) taskforce projects his Department has commissioned in each of the last five years; what the purpose of each such project is; when each such project (i) began and (ii) was completed; what the cost of each such project was; and if he will make a statement. [275981]
Mr. Hoon: Summary information on taskforces and other standing bodies is available in the annual Cabinet Office publication “Public Bodies”. Copies of “Public Bodies 2008” are available in the Libraries of the House. Detailed information on ad hoc advisory bodies is available in the Department’s Annual Report:
Information about reviews commissioned in the last five years is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Official Hospitality
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency spent on hospitality and entertainment in each of the last five years. [276366]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Expenditure by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) on hospitality and entertainment in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Expenditure on hospitality and entertainment (£) | |
| (1 )Provisional outturn. | |
DVLA adheres to the principles on the management of public money (as in HM Treasury’s handbook on Regularity and Propriety) and has very strict rules and cost limits on such expenditure. In the main, hospitality costs cover refreshments at meetings with external stakeholders and in relation to workshops held at DVLA premises.
Driving Tests: Motorcycles
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) injury and (b) non-injury collisions have occurred during module 1 motorcycle tests since the introduction of the test on 27 April 2009; and if he will make a statement. [276382]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table details how many collisions have occurred during the modular motorcycle test.
| 27 April to 15 May 2009 | |
None of these incidents involved another person or vehicle. The Driving Standards Agency is working with the motorcycle training industry to improve the standard of preparation of candidates.
Driving: Licensing
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fraudulent applications for driving licences have been detected by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each of the last five years. [276821]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table provides the number of suspect driving licence applications detected by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in the last four financial years:
| Number | |
This information was not collated prior to 2005.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many photographic driving licences issued to applicants have subsequently been withdrawn on the basis of (a) fraud and (b) ineligibility of the applicant in each of the last five years. [276822]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This information is not held in the requested format. The following table provides the total number of driving licences (paper and photocard) withdrawn in the last three full financial years, the applications having been found to have been suspect.
| Number | |
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fake photographic driving licences have been recovered by (a) the police, (b) the UK Border Agency and (c) HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; and how many such licences were obtained using a (i) fake passport and (ii) passport obtained by fraudulent means. [276823]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The police, UK Border Agency and HM Revenue and Customs do not have statistics relating to the number of false driving licences seized.
The following table provides the number of fake driving licences referred to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after recovery by the police in the last three years. These figures refer to counterfeit documents, not issued by DVLA and therefore would not have relied on examination of supporting identity documents.
| Forged photocard licence | Forged counterpart | |
Driving: Lighting
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the risk posed to drivers from left-hand drive vehicles not fitted with headlamp beam adapters; [277266]
(2) what steps he has taken to encourage drivers of left-hand drive vehicles on UK roads to fit headlamp beam adapters. [277267]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It is generally recognised that the main risk if the headlamps on left-hand drive vehicles are not correctly adjusted is dazzle to other road users. No recent assessment has been carried out.
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