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12 Jun 2009 : Column 1041W—continued
Welfare Reform Bill
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much is planned to be spent on drug treatment centres for rehabilitation provision arising under the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill. [275405]
Jim Knight: The investment in drug treatment to support the drugs pilots will be met from within existing allocations.
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether medical professionals will be employed by Jobcentre Plus to deal with claimants with drug-related problems following the implementation of the provision of the Welfare Reform Bill. [275423]
Jim Knight
[holding answer 14 May 2009]: Medical professionals will not be employed by Jobcentre Plus as part of the implementation of the new pilot regime for
problem drug users in the Welfare Reform Bill. Substance-related assessments will be carried out locally by drug treatment specialists.
Welfare to Work: Standards
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will publish the results of the gap analysis in welfare-to-work provision undertaken by her Department. [271691]
Jim Knight: We have expanded significantly the support available to unemployed people. As part of putting that provision in place Jobcentre Plus reviewed any current or anticipated supplier issues.
That snapshot covered information that must be treated ‘Commercial in Confidence’ and was the basis for detailed discussions with contractors to ensure that effective provision is in place.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to answer question 274723, tabled on 12 May 2009, on child maintenance. [278037]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 4 June 2009]: I replied to the hon. Member’s question on 3 June 2009, Official Report , column 537W.
Treasury
Banks: Iceland
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact on UK-Icelandic relations of the use of powers under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 to freeze assets of Icelandic banks; and if he will make a statement. [276936]
Chris Bryant: I have been asked to reply.
We believe that it was right to take urgent action, using the statutory means available, to protect financial stability in the UK following the Icelandic banking collapse. It is very welcome therefore that agreement was reached on 5 June 2009 between the governments of Iceland, the Netherlands and the UK on the terms of bilateral loans that protect UK interests and are affordable for Iceland. This is a good agreement for all parties and opens the way to lift the Landsbanki freezing order.
Individual Savings Accounts
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to establish enforceable limits on the time taken to transfer cash ISAs between providers. [279048]
Ian Pearson: HM Revenue and Customs rules allow the existing ISA manager a maximum of 30 days to respond to the new manager's request and complete the transfer. HMRC published the results of a cross-industry working group on ISA transfers in their ISA bulletin of 26 August 2008, including guidelines to speed up the transfer of cash ISAs between providers and to improve the efficiency of the process.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 28 April 2009, on fuel tax PO Ref: 1/71584/2009. [279439]
Kitty Ussher: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Transport
A47: Cambridgeshire
Mr. Moss: To ask the Minster of State, Department for Transport how many (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal accidents there were on the A47 between Guyhirn and the Thorney bypass in each of the last 10 years. [278710]
Chris Mole: The following table provides the number of (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal accidents on the A47 between Guyhirn and the Thorney Bypass from 1999 to 2008.
| Number of fatal accidents | Number of non-fatal accidents | |
| (1) Data not yet validated by Department for Transport. | ||
Aviation
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what recent discussions his Department has had with the National Air Traffic Service on the merits of stacking flights over the sea; [278264]
(2) what recent discussions (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the feasibility of stacking flights landing at UK airports over the sea. [278287]
Paul Clark:
Airspace planning and regulation is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The process for making changes to airspace is governed by the CAA’s airspace change process. Under this process it is for airspace change sponsors, mostly NATS, other air navigation services providers and airports, to develop and consult upon proposals. Detailed guidance is given on what impacts are to be taken into account, advice on methods to assess the relative impact of changes and who should be consulted. Informed by the consultation, the airspace change sponsor submits the proposal to the CAA’s directorate of airspace policy for assessment against regulatory requirements. In determining whether to accept or reject a proposal, the CAA’s process reflects the
Secretary of State’s Directions and Guidance to the CAA on the exercise of its statutory duties and environmental objectives. Detailed information is available on the CAA’s website at:
As part of NATS’ on-going development of proposed changes to the area of airspace known as terminal control north, they are considering the location of, and procedures for arrivals routes and holds for Luton, Stansted and London City airports. Further details are available at:
http://www.nats.co.uk/article/216/259/latest_update_on_tcn_ consultation.html
No airspace change proposal has been submitted to the CAA.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what recent progress has been made in the development of a universal consumer protection scheme for air travellers; and if he will make a statement; [279527]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of provisions for the protection of passengers affected by the sudden financial collapse of an airline; [279528]
(3) with reference to the answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 289W, on the XL Leisure Group, what steps have been taken to improve the experience of passengers in future airline or tour operator failures. [279572]
Paul Clark: The Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) scheme organised by the Civil Aviation Authority fully protects passengers on package holidays if their airline, or other travel company, become insolvent.
Passengers not on package holidays have two main options by which they can help protect themselves against airline insolvency if they so choose:
(i) purchasing tickets by credit card, which in most cases will provide at least refund of any ticket that cannot be used;
(ii) purchasing insurance against airline failure (available free-standing product or as part of some travel insurance policies).
The Department for Transport recognises the complexity for consumers of airline insolvency protection arrangements. To help address this, we have placed guidance for holiday makers about the options available on the Directgov website
This guidance was prepared in conjunction with the air transport industry and the Civil Aviation Authority. It is supplemented with an information campaign which has generated press articles.
The Department is now considering options for the reform of ATOL with a view to providing greater protection and clarity to consumers about what holidays are or are not covered by the scheme. A consultation is planned for later in 2009.
The Government have no plans to provide statutory financial protection for all flights. They carefully considered an option to this effect in 2005, but rejected it as being disproportionate to the risks faced by consumers.
Bus Services
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how many route miles of bus service were provided in England in each year since 1997; [278629]
(2) what estimate he has made of the (a) average cost to a passenger of a single bus journey and (b) average length of a bus journey in miles in each year since 1997. [278630]
Mr. Khan: Information on bus route mileage would be available only at disproportionate cost. Estimates of vehicle kilometres operated on local bus services for the years requested are available in Table A.
| Table A: Local bus vehicle kilometres: England, 1997-98 to 2007-08 | |
| Kilometres (million) | |
| Source: Table C, Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2008 edition | |
The information on the average cost to a passenger of a single bus journey is not available, but estimates of the annual change in bus fares are shown in Table B.
| Table B: Local bus fares index: England, 1997-98 to 2007-08 | ||||
| Local bus fares index at constant prices( 1) | Local bus fares index at current prices | |||
| Index (1995 = 100) | Year on year change (percentage) | Index (1995 = 100) | Year on year change (percentage) | |
| (1) Adjusted for general inflation using the Retail Prices Index based on values as at 1 January. Source: Table G, Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB | ||||
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