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17 Jun 2009 : Column 288W—continued
The HM Treasury list was last updated in April 2009, since then the Highways Agency has also awarded the M25 widening DBFO.
The Department is sponsoring a further 13 local authority projects that are in procurement and four in pre-procurement. In addition to this the Department's Maritime and Coastguard Agency is jointly procuring a search and rescue helicopter PFI with the Ministry of Defence.
The Department has a further £1.69 billion in unallocated PFI credits that are available for use on local authority PFI projects.
Departmental Training
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what training courses have been attended by special advisers in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what cost. [279391]
Chris Mole: Special advisers receive training as appropriate to enable them to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as set out in the “Model Contract for Special Advisers”.
In the last 12 months special advisers in the Department for Transport have attended mandatory Information and Communication Technology training courses at a total cost of £141.67 to the Department.
Driving Standards Agency: Consultants
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much the Driving Standards Agency spent on consultants in each of the last five years. [280343]
Paul Clark: In each of the last five years the Driving Standards Agency spent the following amounts on consultants:
| £ | |
Driving Tests: Motorcycles
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the arrangements for the safety of candidates taking the Module One motorcycle test; and if he will make a statement. [279306]
Paul Clark: In order to design a safe off-road manoeuvre test to comply with the European Directive, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) undertook trials and risk assessments involving rider training organisations. The Agency tested the proposals in public consultation and benchmarked ideas with comparable organisations in other member states.
Prior to the introduction of the two-part motorcycle test, DSA carried out a risk assessment of both Modules of the new test.
This included assessments and identification of appropriate controls of the testing area, including the boundaries and the surface of the off-road manoeuvring area. The level of preparedness of test candidates was also assessed.
Copies of the risk assessment have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Driving: Working Hours
Alistair Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will seek an exemption for recreational horsebox drivers from EU regulations on drivers’ hours; and if he will make a statement. [280090]
Paul Clark: The EU drivers’ hours rules, which are directly applicable in all EU member states, apply to most drivers of goods vehicles in excess of 3.5 tonnes.
There are a number of exemptions from the EU rules, one of which applies to vehicles not exceeding 7.5 tonnes used for the non-commercial carriage of goods—which would include some privately owned horseboxes.
Electric Vehicles
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the cost of establishing a recharging point for electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles. [279585]
Mr. Khan: The cost of installing a recharging point for electric vehicles will depend on what type of technology is used, its location and what, if any, ancillary work—for example ground works, utility connection, signage—is needed. Procuring points in volume or where supporting infrastructure already exists is likely to be significantly cheaper.
As a broad indication of the range of possible costs, free standing on street charging points may cost between £500 and £3,500, with accompanying street works where required costing up to £5,000. The total cost of installing a plug point on a wall where a power supply exists may be in the region of £250 to £1,000. More innovative fast charging or battery swap infrastructure would be more expensive to deliver.
It should also be noted that many motorists are likely to choose to recharge their electric and plug in hybrid vehicles at home overnight, provided they have secure access to a standard 13 amp socket. This would not cost anything at all.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many recharging points for electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles he expects to be procured from the £20 million allocated for that purpose in the 2009 Budget. [279586]
Mr. Khan: The Secretary of State for Transport announced in April that up to £20 million will be provided by the Department to support the development of infrastructure supporting electric vehicles in select lead cities and regions in the UK. An estimate has not been made at this time as to the total number of recharging points likely to be procured under the scheme. A range of charging technologies and infrastructure solutions exist, which vary in scale and cost. The total number of recharging points supported from the £20 million allocated will therefore depend on local plans and requirements.
Applications for funding will be judged on a range of criteria, which will include the number of public charging points delivered. Further details on the scheme will be announced shortly.
Heathrow Airport
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the likely effect of a third runway at Heathrow Airport on the quality of life of people living in (a) Tooting and (b) the London Borough of Wandsworth. [279534]
Paul Clark: Our assessment of the likely effects of a third runway at Heathrow airport was presented in the “Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport” consultation document published on 22 November 2007.
That showed that Tooting and the London borough of Wandsworth would not generally be overflown by any arriving or departing aircraft in the event of a third runway. This would be an improvement on the present position for these areas which experience some overflying by arriving aircraft at a height of 3,000 feet or less.
London and Continental Railways
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2009, Official Report, columns 24-26WS, on London and Continental Railways, what estimate he has made of the monetary value of (a) St. Pancras International station and (b) the high speed rail line from St. Pancras International station to the Channel Tunnel. [279657]
Chris Mole: The Government are currently engaged in a restructuring of London and Continental Railways. Following this, it is the Government’s intention, as market conditions allow, to sell a long-term concession for High Speed 1 in such a way as to maximise value for money for the taxpayer.
The estimate of the expected proceeds is commercially confidential and to publish the information might condition the competitive sale process and damage value.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2009, Official Report, columns 24-26WS, on London and Continental Railways, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of restructuring (a) HS1 Ltd and (b) the UK’s interest in Eurostar. [279658]
Chris Mole: The restructuring of London and Continental Railways (LCR) announced on 8 June 2009 involved no further commitment of public funds over and above those committed during the restructurings of the company in 1998, 2001 and 2002.
The current financial restructuring provides for the redistribution of support already committed to allow LCR’s subsidiary businesses to be established on a stand-alone commercial basis. This will allow the value of those businesses to be realised in due course with a commensurate reduction in the overall level of state support.
M25
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the public sector comparator figure is for the M25 design, build, finance and operate widening project. [278571]
Chris Mole: The Public Sector Comparator is expressed in Net Present Value terms (NPV) in accordance with HMT guidance. The NPV for the M25 Design, Build, Finance and Operate Contract is £3.40 billion. The equivalent NPV figure for the Public Sector Comparator is £3.83 billion.
Motor Vehicles: Foreigners
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of foreign-registered (a) heavy goods vehicles, (b) vans, (c) cars and (d) motorcycles using UK roads in each of the last five years. [279600]
Paul Clark: Estimates of foreign registered traffic are not available for any years prior to 2007.
In 2007 0.5 per cent. of British traffic, around one in every 215 kilometres, was estimated to be driven by foreign registered vehicles. These 2007 figures are not available broken down by vehicle type, and such estimates could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However, estimates of the rate of foreign registered traffic for 2008, including analyses by vehicle type, are due to be published within the Department for Transport's Statistical Bulletin, ‘Road Statistics 2008’, on 25 June 2009.
Motor Vehicles: Registration
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many and what proportion of vehicles registered in each of the last 10 years were vehicles previously registered abroad. [280374]
Paul Clark: The following table provides the number of vehicles previously registered abroad for the last eight financial years. Also displayed are the total number of vehicles registered and the proportion of vehicles previously registered abroad against the total number of vehicles registered. Figures are not available for financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
| Financial year | Total vehicles registered | Vehicles previously registered abroad | Percentage of vehicles previously registered abroad |
Railways
Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his most recent assessment is of the capacity of the existing rail network for (a) passenger and (b) freight services. [281097]
Chris Mole: During the preparation of the 2007 Rail White Paper, the Government carried out assessments of the adequacy of the capacity of the rail network. The assessments drew on work carried out by the rail industry, and the outcome is published in the 2007 Rail White Paper ‘Delivering a Sustainable Railway' available from the Department for Transport website at:
Since its publication, the Government have asked Network Rail to undertake a new lines study to identify longer term capacity requirements.
Initial results from Network Rail's study indicated a long-term capacity gap from London to the West Midlands, which is why we have tasked High Speed Two to advise on the feasibility of a new high speed line from London to the West Midlands as a first stage, and beyond the West Midlands at the level of broad corridors.
Railways: Fares
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of an assumption of an increase in unregulated rail fares of RPI plus one per cent. in each franchise contract (a) in January 2010 and (b) at the renewal date of each franchise. [279710]
Chris Mole [holding answer 16 June 2009]: The levels of unregulated fares are a commercial matter for individual train operators. For business planning purposes’ operators may make assumptions of any projected changes to unregulated fares, but this is a matter for the operator concerned.
Railways: Finance
John Barrett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what account his Department takes of the effect of expenditure on railways on levels of tax receipts from other modes of transport when considering future rail spending plans. [280256]
Chris Mole: The account taken of changes in tax receipts from other modes in the economic appraisal of rail schemes, and hence in considering spending plans, is set out in the paper "NATA Refresh—Appraisal for a Sustainable Transport System" published on the Department's website at:
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what funding his Department is providing for community rail partnerships in 2009-10. [280733]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not provide core funding for Community Rail Partnerships, which are essentially local organisations and therefore locally funded.
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