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22 Jun 2009 : Column 578W—continued
Waste Disposal: Newcastle upon Tyne
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with Newcastle City Council on its decision not to pursue the incineration option for its disposal of waste. [281428]
Dan Norris: DEFRA Ministers have had no such discussions. The choice of waste management technology for Newcastle is a matter for the city council.
Transport
Air Passenger Duty
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the likely effect of the proposed Air Passenger Duty charges on the number of passengers travelling on each Air Passenger Duty band. [280134]
Paul Clark: A sensitivity test for the proposed new Air Passenger Duty (APD) bands and rates was included in the Department for Transport's “UK Air Passenger Demand and C02 Forecasts” report, published in January 2009. The report is available at:
Table 2.12 (page 48) reports the effect of this sensitivity test (rounded to the nearest five million passengers).
The breakdown of the change in 2030 demand from moving to the new APD bands and rates is shown in the following table.
| Change in 2030 forecast from central case | |
| New APD band | Passengers (million) |
| Notes: Results are rounded to nearest 0.1 million passengers. Difference in total impact from that reported in “UK Air Passenger Demand and C02 Forecasts” January 2009, is due to differences in rounding. | |
As explained in “UK Air Passenger Demand and C02 Forecasts”, January 2009, paragraphs 2.28 to 2.29 (page 21), the Department's central demand forecasts assume that aviation will meet its climate change costs. It is assumed these will be met by APD, plus an additional cost equal to the difference between APD and aviation's climate change costs per passenger journey (if positive). This assumption reduces the impact of changes to APD on the demand forecasts.
No assessment of the impact of the proposed new APD bands and rates without this assumption is available.
Aviation
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many passes to his Department have been issued to employees of (a) BAA, (b) British Airways, (c) Virgin and (d) other airlines in each of the last five years. [279121]
Chris Mole: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bus Services
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the supply and demand of local bus services. [280735]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport (DfT) has recently commissioned a number of research projects on buses which are relevant to the supply and demand of local bus services.
A recently commissioned project on the determinants of bus patronage focuses on the importance of softer factors in influencing patronage growth and modal shift. We are expecting this work to be published by autumn 2009.
On concessionary travel, the Department has commissioned research which focuses on the impact of concessionary travel on demand for local bus services and costs, though the work will also cover general bus demand and bus costs. We are expecting this work to be published by the end of 2009.
On bus modelling, the Department has commissioned the development of a bus model which is able to forecast bus patronage changes and bus service levels for different types of interventions. A completed bus model is expected by autumn 2009.
It is intended that DfT's most recent regional and local research strategy is published this summer, which will provide details on local and regional transport research.
Demos
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has any contracts with the think-tank Demos. [279491]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has no contracts with Demos.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [280963]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport reports its carbon dioxide emissions from offices figures through the annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report. The figures for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are as follows:
| Carbon dioxide from offices | ||
| Tonne s | ||
| Total | Per FTE( 1) | |
| (1) FTE stands for ‘full time equivalent’ (member of staff). | ||
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many departmental identity cards or passes have been reported lost or stolen by staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its executive agencies since July 2008. [279414]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport is comprised of the central Department, a Shared Service Centre and seven Executive agencies. The information available regarding identity cards or passes reported lost or stolen since July 2008 is as follows:
For the central Department the number of staff passes reported as replaced is 431. The records available do not distinguish between passes replaced due to loss or theft and those replaced for other reasons. Lost or stolen passes are estimated to account for approximately 45 per cent. of all replacement passes issued.
For the Department's Shared Service centre the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen is five.
For the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen is 70.
For the Highways Agency the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen is 35.
The Government Car and Despatch Agency have no record of passes reported as lost or stolen.
The Vehicle Certification Agency have reported three staff passes as lost.
The Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA) reported seven warrant cards as lost or stolen. In addition it reported that two headquarters building passes were reported lost and two were replaced but the reason was not recorded. VOSA does not centrally record staff building passes reported lost or stolen as each building manager handles requests for replacements on an individual basis. The number for passes lost or stolen for the whole agency could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
The Driving Standards Agency has had 13 permanent staff passes reported as lost or stolen. In the same period, two driving examiner warrant cards were reported as lost or stolen.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency do not centrally record the number of staff passes reported as lost or stolen as cases are dealt with individually and not recorded in an aggregated form. This information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much (a) electricity and (b) gas was used (i) on his Department’s estate and (ii) by his Department’s agencies in each year from 2004-05 to 2008-09. [280522]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport gas and electricity consumption figures are as follows:
| kWh | ||||
| Area | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
There are no figures reported for the Government Car and Despatch Agency for 2004-05 as they did not become part of the Department for Transport until 2005-06.
The figures for 2008-09 are not yet available as they are currently being collated for the latest Sustainable Development in Government report.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much was spent on energy efficiency measures for his Department’s estate in each year from 2004 to 2009; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that expenditure; and what plans he has for future energy efficiency measures. [280545]
Chris Mole: It is not possible to provide spend data on energy efficiency measures undertaken by the Department for Transport as the majority of these works were part of larger building projects and were not costed separately. The following is a list of some of the energy efficiency measures that have been carried out at various sites across the Department for Transport estate:
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