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21 July 2009 : Column 1238W—continued
Transport: Public Expenditure
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the Statement made by the Secretary of State on 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 335, on transport infrastructure, what his most recent estimate is of levels of spending on transport in the current three year period. [288573]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport's Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008-09 (HC 454) sets out, in Appendix A, the outturn for spending in 2008-09 and existing plans within departmental expenditure limits (DEL) and annually managed expenditure (AME) for 2009-10 and 2010-11. The following table repeats the total figures shown in that Appendix:
| £0,000 | |||
| 2008-09 Outturn | 2009-10 Plans | 2010-11 Plans | |
Planned expenditure in-year for 2009-10 and 2010-11 may vary depending, in particular, on decisions made on the take-up of end year flexibility from previous years.
Transport: Radioactive Materials
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many radioactive material movements within the UK there were by each mode of transport in each year since 1997; and how much waste was transported in each such year. [288422]
Paul Clark: The regulations for the transport of radioactive material require that the Secretary of State be notified of certain shipments of radioactive material. These shipments usually involve particularly large amounts of radioactivity and will include shipments of high level waste and irradiated nuclear fuel (often referred to as waste).
In addition, this Department sponsors periodic surveys into the radiological impact of the normal transport of radioactive material in the UK. These surveys involve collecting data on the number and nature of shipments of radioactive material during a particular year. The reports on these surveys have been placed in the House Libraries and are available via the Department for Transport website at the following address:
The latest reports in this series were produced in: 2009 (sea transport, Ref. HPA-RPD-050), 2005 (road/rail, Ref. NRPB-W66) and 2003 (air, Ref, NRPB W39).
The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is the security regulator for the UK's civil nuclear industry. It is responsible for approving security arrangements within the industry and enforcing compliance. For data specific to the transportation of civil nuclear material falling under the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003, you may also wish to view the OCNS annual reports entitled "The state of security in the civil nuclear industry and the effectiveness of security regulation" via the HSE website at the following address:
Transport: Wakefield
Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much local transport grant his Department has allocated to Wakefield metropolitan and district council in each year since its creation. [288660]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport has allocated the following capital funding to Wakefield metropolitan district council (MDC) under the local transport plan system. This funding is not ring-fenced and Wakefield MDC has discretion to spend the allocations in line with its priorities. Funding for Integrated Transport reflects agreement within West Yorkshire on appropriate allocations between the district councils and the Integrated Transport Authority:
| £ million | |||
| Integrated transport block | Highways maintenance | Total local transport funding | |
| Note: Information on funding for Wakefield from before 1998-99 is not available. | |||
In addition to the above allocations £30.066 million has been provided to Wakefield MDC in the past three years for major projects:
| £ million | ||
| Project | Funding | |
Wakefield MDC receives a general revenue allocation on transport through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant.
Travel
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what recent estimate his Department has made of the comparative journey times from city centre to city centre between (a) London and Paris, (b) London and Brussels, (c) London and Amsterdam and (d) London and Cologne when travelling by (i) air and (ii) rail; [284548]
(2) what recent assessment his Department has made of the relationship between journey times and the proportion of journeys made by rail for (a) inter-city journeys within England, (b) inter-city journeys between England and Scotland, (c) inter-city journeys between London and continental Europe and (d) inter-city journeys between UK cities other than London and continental Europe. [284549]
Paul Clark: Journey time is only one of the factors that people consider when they are making a choice about how to travel. Other factors include reliability, frequency and price. The Department for Transport has not carried out a detailed assessment of comparative journey times by rail and air. However the evidence does point to passengers making rail their first choice when it can provide a fast and convenient service.
For example, passengers on short-haul trips to European destinations are already increasingly turning to rail where that is an attractive option. Flights to Paris have fallen by over 20 per cent. since 2000, and flights to Brussels by over one third. Increasing the speed of trains within the UK can also have benefits. The journey time between Manchester and London has decreased from nearly three hours in 2007 to around two hours now. The number of rail passengers between Manchester and London increased by 64 per cent. between 2003 and 2008 from 2.1 million to 3.3 million per annum and over the same time period the number of air passengers has decreased from 1.9 million to 1.4 million, a 30 per cent. decrease.
On 15 January 2009 the Government announced that they were setting up a company, High Speed 2, to consider the case for new high speed rail services from London to Scotland.
UK Innovation Fund
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 51 of "Building Britain's Future", Cm 7654, how much his Department plans to contribute to the UK Innovation Fund in each of the next 10 years. [289203]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has no plans, at this time, to contribute to the UK Innovation Fund.
Waterloo Station
Susan Kramer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects platforms 21 to 24 at Waterloo station to receive domestic rail services; and if he will make a statement. [289090]
Chris Mole: Capacity at Waterloo will be increased by lengthening platforms thereby allowing longer trains, carrying more people.
We are 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.
As part of this, we are investigating how Waterloo and Waterloo International Terminal platforms 20 to 24 can be used to help increase capacity on the network. Work has been carried out on platform 20 and option
development work is now progressing on other platforms and enhancing the tracks outside the station to support the increase in capacity. We are continuing to work with South West Trains to provide the additional carriages for longer trains.
International Development
Afghanistan: Overseas Aid
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure that fertiliser supplied to Afghanistan from his Department's budget is not misappropriated by the Taliban for use in weapon production. [289005]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID), the stabilisation Aid Fund and USAID jointly funded the governor of Helmand's wheat seed distribution programme ($11 million in 2008-09). The fertiliser was distributed through a USAID contractor who tracked recipients through a post-distribution monitoring structure. Military and civilian planners in Helmand assessed that the risk of the distributed fertiliser being used in bomb making was low.
This year's counter narcotic plan will distribute low nitrogen content fertilisers, so it will be difficult to use in weapons construction. The distribution and use of fertiliser will be monitored.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on aid to Afghanistan in 2008-09; and what proportion of such aid was delivered directly in Helmand province. [Official Report, 12 October 2009, Vol. 497, c. 2MC.][289143]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided £143 million of support to Afghanistan in 2008-09 through its bilateral programme. Of this, we spent £21.9 million on growth, livelihoods and governance programmes directly in Helmand province.
DFID publishes expenditure in its Annual Report and the Statistics in International Development publication. These are available in the Library of the House and on the DFID website:
Africa: Overseas Aid
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has allocated to the agricultural sector in each of the bilateral country programmes in sub-Saharan Africa in each of the last five years. [287268]
Mr. Thomas: The total amounts that Department for International Development (DFID) has spent on projects and programmes in the agriculture sector through its bilateral programme in sub-Saharan Africa in the last five years are set out in table 1. Table 2 sets out the amounts that DFID has spent on food aid and food security programmes in sub-Saharan Africa over the same period. In addition to this, DFID also provides funds to national Governments through general budget support. Last year (2008-09) we estimate that £15.6 million of DFID's bilateral budget support was spent on the agriculture sector in Africa.
DFID's White Paper, published on 6 July, sets out our vision for a doubling of agricultural production in Africa over the next 20 years.
| Table 1: DFID bilateral spending on agriculture programmes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) | |||||
| £000 | |||||
| Recipient country | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
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