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9 Sep 2009 : Column 1902W—continued
Invalid Vehicles: Insurance
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will bring forward legislation to require users of mobility scooters to hold mobility scooter insurance; what training users of mobility scooters are required to undergo; what recent estimate he has made of the number of persons injured by mobility scooters annually; and if he will make a statement. [290641]
Chris Mole: We currently have no plans to introduce legislation requiring users of mobility scooters to hold insurance. They are nevertheless subject to the law of civil liability. We do strongly recommend that mobility scooter users take out insurance and that they avail themselves of the advice and training that is available in a number of locations such as Shopmobility venues (a charity organisation which hires out mobility scooters). No recent estimate of the number of injuries caused by mobility scooters has been undertaken but anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of accidents are minor in nature.
We are aware that the number of mobility scooters is on the increase. The Department for Transport is procuring a survey to help assess the number of mobility scooter users and the extent to which their use may have injured people. We anticipate that this will help to inform future policy.
Kegworth Bypass
David Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent progress has been made on the Kegworth bypass project; and if he will make a statement. [290831]
Chris Mole: The Kegworth bypass has been proposed alongside improvements to the M1 between junctions 23a and 25. The Department for Transport publication 'Britain's Transport Infrastructure-Motorways and Major Trunk Roads', published in January 2009, provides details of the major road improvements which we expect to take forward in the period up to 2015 and the longer term motorway improvements which we expect to be rolled out after 2015.
The scheme to improve the M1 between junctions 23a and 25 falls into the category of schemes expected to be delivered after 2015. The timetable for these schemes will be considered as part of the DaSTS (Delivering
a Sustainable Transport System) process, under which we will be defining our longer term investment priorities. This process is described in the Department's November 2008 document 'Delivering a Sustainable Transport System'.
Lorries: Accidents
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport in how many accidents resulting in serious injury foreign-registered left-hand drive heavy goods vehicles were involved in 2008. [290778]
Chris Mole: In 2008, there were 25 fatal and 69 reported road accidents resulting in a serious injury, where at least one foreign-registered left-hand drive heavy goods vehicle was involved.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency: HM Coastguard
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 81 of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Annual Report 2007-08, HC 617, what the average response time of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency/HM Coastguard was to maritime incidents where assistance was given in each year from 2002 to 2008. [290662]
Chris Mole: Information is not collected in the form requested.
Between 2001-02 and 2006-07 the percentage of incidents where the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) decided on a search and rescue response within five minutes of being alerted is shown in the following table:
| Percentage | |
In each of these years the MCA met its published ministerial target on this area of work.
Figures for 2007-08 and 2008-09 were not recorded due to industrial action short of a strike by members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union.
However, through a programme of local management checks and audits, the agency is confident that the quality of its emergency response co-ordination service was fully maintained despite the absence of statistical data.
Railways: Overcrowding
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will make it his policy to collect passenger overcrowding data from train operators running services from stations in (a) Birmingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Cardiff, (d) Sheffield, (e) Bristol, (f) Liverpool and (g) Leeds. [290633]
Chris Mole: As outlined within their respective franchise agreements, train operating companies are required to provide passenger count data on request to the Secretary of State for Transport. The Department for Transport currently collects passenger counts data for most rail services running into these regional stations.
The specific arrangements for each operator can be viewed on the Department's website at the following address:
Roads: Cycling
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he plans to publish his Department's (a) interim and (b) final report on road safety and cycling. [290773]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport is working with the contractors, Transport Research Laboratory, to ensure the road safety and cycling project remains on schedule. The Department intends to publish two research reports this autumn 2009, including one on cycle helmets, with the publication of the project's final reports in autumn 2010.
Sustainable Distribution Fund
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much has been (a) made available to and (b) subsequently allocated to rail freight interchange projects through the Sustainable Distribution Fund in each year since its inception. [290632]
Chris Mole: The multi-modal Sustainable Distribution Fund (SDF) took effect from 1 April 2007. Although there have been a number of rail capital projects funded through SDF, the Department for Transport has not funded any rail freight interchange projects.
Freight Facilities Grants (FFGs) can help to fund the difference in cost between rail/water and road freight, but only where the environmental benefits can justify the support, there is a genuine financial need for grant and the provision of grant would not distort competition.
Competition in the rail freight intermodal business has been increasing with a number of terminal and freight hauliers now active in the market. As a result, in January 2008 the Department announced that it would no longer provide FFG funding for investment in intermodal terminals in the North West of England (Manchester, Liverpool and Widnes conurbations).
Traffic Penalty Tribunal
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how many parking cases the Traffic Penalty Tribunal adjudicated by (a) post, (b) email and (c) in person in the most recent year for which figures are available; [290703]
(2) how much on average it cost the Traffic Penalty Tribunal to adjudicate on a parking case (a) by post, (b) by email and (c) in person in 2008-09; [290705]
(3) what funding the Traffic Penalty Tribunal received from each of its funding streams in 2008-09. [290706]
Chris Mole: This information is not collected centrally by the Government. Details of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal's activities are recorded in its annual report which is available on its website,
Transport: Finance
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the £700 million in capital funding for transport, brought forward from 2010-11 to 2009-10 and 2008-09 on (a) motorway capacity, (b) numbers of new carriages on the rail network, (c) congestion relief and (d) railway overcrowding; and how much of the funding has been spent in each month since it was announced. [286653]
Paul Clark: £300 million is budgeted for advancing work on the national road network; for enabling works in advance of the Managed Motorway (hard shoulder running) schemes announced in January, and on advancing planned capital maintenance, e.g. safety improvements to the central reserve on the M1 between J32-35a. The planned roads programme adds 520 additional lane miles including 340 lane miles of hard shoulder running.
As well as the work on the national network, £100 million is budgeted to relieve congestion on the regional A46 Newark to Widmerpool scheme, by advancing construction (dualling) by two years. This is an important freight route and will support the Newark growth point.
£300 million was budgeted to advance the purchase of additional diesel railway carriages, scheduled as part of the High Level Output Specification (HLOS) agreement for increasing capacity and relieving overcrowding on the rail network (HLOS agreement from 2009 to 2014) that was set out in the July 2007 Rail White Paper. However, the £1.1 billion electrification of the Great Western Main Line to Swansea and the line between Liverpool and Manchester announced on 23 July 2009, means that there will be far less need for diesel trains and so the previously planned procurement has been superseded. A revised rolling stock strategy, taking into account the reduced need for diesel trains will be published in due course.
| Monthly expenditure (£ million) | |||||
| April | May | June | Total Q1 | Budget Q1 | |
| Note: Table totals subject to roundings. | |||||
Spending on national highway schemes is very close to budgeted expenditure at this point (98 per cent.). Delays on concluding negotiations for access have led to slower spend on the A46.
Furthermore, as announced in Building Britain's Future in June, the Department for Transport is contributing £350 million from the 2009-10 capital budget to the Government's housing fiscal stimulus initiative to deliver 20,000 additional energy efficient, affordable homes.
Home Department
Democratic Republic of Congo
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent meetings officials of his Department have had with officials of (a) HM Embassy Kinshasa and (b) officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo government at Kin Maziere officials. [289004]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 21 July 2009]: The UK Border Agency commissioned the British embassy in Kinshasa to investigate allegations that appeared in The Guardian newspaper on 28 May and this included visiting officials from Kin Maziere. The investigation found no evidence to substantiate the allegations of mistreatment, and found that the documentation in possession of The Guardian was not credible.
Drugs: Convictions
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of (a) possession of and (b) supplying Class (i) A, (ii) B and (iii) C drugs in each year since 1997; and how many such people received (A) a custodial sentence and (B) the maximum sentence for those offences. [286040]
Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
The number of defendants found guilty at all courts for the possession and supply of class A, B and C drugs, those sentenced to a custodial sentence and those receiving the maximum sentence, in England and Wales, from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
The statistics given relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. For example, when a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn 2009.
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