| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Oct 2009 : Column 370W—continued
Departmental Training
John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many external training courses were attended by staff of his Department in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each course. [289605]
Chris Mole: The following table lists the number of external training courses attended by staff in the Department for Transport (DfT) where information is available, however it has not been possible to provide costs for each course:
| Agency | Number of training courses | Total cost (£) |
| (1) Figure not available. | ||
This information is not held centrally by the Central DfT, Highways Agency, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and would incur disproportionate costs to obtain this.
Departmental Travel
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department spent on (a) train travel, (b) air travel and (c) restaurant meals for (i) Ministers and (ii) staff in his Department in each of the last five years. [290116]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport could provide this information only at disproportionate cost.
Travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil
Service Management Code respectively, and all spending on official entertainment is made in accordance with the principles set out in Managing Public Money.
The Cabinet Office publishes an annual list of overseas travel over £500 undertaken by Ministers. The 2008-09 list was published on 16 July and can be viewed at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety and ethics/ministers/travel_gifts.aspx
The Department for Transport will shortly be publishing details of expenses and hospitality received by senior officials on a quarterly basis.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Data Protection
Harry Cohen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent reports he has received of the use of data illegally obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on behalf of media organisations: and if he will make a statement. [289727]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has received no reports about the use of data illegally obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on behalf of media organisations.
eCall
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his policy is on the implementation of eCall in-car communication technology in (a) the UK and (b) the EU; what estimate his Department has made of the costs and benefits of implementation of this technology; and if he will make a statement. [291491]
Paul Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 March 2009, Official Report, column 1724W.
The European Commission is currently finalising a further study including a review of eCall deployment within UK. We will review the report when it is made available and consider our position as necessary in light of any new evidence or information.
Electric Vehicles
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans he has for the establishment of recharging points for electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles. [289336]
Mr. Khan: The Government have made available up to £30 million to support the roll out of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in a small number of lead cities and regions in the UK. This scheme, Plugged In Places, is due to be launched later this year. In addition, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Grant Scheme supports smaller proposals in the UK, with an overall budget of £1 million until the end of 2010.
In addition, a large number of people, who have off-street parking or garages, will be able to charge their electric vehicles at home and we expect a significant proportion of charging points to be installed by businesses and developers to supplement publicly supported infrastructure.
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many charging points for plug-in and electric and hybrid vehicles he expects to be in use in each year from 2010 to 2015. [289337]
Mr. Khan: A forecast has not been made, at this time, of the total number of recharging points likely to be in use between the years 2010 and 2015. A large number of people already have access to off-street parking or garages and will be able to charge their electric vehicles at home and we would expect a significant proportion of new charging points to be installed by businesses and developers during these years.
In addition, the Government are making available up to £30 million, through the Plugged in Places scheme, to support a small number of lead cities and regions roll out electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Bids for this funding are due to be received next year, so it is not yet possible to estimate how many charging points it will deliver. The smaller Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Grant Programme has delivered 72 charging points to date, with further rounds of funding in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Helicopters
Mr. Doran: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what consideration the Civil Aviation Authority gave to the approval in operational aircraft carriage terms of the use of wrist watch personal location beacons by passengers on helicopters serving the North Sea oil and gas industry (a) during the initial proof and concept trials carried out by BP and (b) subsequently. [289244]
Paul Clark: Wrist watch personal locator beacons, carried by passengers on helicopters flying in support of the exploration and production of oil and gas in the North sea, are non-approved equipment. There is no requirement in aviation legislation that requires the carriage of such equipment. The CAA gave due consideration to the potential safety implications of such carriage but has not approved any such carriage of electronic equipment.
In January 2009 the CAA held a meeting with helicopter operations and other stakeholders to discuss the concerns about the potential effects of inadvertent transmissions. These include radio interference on the emergency frequency, interference with aircraft systems, interference with other beacons, and the generation of false alarms. As a result the CAA established a Working Group to examine the issues in depth, and work by this group continues.
M25: Kent
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the potential levels of traffic which would be diverted from the A25 between Wrotham Heath and its junction with the A21 in the event that east-facing slip roads were constructed at Junction 5 on the M25. [290302]
Chris Mole:
In considering the possible impacts from the provision of east-facing slip roads at Junction 5 of the M25, the Highways Agency modelled the potential
changes to future traffic flows at Junction 5 of the M25, and on the surrounding road network using available data.
This assessment suggested that (with the east-facing slip roads in place) the traffic flows in 2015 on the A25 between the A21 and the A227 would increase eastbound by 6 per cent. and decrease westbound by 11 per cent. Traffic on the A25 between the A227 and Wrotham Heath would decrease by 8 per cent. eastbound and 15 per cent. westbound.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent consideration he has given to the construction of east-facing slip roads at junction 5 on the M25; what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the construction of such slip roads; and if he will make a statement. [290303]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport set out its investment programme for Highways Agency national roads until 2014 in Britain's Transport Infrastructure: Motorways and Trunk Roads (January 2009).
Proposals for improvements to Junction 5 of the M25 were not prioritised for implementation and were remitted to our longer-term transport planning process to establish the spending priorities for transport across modes after 2014.
As part of that process, we have assessed the scale of future challenges facing our national transport networks. This concluded that the challenges faced at Junction 5 of the M25 are not of a sufficiently high strategic national priority to be considered further in the current study work to 2014.
The provisional estimated cost of construction of east facing slip roads at M25 junction 5, based on the design developed in 2004, is £77 million (at 2008 prices). However, in the absence of further detailed engineering assessments of the proposal, this cost estimate should be treated as indicative only.
Manchester-Liverpool Railway Line
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what information his Department holds on the number of trains which operate on the Manchester to Liverpool railway line each week; [291453]
(2) what information his Department holds on the number of passengers who use the Manchester to Liverpool railway line; [291454]
(3) what information his Department holds on the number of (a) passengers who use and (b) trains which operate on the Preston to Manchester railway line each week. [291456]
Chris Mole: The number of trains which operate between Manchester and Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows are shown in the following table.
| Manchester-Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows | |
| Number | |
The number of trains which operate between Preston and Manchester each day are shown in the following table.
| Preston to Manchester | |
| Number | |
Only a minority of these services begin at Preston; most commence or terminate at variety of stations in Lancashire and Cumbria off the electrified network.
More detailed information can be found on-line using the National Rail website, or by consulting timetables on the Network Rail website, at the following links:
Table 90 (Manchester to Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows):
Table 82 (Preston to Manchester):
While the Department for Transport is able to access data from train operating companies on passenger numbers, such information is provided to us in commercial confidence.
Following electrification of the Chat Moss line between Manchester and Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows by 2013, all Manchester-Scotland services will be converted to electric train operation. Instead of running on the unelectrified route via Bolton and Preston, as they do at present, this will mean that nine trains per weekday will run west from Manchester on the newly-electrified Chat Moss route and connect with the electrified West Coast Main Line at Newton-le-Willows.
It is also anticipated, following Chat Moss electrification, that the number of Manchester-Liverpool services operating via this route will be increased, without reducing the number of trains running between Manchester and Liverpool via Warrington Central.
Electrification of the Chat Moss line will secure synergies with other planned upgrades, including infrastructure improvements which will raise the maximum line speed from 75 mph to 90 mph and thereby cut the Manchester-Liverpool journey time from 44 minutes to a target of 30 minutes.
Manchester-Preston Railway Line
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent representations his Department has received on the electrification of the Preston to Manchester railway line; and if he will make a statement. [291455]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has received two representations on electrification of the Preston to Manchester railway line. The Government are looking intensively at the costs and benefits of further electrification, including on this line.
Motor Vehicles: Carbon Emissions
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many miles less polluting heavy goods vehicles and Euro emissions standards (a) 0, (b) I, (c) II, (d) III, (e) IV and (f) V vehicles travelled in the UK in 2008. [290301]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport does not hold these data. However, we have the following estimates on the proportion of the heavy goods vehicle fleet that met each Euro Standard in 2008. This was provided as part of a research project conducted by Transport Research Laboratory for the Department, to provide updated input to UK air quality emissions inventory modelling:
| Percentage of the fleet at each Euro Standard (2008) | ||||||
| Percentage | ||||||
| Pre Euro | Euro I | Euro II | Euro III | Euro IV | Euro V | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |