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26 Oct 2009 : Column 10W—continued
Motorcycles: Driving Tests
Mr. Cox: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate numbers of motorcycle practical test centres are available to those living in rural areas in the South West. [294591]
Paul Clark: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) plans to offer the off-road practical motorcycling test from five Multi-Purpose Test Centres (MPTCs) in the south west: in Redruth, Taunton, Plymouth, Exeter, and Bristol. MPTCs are already fully operational in three of these areas, at Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol and DSA is in negotiation with private developers and local planning authorities regarding the provision at Taunton and Redruth.
In the meantime temporary Module 1 facilities have been provided at existing Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) test stations in Camborne and Taunton. The operational requirements of VOSA and the need to avoid any conflict between motorcycle candidates and lorries mean that these two facilities are open for Module 1 testing only at weekends.
Damage to the tarmac at the VOSA site in Taunton has resulted in the temporary suspension of Module 1 testing there but we expect that testing will resume in mid-November 2009.
DSA offers the practical on-road part of the motorcycling test from eight driving test centres in addition to the three operational MPTCs. These are at Barnstaple, Bodmin, Camborne, Launceston, Penzance, Taunton, Yeovil and Weston-Super-Mare.
Official Cars: Working Hours
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the operation of the European Working Time Directive on the Government Car Service; and if he will make a statement. [294268]
Paul Clark: Changes to the Government Car Service which came into effect on 12 October 2009, will reduce the cost to the taxpayer. Under the new system, drivers work a single daily shift of 10 hours. Ministers continue to have one dedicated driver (apart from those in the high security category), but any out-of-hours ministerial driving is met, on demand, by the Government Car and Despatch Agency's low carbon taxi service. This is a better deal for taxpayers than the previous arrangements.
Railways: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what funding is available for Bournemouth borough council to apply for in order to develop a light railway system. [295168]
Mr. Khan: If Bournemouth borough council decided to promote a light rail scheme, it would need to obtain the South West region's agreement to prioritise the scheme for funding within its Regional Funding Allocation.
If the Region decided to prioritise the proposed scheme for funding then the council would then need to submit, at the appropriate time, a detailed Major Scheme
Business Case for the proposed scheme, in line with current guidance, for consideration and assessment by the Department for Transport.
Alternatively, the council could seek funding from its own or through third party sources.
Roads: Accidents
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to the economy of (a) road traffic accidents, (b) road traffic accidents resulting in a casualty and (c) road traffic accidents resulting in a fatality in the last five years. [293685]
Paul Clark: The latest figures on the annual value of prevention of (a) road traffic accidents, (b) road traffic accidents resulting in a casualty and (c) road traffic accidents resulting in a fatality are published in Reported Road Casualties Great Britain (RRCGB): 2008 Annual Report on page 28, Table 2c. Copies of the Report have been deposited in the House Library and are also available at:
Annual cost figures for previous years are available in Road Casualties Great Britain (RCGB) annual reports for the corresponding years, available from the same sources.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many road traffic collisions involved vehicles diverted on rural A-roads as a result of motorway closures in the latest period for which figures are available. [294713]
Chris Mole: The information requested is not held by the Department for Transport. The responsibility for rural A roads lies with the relevant local authorities.
Roads: Freight
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what his policy is on the use of road haulage in place of rail haulage for movement of bulk materials for rail infrastructure works; [294746]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of the environmental impact of (a) road and (b) rail haulage for movement of bulk materials for rail infrastructure works; [294747]
(3) what discussions his Department has had with Network Rail on the merits of (a) road and (b) rail haulage for movement of bulk materials for rail infrastructure works. [294748]
Chris Mole: The movement of bulk materials for rail infrastructure works is an operational matter for Network Rail.
Rolling Stock: Procurement
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many new diesel trains the Secretary of State intends to procure; and when the (a) first and (b) last of these orders are likely to be (i) placed and (ii) delivered. [295252]
Chris Mole: On 23 July the Government announced the electrification of the Great Western Main Line between London and Swansea, and the line between Liverpool and Manchester via Newton-le-Willows.
This electrification programme radically affects the requirements for rolling stock over the next decade. As a result, the previously planned procurement by the Department for Transport of new diesel multiple units has been superseded. We will publish an updated rolling stock plan, taking account of these changes, in the autumn.
As part of the Intercity Express Programme, the Department is procuring new electric and bi-mode (electric and diesel) Super Express Trains to operate services on the East Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line. Bi-mode trains utilise the electric wires where available and continue beyond the wires using the diesel engine. An announcement on the placing of orders for Super Express Trains will be made in due course.
Transport: Horses
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will seek to exempt recreational drivers of horse transporters of greater than 7.5 tonnes gross weight from the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 561/2006; and if he will make a statement. [295316]
Paul Clark: Exemptions beyond those already set out in Regulation (EC) 561/2006 may only be granted in "exceptional circumstances". We therefore see little prospect of the European Commission agreeing to a UK request to exempt recreational drivers of horseboxes over 7.5 tonnes.
It should still be possible for those in full-time employment who drive large horseboxes recreationally to schedule a reduced weekly rest period of 24 hours immediately before the equestrian event in question, or in between driving to and from the event (i.e. at the event itself) without the need for a derogation.
Solicitor-General
Crown Prosecution Service: Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General what assessment the Attorney-General's Office has made of the effectiveness of the merger of the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. [295043]
The Solicitor-General: As part of creating a new public prosecution service, the merger is progressing to schedule and by the summer of 2010 the two organisations will be fully integrated. The Attorney-General's Office is very closely involved in the governance arrangements for the merger. A recent Office of Government Commerce Gateway Review found that the merger is:
"being conducted to a very high standard, that delivery to date has been strong and the likelihood of the merger programme delivering successfully is very high."
Crown Prosecution Service: Temporary Employment
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Solicitor-General how many agency staff were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last five years; and in what capacity they were employed. [293615]
The Solicitor-General: The information requested is not recorded centrally by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). It could be obtained only by the extraction of every contract for each temporary member of staff employed over the last five years, and would incur disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, part 2, clause 9). Agency staff are employed in a variety of roles including administration, casework and other support roles to cover for staff absences and peaks in workload.
Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans the Government have for developing the role of the community prosecutor referred to in Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice. [295044]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is testing the Community Prosecutor approach over a 12-month period from June 2009 in 49 pathfinder locations. The approach will be evaluated during the testing period, with plans for national roll-out to be developed thereafter.
The development of a Community Prosecutor approach is a major new initiative for the CPS, one which brings together work which is already happening in many CPS areas, together with new ideas about how modern prosecutors should engage with communities. The initiative will allow the CPS to work together with the police and our other partners to make communities safer and raise public confidence in the services we provide.
The pathfinder locations are testing three strands to the Community Prosecutor approach, which are:
enabling prosecutors to make more 'community-aware casework decisions;
greater CPS involvement in 'problem-solving' of local crime and disorder priorities; and
increased CPS visibility to communities and other agencies responding to local crime and disorder concerns.
The Community Prosecutor approach is one of the proposals contained in the 'Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice' Green Paper launched on 29 April 2009.
Equality
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will consider the recommendations of the report by the Fawcett Society, Corporate Sexism-the sex industry's infiltration of the modern workplace. [295172]
The Solicitor-General: The Government are committed to ensuring that all workplaces are free from discrimination. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 provides protection from sex discrimination and harassment across a range of areas, including in employment. The Equality Bill currently going through Parliament will strengthen and simplify existing equality law.
I was very interested to learn about the findings in the Fawcett Society's recent report, "Corporate Sexism-the Sex Industry's Infiltration of the Modern Workplace." Research like the Fawcett report illustrate that although we have made significant progress in tackling inequality in the workplace, there is still more work to be done.
Following the report's launch, the Minister for Women and Equality wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer raising the issue of tax relief on discrete receipts from lap-dancing establishments.
Through the Policing and Crime Bill, currently before Parliament, we will give greater powers to local authorities and local communities to control the opening and regulation of lap-dancing clubs. This means lap-dancing clubs will no longer be licensed under the Licensing Act 2003 but will be licensed as 'sex establishments'.
The Government will continue to work with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), as well as with employers, to ensure enforcement of the Sex Discrimination Act and to promote equality in the workplace.
Euthanasia
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General what the process will be for implementation of the Director of Public Prosecutions' policy on assisted suicide after the conclusion and the public consultation on the interim policy. [295045]
The Solicitor-General: The public consultation on the CPS interim policy on cases of assisted suicide will close on 16 December 2009. Thereafter the Director and his team will carefully consider all of the responses received to assess whether the policy should be amended, and if so how. The Director then intends to publish a summary of the responses received and issue the finalized policy by 10 March 2010.
Homophobia: Prosecutions
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions have been brought for the offence of hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation under Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986 as amended by Schedule 16 to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008; and how many convictions have resulted. [295852]
The Solicitor-General: No prosecutions for this offence have yet been brought as the offence is not yet in force. The Government intend to bring it into force as soon as possible.
Rape: Victim Support Schemes
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Government is taking to (a) increase rates of the prosecution of rape and (b) support victims of rape. [295046]
The Solicitor-General: There has been significant progress in tackling rape, for example, reports of rape have more than doubled between 1997 and 2007. However, conviction rates remain low.
To address this, the Government have announced the immediate setting up of a review, led by Baroness Stern, to identify how the handling of rape complaints and conviction rates can be improved. As well as examining the response of the public authorities to reports of rape and exploring ways in which the attrition rate can be reduced, the review will also consider how to improve victim satisfaction. It will be assisted by the valuable work on victims' experience being led by Sara Payne, the Victims' Champion.
A separate Government initiative to improve support for victims will increase the number of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC) to ensure that there is at least one in every police force area.
To drive up the quality of police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) performance in handling reports of rape, a team with members drawn from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the CPS is visiting police forces and CPS areas, sharing good practice and promoting increased effectiveness and a consistent approach.
Religious Hatred: Prosecutions
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions have been brought for the offence of incitement to religious hatred under Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986 as amended by the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006; and how many convictions have resulted. [295749]
The Solicitor-General: To date one prosecution has been brought but has not concluded: a person has been charged and a trial date has yet to be fixed.
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