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28 Oct 2009 : Column 366W—continued
Further information is available on VOSA's Effectiveness report which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of Commission Directive 2009/113/EC on the eligibility criteria for a UK driving licence; and if he will make a statement. [296041]
Paul Clark:
This Directive provides minimum standards of physical and mental fitness for driving. We are considering what differences there are between the Directive and the standards currently applied in the UK and what legislative changes will be required to accommodate at least the revised minimum standards. In conjunction with the medical experts on the Secretary of State for Transport's Honorary Advisory Panels, we are considering what to do in those cases where the revised standards
are lower than those currently applied in the UK. In these cases we must determine whether the stricter standards should remain in force, in the interests of road safety. Once the experts provide their advice we intend to issue a public consultation.
Lorries: Accidents
Norman Baker:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many personal injury collisions involved (a) left and (b) right hand drive
heavy goods vehicles in each year since 1997; and in how many in each category vehicle blind spot was found to be a contributory factor. [295008]
Paul Clark: Information concerning the steering position of vehicles in reported personal injury road accidents is only available for foreign registered vehicles. Data in reported road accidents are only available since 2005. The available information requested is given in the table:
| Reported personal injury road accidents involving HGVs, by steering position, and whether vehicle blind spot was attributed as a contributory factor( 1) , Great Britain, 2005-08 | ||||||||
| Foreign registered HGVs | UK( 2 ) registered HGVs | Total HGVs | ||||||
| Left hand drive | Right hand drive | |||||||
| Total accidents | Vehicle blind spot | Total accidents | Vehicle blind spot | Total accidents | Vehicle blind spot | Total accidents | Vehicle blind spot | |
| (1) Includes only accidents where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. (2) Left or right hand side drive is not recorded for UK registered vehicles. | ||||||||
Lorries: Agriculture
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his policy is on the requirement of registration as heavy goods vehicles of agricultural motor vehicles other than agricultural and forestry tractors regardless of weight for use on public roads. [295063]
Paul Clark: Vehicle registration and licensing is determined by a vehicle's construction and how it is used on the public road. In addition to agricultural and forestry tractors, light agricultural vehicles and agricultural engines also fall outside the heavy goods vehicle class.
Lorries: Costs
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the annual cost of maintaining the road network arising from its use by lorries weighing more than 44 tonnes; and if he will make a statement. [292963]
Chris Mole [holding answer 14 October 2009]: In order to be better informed about the likely consequences of allowing longer and/or heavier goods vehicles on the English road network, the Department for Transport commissioned a study which reported in 2008. The report of this study: "Longer and/or Longer and Heavier Goods Vehicles (LHVs) - A study of the likely effects if permitted in the UK" (reference: TRL Report PPR 285), concluded that allowing longer and/or heavier vehicles onto the network could lead to an increase in CO2 emissions. The report also concluded that there would be a limited impact on the structural performance of pavements and bridges but did not cover the specific issue of the likely effect on the annual cost of maintaining the road network.
Lorries: Safety
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of his Department's trial of Fresnel window lenses for improving heavy goods vehicles sightlines. [295011]
Paul Clark: A copy of the report on Fresnel window lenses for improving heavy goods vehicles sightlines has been placed in the Libraries of the House. A copy is also available on the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency's website:
Railways: East Midlands
Graham Stringer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans he has to improve the East Midlands peak time train service between Manchester and (a) Merseyside and (b) South Yorkshire. [295582]
Chris Mole [holding answer 26 October 2009]: On 23 July the Government announced a major £1.1 billion programme of rail electrification, including the electrification by 2013 of the line between Liverpool and Manchester via Newton-le-Willows.
Electrification of the Liverpool-Manchester route via Newton-le-Willows will enable the operation of high-capacity four-carriage electric trains transferred from the cross-London Thameslink route. These trains will be completely modernised before they are transferred, including the installation of air-conditioning.
This additional capacity on the Liverpool-Manchester line running via Newton-le-Willows will relieve pressure on the other Liverpool-Manchester line running via Warrington.
The diesel trains currently operating on the Liverpool-Manchester line via Newton-le-Willows will be transferred onto other routes, delivering much needed additional capacity.
In the meantime, the Department for Transport is in discussion with train operating companies about delivering additional capacity. This includes discussions with Northern Rail about a first phase of additional rolling stock. The Government will publish an updated rolling stock plan taking account of electrification and setting out a revised strategy this autumn.
International Development
Afghan Aid
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has allocated to the organisation Afghan Aid in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [295350]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not allocated any funds directly to Afghan Aid in the last five years.
Between 2003 and 2009, DFID provided £430,000 to the British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG), of which Afghan Aid is a member.
Afghanistan
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many members of his Department are based at Kandahar air base; and what their function is. [295176]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) no longer publicises staff numbers for country offices, following an assessment of DFID's work in insecure environments by the National Audit Office in October 2008, and a range of improvements to our security policies and procedures.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials of his Department are based in each district of Helmand province. [295179]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) no longer publicises staff numbers for country offices, following an assessment of DFID's work in insecure environments by the National Audit Office in October 2008, and a range of improvements to our security policies and procedures.
Afghanistan: Overseas Aid
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has budgeted for aid to Afghanistan in 2009-10; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's provision of aid to Afghanistan in the last 12 months against its objectives. [294773]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has budgeted £127.5 million for Afghanistan in 2009-10. This forms part of a £510 million commitment for 2009-13.
DFID's latest Afghanistan Country Programme Evaluation was published in May 2009 and is available on the DFID website:
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received on the delivery of the Government's humanitarian aid to Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [295426]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) is in regular consultation with development agencies, donors and others on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. These include the Government of Afghanistan, the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN World Food Programme (UN-WFP) and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA).
DFID monitors closely the effectiveness of the delivery of humanitarian aid through assessments made by agencies who deliver aid on the ground such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UN-WFP.
Afghanistan: Schools
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many schools in Helmand province are (a) open and (b) in operation. [295178]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: 93 Government-funded schools are both open and operational in Helmand province, compared to 34 in 2006. School enrolment in Helmand has risen from 50,000 in 2006 to 64,500 today.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to implement the efficiency recommendations of the Operational Efficiency programme relating to his Department; and what training is available to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department in respect of the delivery of value for money savings. [296057]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to implementing the recommendations of the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP). DFID is currently exploring savings across the full range of back office functions identified in OEP. We are engaging actively in the OEP benchmarking exercise and I have been appointed Value for Money Minister.
There are a wide range of learning and development opportunities available in DFID, many of which are focused on driving VFM.
Ethiopia: Human Rights
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent assessment is of the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia. [296279]
Mr. Thomas: A humanitarian assessment carried out by the Government of Ethiopia and international partners released last week indicated that 6.2 million people in Ethiopia will need emergency assistance until the end of the year.
The prospects for 2010 are also a cause for serious concern. An assessment of the November harvest will provide a clearer picture of likely future humanitarian needs. If this harvest does fail, a significant scaling-up of efforts by the Government of Ethiopia and the international community will be needed to prevent the current crisis becoming a catastrophe in 2010. DFID has contributed £54 million to the humanitarian response in Ethiopia in 2009 and will continue to closely monitor the situation with regard to future support.
I also refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement on Ethiopia made on 19 October 2009, Official Report; column 47WS.
India: Tuberculosis
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of his Department's support for the national tuberculosis programme in India. [295000]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID) support to India's National Tuberculosis Control Programme has been highly effective. The programme has averted an estimated 180,000 deaths a year since 2005. That is around 500 lives saved in India every day. DFID's support has helped put 1.5 million TB patients on treatment every year in India.
Our support has ensured that India has faced no drug shortage, despite having the most rapidly expanding TB programme in the world. By March 2006 the programme had been scaled up to cover the entire country. Since 1997 the success rate for TB treatment has tripled from 25 per cent. to 86 per cent. and TB deaths rates have been cut seven-fold from 29 per cent. to 4 per cent.
International Assistance: Tuberculosis
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of his Department's contribution towards global and regional progress on Millennium Development Goal 6 in relation to tuberculosis. [294999]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) contributes to the Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis (TB) 2006-15, which aims to save 14 million lives, with substantial support through country programmes, multilateral organisations, global partnerships and research. Examples include the following:
Commitment of £1 billion to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) for 2008-15. The GFATM estimates that it has supported the additional detection in and treatment of 5.4 million people with TB.
A 20-year commitment of up to €60 million per year by 2010 to UNITAID, which by 2011 is aiming to triple access to rapid tests for multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB and reduce the price MDR-TB medicines-by 25 per cent.
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