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10 Nov 2009 : Column 201W—continued
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Databases
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has produced a privacy impact assessment in relation to any of its databases or data held within them. [299392]
Paul Clark: In the period from December 2008 to November 2009 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has conducted Privacy Impact Assessments on the following areas:
Certificate of Professional Competence Release 2
WebLogic 7Up interface project
EU 3(rd) Directive
DVLA Accuracy Surveys
Continuous Insurance Enforcement 2
C02 European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval.
Northern Ireland Vehicle Information System
Payment Card Data Security
Transport for London: Change of supplier to Congestion Charge service.
Driving Tests: Motorcycles
Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many Driving Standards Agency occasional-use test centres offer module two of the new two-part motorcycle test; and how many such tests have been (a) requested and (b) conducted at each centre since the revised arrangements came into effect in April 2009. [298559]
Paul Clark: The Driving Standards Agency offers Module 2 motorcycle tests at 33 occasional-use centres. The number of Module 2 motorcycle tests booked and conducted at those centres, for the period 27 April to 5 November 2009, is shown in the following table.
| Test centre | Module 2 tests booked | Module 2 tests conducted |
Fisheries: Accidents
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many fishermen have died on (a) under 10 and (b) over 10 metre fishing vessels in UK waters since 1997. [298994]
Paul Clark: Between 1 January 1997 to 6 November 2009 the following numbers of fatalities to fishing vessel crew in UK 12 mile territorial waters have been reported to Marine Accident Investigation Branch:
(a) under 10 metres registered length: 51
(b) 10 metres registered length or more: 69
Government Departments: Official Cars
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the Government Car and Despatch Agency of the implementation of new working time regulations. [298778]
Paul Clark [holding answer 9 November 2009]: The implementation costs to the Government Car Agency of introducing new working practices to meet its obligations under the working time regulations 1998 are estimated to be £161,000.
The new working practices 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 ministerial driving outside of standard hours is met, on demand, by the Government Car and Despatch Agency's low carbon taxi service. This is a better deal for tax payers than the previous arrangements.
M42: Cameras
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many fixed cameras are in use on the M42 motorway; for what purposes such cameras are used; and for what reason this number of cameras is deemed necessary. [298249]
Chris Mole [holding answer 9 November 2009]: There are 303 permanent cameras installed on the M42. These are broken down as follows:
47 'pan and tilt' cameras-these are used by the Highways Agency's Regional Control Centre (RCC) for general monitoring of the traffic flows and incidents on the motorway;
192 fixed cameras installed on gantries throughout the 'Managed Motorway' section between Junctions 3a and 7. These are used by the RCC for safety purposes to monitor traffic flows within the Managed Motorway section, which includes hard shoulder running and use of the Emergency Refuge Areas; and
64 fixed safety cameras used by the police to monitor compliance with speed limits within the Managed Motorway section.
The section of M42 between Junctions 3a and 7 was used as a pilot for the Managed Motorways programme and the number of cameras installed reflects the need to carefully monitor performance for the collation of data to inform future similar schemes.
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many incidents the Marine Accident Investigation Branch has investigated since 1997. [298992]
Paul Clark: From 1 January 1997 to 6 November 2009 the Marine Accident Investigation Branch has completed 419 full investigations and a further 259 preliminary examinations.
Official Cars
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2008, Official Report, column 212W, which (a) Ministers and (b) senior civil servants are allocated use of a car with a driver at public expense, according to records held by the Government Car and Despatch Agency. [299323]
Paul Clark: The Ministerial Code sets out who is entitled to use an official car provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.
Palm Oil
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department was represented at the most recent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil meeting; and if he will make a statement. [298527]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport is not a member of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO annual meeting (2 to 4 November) was attended by a Government official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posted to the south east Asia region. FCO officials work closely with counterparts in the UK to represent wider government interests and to keep policy makers informed of relevant developments abroad. The UK Government are also working with other countries through the Global Bioenergy Partnership and bilaterally to develop global voluntary sustainability criteria and indicators for all biofuels.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he last discussed the use of sustainable palm oil with (a) Ministerial colleagues, (b) representatives of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, (c) representatives of the palm oil industry, (d) representatives of environmental non-governmental organisations and (e) officials of other Government departments; and if he will make a statement. [298528]
Mr. Khan: Sustainable biofuels were discussed at a ministerial level during the negotiations on the renewable energy directive (RED) and this engagement will continue as the UK develops proposals to implement the directive.
Officials across Government also meet regularly to discuss all biofuels, and the Department for Transport continues to engage with a wide variety of stakeholders from industry and NGOs to discuss sustainability issues.
The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) (a NDPB), which is the administrator of the renewable transport fuels obligations, has met with UK based suppliers of biofuel to encourage the sourcing of certified sustainable palm and have attended palm oil events in Kuala Lumpur this year. The RFA is preparing a short report on the use of palm oil as a biodiesel feedstock as part of their annual report to Parliament in January.
Railways: France
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will make representations to the European Commission on the policy of the French government in offering an exclusive contract to operate the Paris Metro to a state-owned monopoly; and if he will make a statement. [298558]
Mr. Khan [holding answer 9 November 2009]: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, included in his answer to the same question on 2 November 2009, Official Report, columns 793-4W, that representations on transport policy are the responsibility of the Department for Transport. The Department makes frequent representations to the European Commission, and to our fellow EU member states, about the importance of implementing truly liberalised and competitive transport operations across all modes of transport.
The Department pursues with the European Commission specific representations about non-compliance with EU competition law where we consider there are proper grounds for doing so. The Department has not to date made representations specifically relating to the operation of the Paris Metro.
Railways: Franchises
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2009, Official Report, column 1103W on railways; franchises, which franchise operator received a payment from his Department in October 2006; and how much that payment was. [299344]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not publish details on compensation payments made to individual train operating companies for net losses arising from industrial action on the grounds of commercial confidentiality.
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