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12 Nov 2009 : Column 625W—continued
Transport
Automatic Train Protection
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of the rail network was covered by the train protection and warning system in each of the last 10 years. [299883]
Chris Mole: The Train Protection and Warning System is fitted at around 40 per cent. of signals on the network and at a range of other locations where fitment is required by the Railway Safety Regulations 1999.
The Rail Safety and Standards Board estimates that, as a consequence largely of the fitment of the Train Protection and Warning System, the risks from signals passed at danger on the mainline rail network has reduced by more than 88 per cent. since the March 2001 benchmark level.
Bicycles: Accidents
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the adequacy of legal protection for cyclists in the event of an accident. [299859]
Paul Clark: There have been no recent discussions with ministerial colleagues on the adequacy of the provision of legal protection for cyclists in the event of an accident.
Bus Services: Concessions
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his estimate is of the level of take-up of the Freedom Pass in Islington; and what estimate he has made of the cost of the pass to (i) Islington Borough Council, (ii) London-wide funding bodies and (iii) his Department in each of the last three years. [299804]
Mr. Khan: London freedom passes are administered by London Councils. The Department for Transport does not hold figures for the number of freedom passes issued by individual London boroughs. However, as part of a planned reissue, London Councils reported to the Department that as of April 2009, an estimated 1.188 million concessionary passes were in circulation in London.
(i) Islington borough council's budgeted spend on concessionary travel, as reported to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) was £5.2 million for 2006-07, £5.5 million for 2007-08 and £5.8 million for 2008-09.
(ii) The total reported concessionary travel spending of all London boroughs was £203 million in 2006-07; £222 million in 2007-08 and the budgeted spend for 2008-09 was £220 million. In addition, London Councils reported in the minutes of their Transport and Environment Committee meeting of 11 December that the additional costs of the national bus concession were forecast to be £5.1 million in 2008-09.
Before April 2008, funding for the mandatory bus concession was provided exclusively through the formula grant system administered by CLG. Formula grant is an
unhypothecated block grant, that is, recipient local authorities may use it on any service they wish, providing statutory duties are met. This freedom means that CLG are not able to calculate how much grant has been provided for any particular service (such as concessionary travel).
(iii) In 2008-09, the Department for Transport provided an extra £212 million to fund the extension of the concessionary travel scheme to cover England-wide travel, of which, £55.4 million was provided to London Councils. London Councils reported in the minutes of their Transport and Environment Committee meeting of 11 December that the additional costs of the national bus concession were forecast to be £5.1 million in 2008-09.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the cost to (a) his Department and (b) London local authorities of the Freedom Pass in each of the last three years. [299816]
Mr. Khan: The freedom pass scheme is the name of the concessionary travel scheme that is operated in London. It incorporates the England-wide bus concession that was introduced in 2008.
Before April 2008, funding for the mandatory bus concession was provided exclusively through the formula grant system administered by CLG. Formula grant is an unhypothecated block grant, that is, recipient local authorities may use it on any service they wish, providing statutory duties are met. This freedom means that CLG are not able to calculate how much grant has been provided for any particular service (such as concessionary travel).
In 2008-09, the Department for Transport provided an extra £212 million to fund the extension of the concessionary travel scheme to cover England-wide travel, of which, £55.4 million was provided to London Councils. London Councils reported in the minutes of their Transport and Environment Committee meeting of 11 December that the additional costs of the national bus concession were forecast to be £5.1 million in 2008-09.
The total reported concessionary travel spending of all London boroughs was £203 million in 2006-07, £222 million in 2007-08 and the budgeted spend for 2008-09 was £220 million.
Bus Services: Rural Areas
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has spent on local bus services in rural communities in each of the last 10 years. [299879]
Mr. Khan: The Government provide funding through the rural bus subsidy grant, the rural bus challenge scheme and the kickstart funding scheme to help local authorities support rural bus services in England.
Rural and urban bus services in England are also supported by the Department's bus service operators grant (BSOG-worth over £420 million a year) which is paid to operators of local bus services.
The Government allocate integrated transport (IT) block to local transport authorities in England for capital investment in transport projects, as well as providing grants for major public transport capital projects. These
funding sources could be used to support local bus services in rural areas, though as IT block funding is not ring-fenced, local authorities are free to spend their allocations in line with their priorities.
Rural bus services are also supported by local authorities' revenue support grant (RSG) funding. It is for local authorities to decide what bus services to support in their area according to local needs and priorities.
The following table shows the amounts paid over the last 10 years to rural local authorities in England through the rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG), rural bus challenge (RBC) and kickstart schemes in rural areas, and to all English authorities through the IT block allocation.
| £ million | ||||
| Rural bus subsidy grant | Rural bus challenge | Kickstart scheme (rural areas) | IT block allocation | |
Carbon Emissions: EC Action
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed European legislation which would enforce a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of light commercial vehicles to 175g/km phased in from 2014 to 2016 with a long-term target of 135g/km by 2020. [299776]
Mr. Khan: The European Commission's draft regulation to set binding van CO2 targets on manufacturers was published on 29 October, along with an Impact Assessment. We strongly welcome the principle of a regulation in this area, and are currently considering the details of the Commission's proposal. We will be consulting stakeholders shortly on its likely impacts.
Departmental Pay
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many civil servants his Department employs; how much his Department spent on (a) salaries, (b) allowances, (c) national insurance and (d) pension contributions in relation to civil servants in 2008-09; how much he expects his Department to spend in each category in 2009-10; how many of his Department's civil servants earn more than (i) £66,000 and (ii) £175,000 per annum; how many receive a London weighting; and what the cost to his Department of such weighting was in 2008-09. [299678]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008-09 identifies the number of civil servants (p. 228) in the Department in 2008-09, as well as, planned headcount for the next two financial years.
Total paybill expenditure (p. 227) in 2008-09 is also available but we cannot provide expenditure broken into the requested categories of (a) salaries, (b) allowances, (c) national insurance and (d) pension contributions. Such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Planned expenditure for 2009-10 is unavailable.
For Department for Transport civil servants who earn more than (i) £66,000 and (ii) £175,000 per annum, I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 11 February 2009, Official Report, column 2013W, and to the answer of 9 December 2008, Official Report, column 33W.
The information requested on London Weightings can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of procurement contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies awarded to small businesses in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08, (iii) 2008-09 and (iv) 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [293237]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold the information centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Where the information is available it has been set out in the following table:
| Table 1. Percentage of contracts awarded to small businesses of 50 or less employees | ||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
| (1) DFTC-figures only include contracts let by the central procurement team and excludes local or low value procurement activity. (2) The Government Car and Despatch Agency figure for 2009-10 has been excluded as there have been no contracts awarded during this period. | ||||
Departmental Public Expenditure
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 222 of his Department's Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008-09, under what budget headings the £247 million capital budget for central administration for 2009-10 will be spent. [299931]
Chris Mole: The Department's Capital DEL budget for Central Administration includes the items shown in the following table.
| 2009-10 plans | £ million |
Departments are encouraged not to allocate their DELs fully against their programmes at the start of a financial year but to hold some provision back to deal with unforeseen pressures. These amounts are then allocated to manage pressures as the year progresses.
Departmental Statistics
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what proportion of the statistical datasets collected by his Department are published. [299663]
Chris Mole: As a matter of course, the Department for Transport publishes information from all of its datasets which meet the definition of 'official statistics' set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The statistics are published in accordance with the requirements set out in the "Code of Practice for Official Statistics" and the "National Statistician's Guidance on the Presentation and Publication of Official Statistics".
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