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30 Nov 2009 : Column 404W—continued
Aviation: Costs
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the real terms cost of travelling by air was in each year since 1997, taking 1997 as the baseline. [301289]
Paul Clark: The following table shows the average UK one-way air fare, including taxes and charges, covering domestic and international flights:
| Average UK one-way airfare, 1997 prices | |
| £ | |
| Notes: 1. 'Fare' includes all taxes and charges. 2. Covers domestic and international scheduled flights, but excludes transfer and charter passengers. 3. Improved domestic dataset based on a sample of routes in Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) passenger interview surveys used, domestic fares exclude Channel Islands. Source: Department for Transport analysis of CAA and IPS data. | |
Christmas
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many Christmas parties his Department plans to host in 2009; what has been budgeted for each such reception; what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) lamb, (b) beef, (c) chicken, (d) pork, (e) turkey, (f) other meats, (g) vegetables, (h) fruit and (i) alcohol to be served at each such function which is produced in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [300866]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not have plans to host any Christmas parties in 2009. Staff may organise their own internal social events to celebrate Christmas but these would be funded by the staff members themselves. It is not considered appropriate to use public money to fund such events.
As such, the Department does not record the provenance of any food or drink served at Christmas parties.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what efficiency savings projects (a) his Department and (b) its agencies put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [300941]
Chris Mole: Specific departmental targets for the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) have not been set for the current spending review period.
However, the Department for Transport is fully committed to operational efficiency, and to improving both our efficiency and effectiveness in the provision and purchasing of back-office services and associated assets. We have undertaken a high-level review of our scope for business improvement, and have embarked upon change and improvement work programmes particularly focused on finance, human resources and procurement. Each of these programmes is co-ordinated and overseen centrally by a new board sub-committee, the Business Process Programme Board.
These work programmes will leave us well placed to contribute to the savings anticipated for the next spending review period in the OEP report, published alongside the Budget in April 2009.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many (a) page hits and (b) visitors his Department's website received in 2008-09. [301855]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport website (www.dft.gov.uk) received 19,894,211 page impressions from 3,478,952 unique visitors in the financial year 2008-09.
Driving Offences: Insurance
Chloe Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many road incidents where one or more drivers did not have insurance took place in Norwich North constituency in the last 10 years. [301702]
Paul Clark: No information is held on uninsured driving on a constituency basis.
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which a system of graduated driver licences fulfils the four tests set out in his Department's October 2008 consultation, Learning to Drive. [302514]
Paul Clark: An assessment of graduated licensing was undertaken as part of the development of our "Learning to Drive" consultation paper. This concluded that the introduction of graduated licensing restrictions here would bring extensive social and economic costs, and highly uncertain benefits.
There were almost 7,000 responses to the consultation showing a general support for our view that an approach based on education and incentives, through better training and testing, is the best way to improve the safety of newly-qualified drivers.
We continue to monitor any emerging evidence relating to increased regulation and post-test restrictions, including evidence from other countries.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the conclusion in October 2008 of his Department's consultation, Learning to Drive, what consideration he has given to the potential effect on the number of deaths of young drivers of the introduction of a system of graduated driver licences. [302521]
Paul Clark: Estimated average casualty reductions, for each of the options considered in the Consultation, were included in the Impact Assessment published alongside the "Learning to Drive" consultation paper:
| Option | Estimated reduction in deaths per annum | Estimated reduction in serious injuries per annum |
| Source: Tables 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 from Impact Assessment of proposed changes to car driving training and testing | ||
In addition to providing lower casualty reductions, the placing of post-test restrictions on newly-qualified drivers would also bring extensive social and economic costs. People learn to drive for many reasons and most young people want to be law abiding, safe drivers. Graduated licensing would have many adverse effects for the responsible majority, such as restricting access to education and evening jobs.
Heathrow Airport
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of flights (a) arriving at and (b) taking off from Heathrow Airport were late in 2008; and what the (i) maximum and (ii) average delay was in that year. [302040]
Paul Clark: The following table shows the percentage of flights (a) arriving at and (b) taking off from Heathrow airport which were late in 2008 and the average delay. Information relating to maximum delay is not available:
| Arrivals | Departures | |
| Note: The airline industry standard for on-time departures/arrivals is within 15 minutes of the advertised time. "Percentage late" is therefore flights departing/arriving 15 minutes or more after the advertised time. Source: CAA punctuality statistics. | ||
Inquiries: Devon
Mr. Swire: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when his Department plans to respond to the Napoli public inquiry conducted by Devon County Council. [301868]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport's Maritime and Coastguard Agency has assembled a list of recommendations relating to maritime transport issues from a range of reports concerning the "MSC Napoli" incident, including the report of the local public inquiry conducted by Devon county council. Work is in progress to assess these recommendations, and the conclusions will be placed in the public domain in due course.
National Express East Coast
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to safeguard the employment of workers employed at the customer contact centre at Baron House, Newcastle following the relinquishing of the franchise for the East Coast Main Line by National Express. [302635]
Chris Mole: The customer contact centre at Baron House is operated by National Express. The contract for the services provided by the contact centre with respect to East Coast was transferred from NXEC Trains Limited to East Coast under a Statutory Transfer Scheme. The ongoing contract to provide these services is a commercial matter between National Express and East Coast trains.
Network Rail: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what factors he took into account when deciding what funding should be allocated by Network Rail for railway station upgrades in response to the Station Champions report; and if he will make a statement. [302012]
Chris Mole: The £50 million was announced in response to the Station Champions' specific recommendation about the need for and level of priority funding to improve the 10 major interchange stations that were identified in their report as being in most need of urgent attention. We will also challenge the industry and local government to raise part of the money required for each of the stations themselves.
Norwich-London Railway Line
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much was spent rebranding trains or rolling stock used on the Norwich to London railway line in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08, (c) 2008-09 and (d) to date in 2009-10. [302202]
Chris Mole: Rebranding of rolling stock on the Norwich to London railway line is a commercial matter for the operators on the route. As such, the Department for Transport does not have information related to how much was spent rebranding trains or rolling stock used on the Norwich to London railway line in the years in question.
Pedestrian Crossings
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of road crossing regulations in ensuring the safety of blind and partially-sighted pedestrians. [300222]
Mr. Khan: The regulations and Department for Transport guidance which apply to controlled pedestrian crossings were developed through consultation with relevant groups to take account of the needs of blind and partially-sighted pedestrians.
The Department for Transport has made no specific assessment of the effectiveness of the regulations on the safety of blind and partially-sighted pedestrians.
Railways
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when the National Policy Statement on National Networks will be published; and which bodies have been consulted in its preparation. [302110]
Chris Mole: The National Networks National Policy Statement will be designated following parliamentary scrutiny and full public consultation. To facilitate this, it is planned to publish it in draft form early next year.
Railways: Hertfordshire
Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps he plans to take to ensure that accurate rail pathing data are available before determination of the planning appeal into the strategic rail freight interchange proposal for the former Radlett Aerodrome site. [302104]
Chris Mole: I cannot comment on a development proposal which is currently under consideration in the planning system or comment on a specific matter relating to that proposal. However, it is Government policy to support the development of a network of strategic rail freight interchanges across the regions to assist mode shift (from road to rail), to reduce lorry journeys and reduce carbon.
Rolling Stock
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average age is of the rolling stock used on mainline railway services in England. [302199]
Chris Mole: The average age of the UK rolling stock fleet as of the end of October was 16 years.
Shipping: Training
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) of 12 November 2009, Official Report, column 638W on shipping: training, on what dates he has met representatives of Nautilus International to discuss seafarer training in the last 12 months. [302632]
Paul Clark: I met Nautilus International on the following dates:
29 July 2009
6 October 2009
At these meetings a number of issues were discussed including seafarer training.
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