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7 Dec 2009 : Column 30W—continued
Bus Services
Graham Stringer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects the panel of members for the Quality Contract Scheme approvals board to be appointed. [304143]
Mr. Khan: I expect to make an announcement about Quality Contracts Schemes shortly.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many bus monitoring officer posts there were in each traffic commissioner area in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland in each of the last five years; and how many such posts were funded by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. [304144]
Paul Clark: The information requested is in the following table:
| England | Wales | Scotland | |
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency does not fund bus monitoring officer posts.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many research projects his Department has commissioned in the 2009-10 financial year to assess the likely effects on bus services of changes to the Bus Service Operators Grant; and what the (a) title and (b) remit was of each such research project. [304145]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport has commissioned no research projects in the 2009-10 financial year to assess the likely effects on bus services of changes to the Bus Service Operators Grant.
Bus Services: Lincolnshire
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much has been paid in kickstart grants to improve bus services in North East Lincolnshire. [304429]
Mr. Khan: £522,067 has been paid to North East Lincolnshire council in kickstart grants to improve bus services.
Caparo Group
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what meetings (a) the Secretary of State, (b) other Ministers and (c) officials in his Department have had with Angad Paul in each of the last three years. [303058]
Chris Mole: There have been no meetings between the Secretary of State for Transport, other Ministers or officials in the Department and Mr. Paul in the last three years.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department holds contracts with each company of the Caparo Group. [303107]
Chris Mole: There is one contract with AP Braking Limited of the Caparo Group where the Department for Transport provides services for approval of vehicle brakes.
Cars: Fuels
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to increase the fuel efficiency of new cars. [304054]
Mr. Khan: The Government were a strong supporter of the New Car CO2 regulation adopted in April 2009. The regulation aims to reduce CO2 emissions by setting manufacturers average CO2 targets based on the new cars they produce that are registered in the EU. In particular, the Government played a successful leading role, in calling for an ambitious long-term target in the regulation. This target of 95g/km means that, on average, new cars will emit 40 per cent. less CO2 in 2020 compared to 2007. In the UK alone, this is expected to save 7.6MtC02 per year by 2020.
In addition, the Government have allocated over £400 million to deliver policies, through the new cross Whitehall Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), aiming to place the UK at the global forefront of ultra-low carbon vehicle development, demonstration, manufacture and us. Details of OLEV's work can be found here:
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many external consultants work for his Department. [303241]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold the information centrally and it could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost. However, following a search across the Department's Human Resources systems, it is known that 146 external consultants work for the Department. The following table provides a breakdown of the number of consultants:
| Number of consultants | |
| (1) The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency figure only includes the number of consultants appointed through their Consultancy and Interim Management Services (CIMS) Framework Agreement. The total number could only be provided at disproportionate cost. | |
The Driving Standards Agency, Highways Agency and Marine and Coastguard Agency could provide the information requested only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Food
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) lamb, (b) beef, (c) chicken, (d) pork, (e) turkey, (f) other meats, (g) vegetables and (h) fruit procured by his Department that was produced in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [300175]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport contributes annually towards the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Procurement of Food and Catering Services Report which can be found at:
The report gives details of the proportion of domestically produced meat, fruit and vegetable purchased. The figures for 2008-09 will be published by DEFRA at the end of 2009.
Departmental Legislation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what criminal offences have been (a) abolished and (b) created by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since 1 May 2008. [303257]
Chris Mole: No criminal offences have been abolished by primary legislation falling within the scope of the question.
A number of criminal offences have been created by the Crossrail Act 2008 and the Local Transport Act 2008. These are:
1. Schedule 4, paragraph 2(2) - creates an offence of installing an electric line above ground without prior consent.
2. Schedule 12, Part 4, paragraph 18(6) - creates an offence of intentionally altering, suppressing or destroying a document which has been required to be produced by a notice served by the Secretary of State for Transport where a transfer scheme is proposed (such schemes provide for the transfer of property, rights and liabilities).
Local Transport Act 2008 (c.26)
1. Section 44 - will, when in force, insert a new section 134B(11) into the Transport Act 2000 (c. 38). Section 134(B)(11) will create an offence in relation to the provision of information that is false or misleading by a person operating local services. It is expected that section 44 will be brought into force in January 2010.
2. Section 55 - amended section 36 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (c.50) to impose new duties on the drivers of certain taxis and private hire vehicles. Breach of the duties is a criminal offence and so the effect of section 55 is to expand the scope of an existing offence.
3. Section 115 - amended section 174 of the Transport Act 2000 and paragraph 25 of Schedule 23 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c.29) to make it an offence, in particular circumstances, to interfere with the functioning of any equipment to do with road user charging. It was already an offence to interfere with the equipment itself.
The following have not been included in this answer as they are not considered to be covered by the scope of the question:
(a) provisions in primary legislation which enable secondary legislation to be made (and offences to be included in that legislation); and
(b) provisions which change the penalties for contravening existing offences (including in particular circumstances, for instance where the offence is Crossrail related).
Departmental Parking
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent steps he has taken to improve (a) bicycle, (b) lorry and (c) car parking provision; and how much his Department has spent on such provision in each year since 1997. [302799]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport (DfT) allocates integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities for capital investment in transport. Funding provided by the Department to local authorities is not generally ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities, such as the provision of improved cycle, lorry and car parking.
Total allocations provided to English local transport authorities (outside London) since 1997 are shown in the following table.
| Allocation (£ million) | |
| Note: Since 2000 the allocations comprise integrated transport block grant and highways maintenance. Prior to 2000 the allocations are in the form of gross approved spending. | |
Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's Formula Grant.
In addition to this funding, the Government have made some funding available specifically to improve the provision of cycle parking. In 2009-10 and 2010-11, a total of £14 million is being provided by the Department to improve cycle facilities at rail stations, including the provision of 10,000 extra cycle parking spaces. A further £62.7 million has been committed between 2005-06 and 2010-11 to provide cycling infrastructure in 17 English towns and cities, as part of the Department's Cycling Towns initiative.
The Department published a new action plan to improve lorry parking in England on 24 November 2009, available at:
The action plan will help to raise standards at existing truck stops and tackle shortages of lorry parking facilities but retains the principle that the financing and delivery of lorry parking is for the private sector. DfT Circular 01/2008 on Policy on Service Areas and Other Roadside Facilities on Motorways and All-Purpose Trunk Roads in England includes information on the role that the Highways Agency has in lorry parking.
Floods: Cumbria
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of (a) the number of bridges and (b) the length of highway damaged in the recent floods in Cumbria; what estimate he has made of the costs of repairing such damage; and if he will make a statement. [302144]
Mr. Khan: Cumbria county council are the local highway authority for Cumbria. According to records held by Cumbria county council there are 1,764 bridges in Cumbria which are managed by the authority, of which 1,240 are over or near water. Other bridges in Cumbria will be the responsibility of other bodies.
The Prime Minister announced on 25 November 2009 that the Government will provide funding to Cumbria county council to assist them to carry out repairs to their bridges and roads damaged by the recent floods. Surveys of all damage will be required before it will be possible to estimate the cost of the damage to the local highway network in Cumbria. The flood water will need to recede before all surveys can be carried out. The Department for Transport will work with Cumbria county council to assist them to estimate the cost of the damage to their highway network.
The Ministry of Defence and the Department have worked together to finalise arrangements for a temporary bridge at Workington over the River Derwent. The Department will provide funding for other temporary bridges as and when required by Cumbria county council.
The Highways Agency is the highway authority for trunk roads and motorways in England and has inspected 92 roads over water bridges and three retaining walls on its road network in Cumbria, following the floods. No structural faults were found during those inspections. Further assessments of these structures and earthwork embankments near watercourses in Cumbria, will be made over the coming days.
The structural integrity of the remainder of the trunk road and motorway network in Cumbria was not affected by the floods. However, in the interests of safety for the travelling public, the network is being monitored daily.
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