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9 Dec 2009 : Column 379W—continued
Rights of Way
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hectares of land in (a) England and (b) North Yorkshire and York have been opened to the public under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to date. [304590]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The area of land opened to the public under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 to date in England, North Yorkshire and York is shown in the following table.
| England | North Yorkshire county | City of York | |
| (1) CROW Access land includes conclusive open country and registered common land mapped in accordance with Section 4 of The CROW Act 2000, with areas of excepted land (military byelaw, racecourse and aerodromes) and CROW Section 28 restrictions (military and National Security) removed. (2) CROW Section 16 is land which has been dedicated for the purposes of open access in accordance with Section 16 of The CROW Act 2000. Notes: 1. All figures are in Hectares (calculated using Cartesian area in MapInfo). 2. The figure for CROW Access land together with the figure for CROW Section 16 gives the total access land for a given area. | |||
Transport
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) of 1 September 2009, Official Report, columns 1815-6W, on departmental electronic equipment, what the purposes were of the purchase of 55 DVD players by his Department's agencies. [305150]
Chris Mole: As previously advised the Department for Transport has spent £55 on DVD players.
The DVD players were purchased by the Highways Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency. They are used for delivering in-house training with video content, and for test engineers to show short videos of vehicle tests.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) are employed by and (b) work for his Department. [303606]
Chris Mole: The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) employed on press officer activities on 1 April 2009 by the Department for Transport both directly and, where identifiable, indirectly is set out in the following table.
| Staff (FTE) employed on press officer activities | ||
| DFT employees | Other workers( 1) | |
| (1) Other workers include temporary employment agency staff. (2) DSA figure includes fixed term employment | ||
The staff resource deployed by the Central Office of Information in providing their regional News and PR services to parts of the Department can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Highways Agency (HA) has seven regional press officers to support its new Traffic Officer service and seven regional control centres. These press officers are employed to raise awareness of the Traffic Officers and the agency's role as network operator for England's motorways and major A roads.
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what payments the Northern Lighthouse Board has made to Grayling Political Strategy in the last 12 months for which figures are available; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made. [305128]
Paul Clark: In the 12 months to 31 October 2009, the Northern Lighthouse Board paid Grayling Political Strategy £30,606.74. The Northern Lighthouse Board has a contract with Grayling Political Strategy to provide parliamentary and media monitoring services to highlight issues directly or indirectly affecting the Board's activities.
The contract between the Northern Lighthouse Board and Grayling Political Strategy is a private contract containing commercially sensitive information and therefore it would be inappropriate to place a copy of the contract in the Library.
Departmental Taxis
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many miles (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department and its predecessor travelled by taxi in the course of their official duties in each year since 1997; and at what cost to the public purse in each such year. [302704]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport (DFT) and its agencies do not record the mileage of taxi journeys, and so this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Available figures for the cost are included in the following table. Four agencies do not record taxi fares separately from other travel costs, and could provide the information only at disproportionate cost. For DFT(c), Driving Standards Agency (DSA), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) information for years earlier than those shown could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| £ | |||||||
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
Departmental Theft
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many officials of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have (i) been reprimanded, (ii) had their contract of employment terminated and (iii) been prosecuted for theft of departmental property in each of the last three years; and what items were stolen in each case. [300968]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has had no employees that have been reprimanded, had their contract of employment terminated nor been prosecuted for theft of departmental property over the last three years.
Six out of the seven Department's agencies have also had no employees that have been reprimanded, had their contract of employment terminated nor been prosecuted for theft of department property over the last three years. However, the seventh agency, The Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency, is unable to provide the information requested as it would involve disproportionate costs.
Departmental Working Hours
Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many and what proportion of staff of his Department, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies work flexibly or part-time; and what his Department's policy is on making jobs available on a job-share or flexible basis. [301331]
Chris Mole: Information relating to flexible working in the Department for Transport can be found at the following links in the Department's website:
flexible working arrangements.
information on the number of part-time staff.
diversity strategy and delivery plan.
flexible working network group.
information relating to the civil service job share notice board.
Driving
Dr. Ladyman:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what mechanisms are in place to ensure that staff who drive (a) a vehicle for which (i) his
Department and (ii) one of its Executive agencies is responsible have valid driving licences and (b) their own vehicles in the course of their official duties for (A) his Department and (B) one of its executive agencies have valid driving licences and insurance; what guidance is issued to those staff in respect of road safety while carrying out official duties; what steps are taken to monitor compliance with that guidance; what requirements there are on such staff to report to their line managers accidents in which they are involved while driving in the course of their official duties; and whether such reports are investigated. [302172]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has a departmental Driving at Work policy that includes the requirement for every driver or rider to hold a valid driving licence. If drivers or riders use their own vehicles they must also have appropriate insurance provision. Further detailed arrangements vary according to the exact business need in each agency and the central Department.
All staff who drive or ride on departmental business have their driving licences and insurance provision checked by line management or in the case of DVLA by a dedicated team. Usually this is by visual inspection but in some parts of the Department it is done by self-certification supported by management checks. There are regular reviews of the appropriate documentation that vary between six months to a year or whenever there is a change of circumstances.
Detailed guidance is available to all staff in respect of road safety while on departmental business and line managers are responsible for monitoring arrangements. Guidance includes practical advice like checking vehicles prior to a journey, planning journeys and the need for regular breaks, using seat belts, not using a mobile phone while driving.
Staff are required to report all accidents via the internal arrangements in their agency or the Central Department. Reporting requirements includes accidents while driving in the course of their official duties. All accidents are investigated.
M5: Automatic Number Plate Recognition
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2009, Official Report, column 132W, on M5: cameras, how many automatic number plate recognition cameras are in use for the detection of traffic offences on the M5; and if he will list the offences so detected in the last 12 months. [303439]
Chris Mole [holding answer 2 December 2009]: The average speed cameras currently in use on the M5 to secure speed limit compliance through roadworks are shown in the table.
As explained in my answer of 25 November 2009, Official Report, column 132W, the other types of cameras are not used for the detection of traffic offences.
Traffic offences are administered by the relevant Safety Camera Partnership Group and the Highways Agency does not keep records of these. Any enquiries relating to offences detected in the last 12 months would therefore have to be addressed directly to the Gloucester Safety Camera Partnership and the West Mercia Safety Camera Partnership respectively, for the above locations.
Norwich-London Railway Line
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on how many occasions bus transport was provided instead of rail for all or part of the journey due to (a) routine and (b) non-routine maintenance on the Norwich to London Liverpool Street railway line in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009 to date. [302432]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested. In the case of maintenance, either routine or otherwise, the decision to replace rail with bus transport will be taken by the train operating company and Network Rail.
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