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15 Dec 2009 : Column 971W—continued
Official Cars: Exhaust Emissions
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average level of carbon dioxide emissions was for new cars purchased by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in the last 12 months. [307602]
Paul Clark: The average level of carbon dioxide emissions for new cars purchased by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in the last 12 months is 142.08g/km.
Public Transport: Crimes of Violence
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the Home Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy, how much his Department plans to spend on steps to improve safety on public transport in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) each of the subsequent three years; and from what budget such expenditure will be drawn. [305310]
Mr. Khan: Substantial investment by the public transport industry, local authorities, the police and others has already been-and continues to be-made to help achieve a safe environment for public transport passengers and staff. The costs are met through a variety of Government and non-Government funding streams.
The development of the secure bus stations scheme and any further publication of good practice guidance on improving personal security will be met through the Department's administration budget to cover staff and any consultancy work.
The Department will contractually require new train operators to ensure the majority of rail stations are accredited under the Secure Stations scheme. All recently let rail franchises contain such provisions. The costs will be met from the rail franchising budget, but cannot be separately identified as they will form part of the total service proposition put forward by bidders.
Severn Bridge: Tolls
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what mechanism governs the calculation of new annual tolls for the Severn Crossings. [306307]
Mr. Khan: The Severn Bridges Act 1992 provides that new toll rates are introduced on 1 January each year. Under the provisions of section 9(2) of the Act, an annual order is required to be made in December each year fixing the toll amounts for the following year. The annual toll rates are revised in line with a formula related to the retail price index figure for the previous September. The tolls are calculated by multiplying toll rates given in a table in section 9 of the Act by a factor to allow for the inflation increase from March 1989. These amounts are then rounded to the nearest 10 pence.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the Severn Crossing toll on businesses in Wales. [306308]
Mr. Khan: The second Severn Crossing was constructed to alleviate traffic problems on the old Severn Bridge and to improve transport links to businesses in Wales.
Since 1992, the tolling structure in place allows the Concessionaire to recover the costs associated with the construction of the second Severn Crossing and the financing, operation and maintenance of both Severn Crossings.
The Department for Transport has made no recent assessment of the impact of the Severn Crossings tolls on businesses in Wales.
Taxis
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of unlicensed taxis operating in (a) England and (b) Leeds North West constituency. [305765]
Mr. Khan: In order to offer a taxi service lawfully in England (outside London), the driver and the vehicle must be licensed by the relevant local authority under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847. It is a matter for local licensing authorities to make an assessment of the extent of illegal operation in their area and take appropriate enforcement action where necessary. We do not keep a central record of any such assessments.
Taxis: Guide Dogs
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many exemptions have been granted on medical grounds to licensed taxi drivers from the requirement under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to carry guide dogs with their owners. [305960]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport does not have access to these data centrally as exemptions are issued by local licensing authorities. It will be for licensing authorities to keep their own records as to the numbers of exemptions issued from the duty to carry assistance dogs.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage licensing authorities to ensure that the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for licensed taxi drivers to carry guide dogs with their owners are monitored and enforced. [305961]
Mr. Khan: Taxi drivers have a duty under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to carry assistance dogs in their vehicles. These duties have been in effect since 31 March 2000. It is the responsibility of local licensing authorities to monitor and enforce the duties and should be incorporated into the licensing enforcement regime. The Department for Transport has issued guidance to licensing authorities outlining their duty to enforce the provisions.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since 2001; and what the cost to the public purse has been of the purchase and installation of such screens in each such year. [306063]
Dan Norris: No plasma screens have been purchased since 2006. Further information concerning the purchase of plasma screens from 2001 to 2005 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) energy rating and (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each of the last three years. [305946]
Dan Norris: The OGC publishes central Government Departments' display energy certificate (DEC) operational ratings building by building twice a year. The most recent publication, on 31 July 2009, contains DEC data up to and including 28 February.
This information can be found on the following website:
Data relating to the energy rating of buildings as at 30 September 2009 will be published on the OGC website on 18 December 2009.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the energy efficiency rating is of each of his Department's buildings in London. [306320]
Dan Norris [holding answer 14 December 2009]: The OGC publishes central Government Departments' display energy certificate (DEC) operational ratings building by building twice a year. The most recent publication, on 31 July 2009, contains DEC data up to and including 28 February. This information can be found on the following website:
Data relating to the energy rating of buildings as at 30 September 2009 will be published on the OGC website on 18 December 2009.
Departmental Freedom of Information
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received in 2008; and how many of these received a substantive response within 20 days. [305494]
Dan Norris: Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on freedom of information in central Government for 2008 show that of a total of 446 non-routine requests received by the Department (based on aggregated quarterly data) 72 per cent. (115) received a substantive response within 20 days. 88 per cent. (391) of requests were dealt with 'in time', that is within 20 days by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
The statistics can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
and copies are available in the Library of the House.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the monetary value is of his Department's contract with Seven Squared for the production of its staff magazine; and for what reason the magazine is not produced by his Department's communications office. [305249]
Dan Norris: The monetary value of the contract with Seven Squared to produce Landscape magazine for the financial year 2008-09 was £136,752.24 (not including VAT).
Landscape is DEFRA's staff magazine. It is a high- quality publication that is issued 10 times a year and made available to staff in DEFRA, our Executive agencies and the other partner organisations with which we work. Research shows that the magazine is well read, well received and makes a strong contribution to the effectiveness of the business by raising awareness of our wide-ranging portfolio, and for ensuring that staff are clear about the purpose and direction of the Department.
It is more cost-effective for us to outsource publication of Landscape to an agency which has the necessary range of specialist equipment, software, technical skills and editorial skills to produce this high quality magazine. To establish and maintain a publication unit in-house which would be underutilised in this specific instance, cannot be justified.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the amount of household waste sent for incineration in the London borough of (a) Bexley, (b) Bromley, (c) Croydon and (d) Greenwich in the most recent period for which figures are available. [306895]
Dan Norris:
The tonnage of waste sent for incineration with energy recovery by each of the local authorities in question in the financial year 2008-09 is shown in the
following table. These authorities sent no waste to be incinerated without energy recovery in 2008-09.
The full local authority dataset is available on DEFRA's website.
| Local authority | Municipal waste incinerated with energy recovery in 2008-09 (tonnes) |
| Source: WasteDataFlow. | |
Drinks
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of litres of (a) soft drinks, (b) mineral water and (c) fruit juice were consumed per person in each of the last five years. [306561]
Dan Norris: The following table shows the estimated number of litres of soft drinks, mineral water and pure fruit juices purchased by UK household residents in the UK in each year since 2003-04.
| Litres per person per year | |||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Notes: 1. Estimates are averages over the UK household population including children. 2. Estimates cover both eating out and household purchases. Concentrated soft drinks have been converted by a factor of 5 to the unconcentrated equivalent. Source: The Expenditure and Food Survey. | |||||
Fish
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the (a) monetary value and (b) quantity of canned fish purchased by the public sector in each of the last five years. [307650]
Dan Norris: The information requested is not available. For the past five years, the procurement of food products, including canned fish, has been a matter for individual public sector organisations and authorities. Future collaborative procurements will provide greater access to this type of information.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department's planned collaborative procurement framework for the purchase of canned fish in the public sector will include sustainability criteria. [307651]
Dan Norris:
DEFRA is working closely with the Office of Government Commerce to ensure that sustainability criteria are embedded into future collaborative
food procurement frameworks, including the one referred to on canned fish. The sustainability criteria will be included in the invitation to tender.
Forestry Commission: Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what redesigns of websites operated by the Forestry Commission have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the (a) cost to the public purse and (b) date of completion of each such redesign was. [306199]
Dan Norris: The Forestry Commission's England website has not been the subject of a redesign process in the period specified, but has benefited from a continuing evolution with the publication of new information and improvements to the user experience.
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