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16 Dec 2009 : Column 1159W—continued
Cars: Carbon Emissions
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many cars with tailpipe carbon emissions below 110g/km were sold in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009; and what information his Department holds for benchmarking purposes on the number of such cars sold in each EU member state in each such year. [306965]
Mr. Khan: Data on carbon dioxide emissions per km (gCO2/km) from new cars registered in the UK are only available up to the year 2008. These data are published on the Department for Transport's website at:
A total of 75,000 new cars with CO2 emissions under 110g CO2/km were registered in the UK in 2008. The Department does not collect any data on the number of similar cars registered in other EU member states.
Chief Executives: Pay
Mr. Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what bonuses were paid to each agency chief executive within his responsibility in the last two years for which figures are available. [305948]
Chris Mole: Information on the remuneration of individual agency chief executives in the Department for Transport is included in their agency's annual report and accounts. Copies of these are available in the Libraries of the House.
Dartford Crossing: Fees and Charges
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent representations he has received on the local residents' discount scheme for the Dartford Crossing. [306899]
Mr. Khan: From 1 August 2008 to 11 December 2009, the Department for Transport has received three items of ministerial correspondence specifically categorised as being about the local residents' discount scheme for the Dartford crossing.
In addition the Highways Agency and their service providers have dealt with a further 108 e-mails, four letters, 15 inquiries to the Highways Agency information line, 14 telephone calls directly to staff at the Dartford crossing and three complaints in person from members of the public.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what guidance is issued to employees of his Department and its agencies on the use of work computers for personal tasks. [306704]
Chris Mole [holding answer 14 December 2009]: Where the Department for Transport and its agencies allow staff to make use of work computers for personal tasks, advise and guidance is available via the intranet for all staff.
Staff are not permitted to make inappropriate use of departmental resources such as official time, materials, information and e-mail/internet system. Staff are advised to ensure that personal use does not place excessive demands on the Department's ICT facilities so that business use is impaired.
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in his Department in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference. [305860]
Chris Mole: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside the Office of Rail Regulations buildings attended by civil servants in that office there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. [307453]
Chris Mole: Because of the format in which data about how the costs of such events are recorded, the total number of away days and conferences held outside Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) buildings is unavailable.
The independent Office of Rail Regulation only holds separate information on expenditure on away days and conferences since 2007. Any information prior to this date could only be retrieved and provided at disproportionate cost.
Since September 2007, the independent Office of Rail Regulation has spent the following on away days and conferences:
| Table 1 | ||
| Financial year | Away days expenditure (£) | Conference expenditure (£) |
| (1) From September 2007 (when ORR moved to a new accounting system). (2) From April to November 2009. | ||
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has spent on (a) Ministerial photoshoots and (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available. [305525]
Chris Mole: During the last three financial calendar years for which figures are available, nothing was spent by the Department for Transport on ministerial photoshoots.
The Department has spent the following amounts on the production of videos in which Ministers appear: £2,752 in 2007-08 and £1,117 in 2008-09. The Department has not retained the figures for 2006-07.
Departmental Training
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many overseas training courses were attended by his Department's civil servants in the latest period for which figures are available; how many civil servants attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course. [305892]
Chris Mole: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many and what percentage of Parliamentary Questions tabled for written answer by his Department on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day. [307529]
Chris Mole: In Session 2008-09 the Department responded to 669 (72.7 per cent.) of named day parliamentary questions on the due date.
Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the 'Guide to Parliamentary Work', at
In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.
Driving: Research
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned comparing the risks associated with drink driving with those associated with driving while using a hand-held mobile telephone. [307765]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has neither undertaken nor commissioned any research on this question.
Ferries: Safety
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what checks are in place to ensure that ferries servicing British ports do not sail with a dangerous load distribution. [306961]
Paul Clark: The Merchant Shipping (Weighing of Goods Vehicles and Other Cargo) Regulations 1988, as amended, require the owners of roll-on/roll-off passenger ships on short international voyages operating from United Kingdom ports to ensure that, with the exception of buses, all goods and other vehicles with an actual or maximum gross weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes, and any cargo items exceeding 7.5 tonnes, are individually weighed before loading. Those weights are then used to calculate the stability of the ship.
As part of the regular survey of UK registered ships and inspections of foreign ships operating out of UK ports, marine surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency may verify that the information required by the Merchant Shipping (Weighing of Goods Vehicles and Other Cargo) Regulations 1988 is supplied.
Heathrow Airport
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what criteria apply in the determination of planning applications for a third runway at Heathrow airport. [307141]
Paul Clark: Any proposal for a third runway at Heathrow airport would be likely to meet the threshold for a nationally significant infrastructure project under the Planning Act 2008. The Government's intention is to switch on the new planning regime for transport infrastructure from 1 March 2010, and any application made after that date for a new runway caught by the threshold would be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC). Section 104 of the Act sets out the factors to which the IPC must have regard when determining an application. In the absence of a designated national policy statement at the point of decision, the application would be determined by the Secretary of State, based on a recommendation by the IPC.
Heathrow Airport: Air Traffic
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many short-haul flights landed at Heathrow airport in 2008, broken down by (a) internal and (b) near-Europe flights. [306976]
Paul Clark: The number of internal (UK domestic) flights that landed at Heathrow in 2008 was 30,000.
The number of near-Europe (short-haul international) flights that landed at Heathrow in 2008 was 118,000. Short-haul international flights include: EU-27 countries, Norway, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Turkey and Former Yugoslavia.
Humber Bridge: Tolls
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the likely impact of freezing the levels of Humber Bridge tolls on (a) businesses, (b) jobs and (c) inward investment in the Yorkshire and Humber region; [306306]
(2) what his reasons were for rejecting proposed increases in toll charges on the Humber Bridge in 2010. [306309]
Mr. Khan: The decision not to accept the 2009 toll increase was taken in the context of the Government doing everything they can to protect communities and businesses from the economic downturn and to assist economic recovery.
We are undertaking a Department for Transport appraisal of the reports commissioned by the relevant local authorities in relation to the economic impact of the Humber Bridge tolls on the region.
Humberside Road Safety Partnership
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many people the Humberside Road Safety Partnership employed (a) in each year since its establishment and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [307253]
Paul Clark: This information is not held by the Department for Transport; however, the partnership itself may be able to supply the information requested.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department provided for the Humberside Road Safety Partnership (a) in each year since its inception and (b) in 2009-10 to date. [307256]
Paul Clark: The Humberside Road Safety partnership has received the following net funding since its inception:
| Net funding (£) | |
Further details of this funding can be found on the Department for Transport (DfT) website
For 2007-08 onwards the Department has not provided funding directly to the partnership. Instead it provides funding to the local highway authorities within Humberside and they decide about how to spend that funding, including for the Humberside partnership. Information about this funding is also on the DfT website in the form of letters to authorities.
Lorries
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how many miles UK and foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes travelled on UK (a) motorways and (b) trunk roads in the last 12 months for which figures are available; [306643]
(2) how many miles UK and foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes travelled on all UK roads in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [306644]
Paul Clark [holding answer 14 December 2009]: Statistics for miles travelled by UK and Foreign heavy good vehicles are not available for travel on UK roads. Figures are available for travel on roads in Great Britain.
Heavy goods vehicles (over 3.5 tonnes) travelled 17.8 billion vehicle miles on all roads in Great Britain in 2008, of which 7.5 billion vehicle miles were on motorways and 3.8 billion miles were on trunk roads.
In 2008, 3.5 per cent. of all HGV traffic in Great Britain was estimated to be driven by foreign registered vehicles.
The estimated miles travelled by UK and foreign registered heavy goods vehicles and road class is shown in the following table.
| Billion vehicle miles | |||
| Registered heavy goods vehicles | |||
| UK | Foreign | Total | |
| (1) The estimate of foreign registered heavy goods vehicles on trunk roads is calculated from the proportion of foreign registered HGVs on all A roads, which includes principle roads and trunk roads. Sources: Traffic-National Road Traffic Survey Registration-Vehicle Excise Duty Evasion survey (June 2008) | |||
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