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22 Feb 2010 : Column 175W—continued
Aviation: Northern Ireland
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many flights of less than 360 miles between Great Britain and Northern Ireland there were in each of the last three years. [317044]
Paul Clark: The following table shows the number of domestic flights of less than 360 miles between reporting airports in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
| Number of flights | |
| Notes: 1. Flights by passenger aircraft only. 2. Based on domestic flight arrival and departure data from the three reporting airports in Northern Ireland. Includes flights to/from the Isle of Man and Channel Island airports. 3. Excludes airlines which did not give permission for CAA to disclose their data. Source: Based on data supplied to DfT by the Civil Aviation Authority. | |
Aviation: Security
Mr. Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps are taken in circumstances where an air passenger in transit at a UK airport refuses to be subject to a full body scan on privacy grounds; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department and the UK Border Agency on the matter. [317171]
Paul Clark: Officials from the Department for Transport are discussing this matter with the UK Border Agency. Should a transit passenger refuse to be scanned and as a result is not allowed to travel, then UKBA would deal with any application for leave to enter the UK on its individual merits.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he has had discussions with (a) Smith Technologies and (b) QinetiQ on the availability and effectiveness of full body scanners. [317512]
Paul Clark: Officials from the Department for Transport have had discussions with a wide range of industry representatives including Smiths Detection and QinetiQ on the subject of advanced image technology, also known as body scanners.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he has made provision for training for airport security staff in relation to behavioural profiling. [317513]
Paul Clark: We are currently looking at whether targeting certain passengers for additional security measures at airports would be more effective than selecting a proportion of passengers at random. We have taken no decisions yet. Behavioural detection is not currently part of the training syllabus mandated for airport staff by the Department for Transport.
A number of security staff at Heathrow are undergoing training in behavioural analysis techniques-where passengers are selected if they are behaving suspiciously. This training is being trialled and will be independently evaluated. We will be considering the effectiveness of this trial before deciding whether it can be rolled out more widely.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he plans to publish guidance relating to the protection of the privacy of airline passengers who undergo full body scans. [317519]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has published an interim code of practice relating to the protection of privacy. It also covers health and safety, data protection and equality issues. The interim code of practice is available in the libraries of the House and on the Department's website.
The Department will shortly be launching a full public consultation on the interim code of practice and will consider all representations carefully before preparing a final code of practice later in the year.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects full body scanning equipment to be operational at UK domestic airports other than designated airports. [317520]
Paul Clark: Body scanning equipment will be operational at three airports by the end of February. The Department for Transport is currently working with industry to develop a timetable for widespread implementation.
British Transport Police: Fixed Penalties
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2010, Official Report, columns 423-4W, on British Transport Police: fixed penalties, how many penalty notices for disorder were issued in each year from 2006 to 2009; and what percentage of (a) £50 fines and (b) £80 fines have been paid. [317258]
Chris Mole: Following is a breakdown for penalty notices which were issued in each year from 2006 to 2009 by British Transport police (BTP), including percentages for £50 and £80 fines which have been paid.
| Total £50 penalty notice for disorder issued | Percentage paid | Total £80 penalty notice for disorder issued | Percentage paid | |
Of the above unpaid penalty notices the following percentages were converted into fines at court:
| Converted into fines (p ercentage ) | |
Bus Services: Concessions
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many concessionary bus passes were issued to residents of Houghton and Washington East constituency in each of the last two years. [317159]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport is not responsible for issuing passes and so does not maintain records of how many passes individual authorities have issued.
Concessionary travel in Houghton and Washington East is administered by Nexus, Tyne and Wear's Passenger Transport Executive. Nexus is best placed to provide information regarding passes issued to residents of Houghton and Washington East.
The last information held by the Department was that as of 12 January this year, Nexus had issued approximately 295,028 smartcard concessionary passes since the introduction of the England-wide concession in April 2008. This includes passes issued to disabled people as well as those aged 60 and over. The Department holds no data about passes issued prior to this date.
Robert Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 14 July 2009, Official Report, column 205W, on bus services: concessions, when he expects to place in the Library a copy of the written representations. [317604]
Mr. Khan: Where consent has been received from the relevant hon. Member or local authority, copies of the written representations that the Department has received between July 2008 and April 2009, regarding concessionary travel funding, were placed in the Library on 11 February 2010.
Departmental Accountancy
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since May 2002. [315565]
Chris Mole: Each Accounting Officer receives a copy of chapter 3 of Managing Public Money (the Accounting Officer Memorandum), which includes instructions on Ministerial Directions.
Departmental Communication
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of Lord Bates of 3 December 2009, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA68, on Government Departments: Annual Reports, and with reference to the Government Response to the House of Lords Communications Committee's report into Government Communications, whether his Department publishes an annual report on departmental communications. [315603]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not publish an annual report on departmental communications. Communication activities and details of sponsorship support, and the objectives they contribute to, are reported in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts.
Departmental Finance
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department has allocated to each (a) scheme and (b) area for local network management schemes for 2009-10. [316850]
Chris Mole: The Highways Agency allocated £105 million of funding to local network management schemes in 2009-10. Approximately 1,500 projects make up this total and it is not practicable to detail these.
The Highways Agency operates the Strategic Road network on a National basis and prioritises its programme as such. The local network management scheme budget in the 2009-10 Business Plan was allocated by area as follows:
| £ million | |
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much of his Department's £700 million fiscal stimulus funding had been spent on roads projects on the latest date for which figures are available; and how much of that funding he plans to spend on funding each roads project. [316851]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport is to spend £400 million of the £700 million fiscal stimulus funding on projects on the strategic road network. The year-to-date and estimated full year forecast of fiscal stimulus expenditure, split by region, is as follows:
| £ million | ||
| Region | Year to date (December 2009) | Full year forecast |
There are in excess of 100 schemes being delivered as part of the fiscal stimulus programme and it is not practicable for all schemes to be detailed. In the following table are examples of these schemes with estimated full
year forecast expenditure (these are included in the £400 million shown in the above).
| Description | Full year forecast (£ million) |
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