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22 Feb 2010 : Column 180W—continued
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) how much funding has been allocated to each (a) scheme and (b) region under the second round of the regional funding allocation; [316853]
(2) how much of his Department's Regional Funding Advice 2 budget has been allocated to (a) Highways Agency schemes of regional significance valued at over £5 million and (b) each local transport major scheme in each region in each of the next three years. [316871]
Mr. Khan: The Government published guidance for the regions and additional transport supplementary guidance in July 2008. This provided information on regional funding allocations by year from 2008-09 to 2018-19 and by region. I am placing a copy of this guidance in the Libraries of the House.
In addition, I have also recently placed in the House Libraries advice received from each region, excluding London, in July 2009 which highlights suggested funding allocations to 2018-19 for each (a) Highways Agency scheme of regional significance and (b) local transport major scheme, costing over £5 million. These allocations are indicative only. The actual amount spent on each scheme in any given year will depend upon the terms of the final funding approval from the Department, the start date, and progress of construction. Copies of our response to the advice dated July 2009 have also been placed in the House Libraries.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the proportion of staff of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies managed out in the last five years who remain working in the public sector. [313848]
Chris Mole: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department and its agencies spent on external recruitment consultants in the last year for which figures are available. [315483]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport and its Executive agencies spent the following amounts on recruitment consultants in financial year 2008-09:
| £ | |
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is unable to provide details of spend on external recruitment consultants without incurring disproportionate cost. However DVLA's expenditure on recruitment for financial year 2008-09, as published in the annual report and accounts, was £876,000.
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency is unable to provide details of spend on external recruitment consultants without incurring disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hurd:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many job vacancies in his Department
and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available. [315484]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport filled 1,390 job vacancies through external recruitment in the calendar year 2009.
Driving Instruction
Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many driving instructors qualified in each of the last three years. [318035] [Official Report, 23 March 2010, Vol. 508, c. 1MC.]
Paul Clark: The number of newly qualified approved driving instructors entering the Register of Approved Driving Instructors, in each of the last three years, is shown in the following table.
| Number qualified | |
Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average age of driving instructors is. [318036] [Official Report, 23 March 2010, Vol. 508, c. 2MC.]
Paul Clark: The average age of the 48,885 Approved Driving Instructors currently registered is 47 years and six months.
Driving Tests: Orkney and Shetland
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average waiting time was between applying for and taking a driving test in (a) Orkney and (b) Shetland (i) in each of the last five years and (ii) in the most recent period for which information is available. [317188]
Paul Clark: The following table shows the average number of weeks between a candidate applying for different sorts of practical driving test and the test date at the Orkney and Shetland test centres in each of the last five years and for the period from 1 April 2009 to 9 February 2010
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 YTD | |
East Coast Railway Line
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the reliability figures for the East Coast Line were in each of the last four months. [316883]
Chris Mole: The percentage of trains arriving on time or within ten minutes of schedule is recorded as the 'Public Performance Measure' (PPM). The information requested is outlined in the following table:
| Railway period start | PPM (actual) (percentage) | PPM (MAA) (percentage) | Previous year PPM MAA (percentage) | Change in MAA since 2008 |
Due to the severe weather the monthly PPM figure for the period starting December 2009 is considerably lower than for the period starting in November 2009.
Because of seasonal variations in performance, a more useful indicator of long-term trends is the Moving Annual Average-which is simply the average over the last 12 months.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department was involved in discussions on new uniforms for staff on trains operated by the East Coast rail company. [316884]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport was not involved in this decision. Management decisions such as this are made by East Coast.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much is planned to be spent on new livery for trains operated by the East Coast rail company. [316885]
Chris Mole: This is an operational matter for East Coast.
The hon. Member should contact the chair of East Coast at the following address for a more detailed response to her question:
Elaine Holt
Chair
East Coast
East Side Offices
King's Cross Station
London N1C 4AP
Feltham
Alan Keen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Feltham and Heston constituency, the effects on that constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997. [317105]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Transport (DFT) does not routinely hold transport statistics on a parliamentary constituency basis. The Department provides Transport for London with a block grant to fund transport delivery in London. This grant has more than doubled in the last nine years, rising to almost £3 billion in 2010-11. Drawing on these and other resources, the Mayor is responsible for publishing, and through TfL, implementing a Transport Strategy for London, while the boroughs are required to publish Local Implementation Plans which set out how they will contribute to the Mayor's strategy.
The additional funding that has been made available has helped deliver 1,089 million passenger journeys on the Tube in 2008-09, the highest ever. London Underground's scheduled service is now its largest ever, and in 2008-09 96.4 per cent. was run, the best annual result for 14 years.
Bus services in London have also improved. Some 2,247 million passenger journeys were made in 2008-09 and patronage grew by almost 47 per cent. between 1997-98 and 2007-08.
Concessionary travel continues to benefit elderly and disabled Londoners, and more than a million people currently hold a Freedom Pass.
On the South West Trains franchise, reliability has improved. In December 2009, 87 per cent. of trains arrived on time or within five minutes of the scheduled time, up from 75 per cent. in December 2004.
On the roads, national targets to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured by 40 per cent. and reduce the number of "slight" casualties by 10 per cent. (compared to the period 1994 to 1998) by 2010 were largely exceeded by TfL by 2004, leading to TfL setting themselves new targets of 50 per cent. and 25 per cent. respectively.
Various improvements in relation to cycling have also been realised across London. TfL report that cycling now accounts for 2 per cent. of trips in London compared to 1.2 per cent. in 2000, and between 2000-01 and 2007-08, TfL's automatic cycle counters reported an increase in cyclists of 91 per cent.
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