Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Wales
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers are employed by her Department; and at what civil service pay grade in each such case. [1283]
Mrs Gillan: I have not yet appointed a special adviser. There are three staff in the communications branch-one grade 6, one senior information officer and one information officer.
Departmental Official Cars
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the (a) make, (b) model and (c) place of manufacture is of the car allocated for the use of each Minister in her Department. [1491]
Mrs Gillan: The Wales Office inherited three cars allocated to its Ministers. In London we have two Toyota Prius, manufactured in Japan, and in Cardiff we have a Jaguar manufactured in the UK. These arrangements are changing following the publication of the new ministerial code which contains changes that affect ministerial entitlement to travel by Government car. The code states that
"the number of Ministers with allocated cars and drivers will be kept to a minimum, taking into account security and other relevant considerations. Other Ministers will be entitled to use cars from the Government Car Service Pool as needed".
Cabinet Office has provided clarification on how the code should be interpreted. The expectation is that Ministers not in the Cabinet will use the pool service and that Cabinet Ministers who have an allocated car will wish to consider how that car might be utilised by other Ministers within the Department before calls are made on the Government Car Service Pool.
The Department for Transport and its Government Car and Despatch Agency are working with Departments to effect the transition to the new arrangements.
Transport
Boats: Licensing
Mr Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the financial interests of the individuals reviewing the Boatmasters regulations for the Marine and Coastguard Agency; and if he will make a statement. [410]
Mike Penning:
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is in the process of reviewing the results of an initial informal consultation on required changes to the Boatmasters regulations. In addition to the written
comments received, an MCA chaired group, the Boatmasters' Licences sub-group of the Domestic Passenger Ship Steering Group (DPSSG) has also commented extensively on the proposals. As this group is informal it is not necessary to review their financial interests; however, I am happy to receive representation from my hon. Friend should he have any concerns in this regard.
All comments are being actively considered by the MCA and this will result in a second informal consultation prior to a final public consultation before any amending regulations are laid.
Bus Services: Regulation
Mr Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on local authority regulation of local bus services. [R] [1365]
Norman Baker: The coalition agreement makes it clear that we will encourage joint working between bus operators and local authorities in England. The Local Transport Act 2008 introduced a number of new bus regulations in England and the related guidance has been published in full. I intend to wait for the outcome of the Competition Commission inquiry into the local bus market in Great Britain outside London before deciding on the need for any further regulatory reform of bus provision.
Departmental Billing
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of invoices from suppliers to his Department were paid within 10 days of receipt in (a) March and (b) April 2010. [1276]
Norman Baker: The percentage of invoices from suppliers to the Department for Transport and its agencies paid within 10 days of receipt was:
(a) March 2010: 89.40%
(b) April 2010: 87.01%
The central Department and its agencies are working towards further improving their prompt payment figures.
The Department for Transport is made up of a central Department and seven Executive agencies, as follows:
Highways Agency (HA)
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)
Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)
Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA).
This response covers all eight entities.
Departmental Contracts
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the (a) implementation of penalty clauses and payments in its contracts and (b) potential legal action arising from the deferral and cancellation of contracts and projects under his Department's plans to achieve cost savings; and whether those estimates are included in the total cost savings to be achieved by his Department. [568]
Mr Philip Hammond: I have agreed to contribute £683 million to the £6 billion of in-year budget reductions sought in the emergency Budget.
For Department for Transport's (DFT's) direct spend, the reductions have been targeted at improving efficiency within non-contractualised spend and re-negotiating contracts with suppliers, and deferring a small number of lower priority schemes which are not contractualised for construction. The reductions will be achieved through a range of measures including a recruitment freeze, reduction in discretionary spend, and a freeze on major new IT spending.
I therefore do not expect costs under penalty clauses or legal action arising from deferral or cancellation of contracts to be incurred.
The remainder of DFT's budget is distributed in grants to Network Rail, Transport for London and local government. The proposed reductions to these grants are subject to consultations with those organisations and regulators, and it will be for them to determine how reductions will be achieved. I would expect that similar efficiencies can be driven from these large organisations as can be found by the Department.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many special advisers (a) he and (b) each other Minister in his Department (i) has appointed to date and (ii) plans to appoint. [310]
Mr Philip Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 3 June 2010, Official Report, column 99W.
Railways: Construction
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will include the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds in his proposals for a high speed rail network. [1168]
Mr Philip Hammond: The Government's vision is of a truly national high speed rail network. Ministers are reviewing the options for linking the UK's major conurbations. No final decisions on the shape of the network will be taken until full public consultation has taken place.
Woodhead Tunnel
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that the Woodhead tunnels be maintained in a manner which ensures their suitability for future rail use. [1297]
Mrs Villiers: Ministers are currently reviewing a wide range of departmental policy. Policy on disused rail lines is being considered as part of this review. The Woodhead tunnels are currently owned and maintained by National Grid.
Health
NHS: Training
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on funding the provision of e-learning materials in the NHS, with particular reference to the e-Learning for Health programme. [1525]
Anne Milton: The Department is working with Medical Education England and the professional boards to review strategy for technology-enhanced learning.
This review will consider the funding provision of e-learning materials in the national health service, with particular reference to the e-Learning for Healthcare programme.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers are employed by her Department; and at what Civil Service pay grade in each such case. [1277]
Richard Benyon: With regard to special advisers, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Prime Minister on 3 June 2010, Official Report, column 99W.
The Department currently employs 18.5 full-time equivalent press officers within core DEFRA and 2.5 full-time equivalent press officers within its executive agencies. Details on their civil service pay grades are shown in the following table.
| Grade | Total number of press officers |
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency do not employ press officers.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr Watson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Ministers in her Department have been issued with (a) a BlackBerry,
(b) an iPhone, (c) another make of mobile telephone and (d) a personal digital assistant supplied by the Department. [1431]
Richard Benyon: The Secretary Of State and all DEFRA Ministers have been issued with a BlackBerry. None of the other devices listed in the question has been issued to DEFRA Ministers.
Departmental Official Cars
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) make, (b) model and (c) place of manufacture is of the car allocated for the use of each Minister in her Department. [1480]
Richard Benyon: Under the interim arrangements inherited from Ministers in the previous Government (see my answer to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson) 7 June 2010, Official Report, column 15W), DEFRA temporarily retains two allocated cars. One is a Toyota Prius T Spirit; the other a Honda Civic ES Hybrid. Both are manufactured in Japan.
Noise: Pollution Control
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on tackling noise pollution; and if she will make a statement. [1307]
Richard Benyon: The Noise Policy Statement for England provides a wide framework aimed at enabling noise management decisions to be made that ensure noise levels do not place an unacceptable burden on society. The statement sets out a vision to
"promote good health and a good quality of life, through the effective management of noise within the context of government policy on sustainable development."
Additionally, the Environmental Noise Directive (END) Noise Action Plans for 23 agglomerations (large urban areas) and major roads and major railways (outside agglomerations), in England (www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/noise/), set out the principles of managing environmental noise.
They also describe the process to be followed by the Highways Agency, local highways authorities, and the railway industry, to determine what, if any, further noise management measures might be undertaken (in the context of Government policy on sustainable development), in areas found to most affected by environmental noise. The plans also describe the process for identifying and managing quiet areas, with the aim of preserving environmental noise quality where it is considered good.
Local authorities also have a statutory duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to inspect their areas periodically for existing and potential statutory nuisances from noise, and to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate complaints of noise nuisance within their areas. Once satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists or may occur or recur, a local authority must issue an abatement notice requiring that the noise be ceased or abated within a specified timescale. Local authorities also have powers under the Noise Act 1996 (as amended) to take enforcement action against night noise emitted
between 11pm and 7am from licensed or domestic premises that exceeds the permitted level, which may be in the form of a fixed penalty notice.
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the prohibition of the trimming of beaks of laying hens to take effect; and if she will make a statement. [1127]
Mr Paice: The previous Government consulted on the proposed amendments to the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007, to remove the total ban on beak trimming allowing for the routine beak trimming of day-old chicks intended for laying to be carried out using the infra-red technique only. It closed on the 14 April and responses are currently being considered.
I will be discussing this matter with DEFRA officials shortly.
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