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24 May 2006 : Column 1898W—continued
Private Office Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of his private office staff is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled. [69087]
Gillian Merron: In Department for Transport Private Offices (including the parliamentary and correspondence branches), the staff breakdown is 46 per cent. male, 54 per cent. female and 2 per cent. are disabled. The declaration of a disability is voluntary.
Private Sector Fund Recipients
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from the Department in each of the last five years. [71812]
Gillian Merron: The information requested is tabled as follows:
| Organisation | |
Public Consultations
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many public consultations his Department undertook in 2005; and what the cost was (a) in total and (b) of each consultation. [72869]
Gillian Merron: The Department published 36 consultations during the calendar year 2005. The Department also regularly consults key stakeholders on a less formal basis through meetings or seminars,to help inform policy development. Information onthe cost of each consultation and the total cost ofall consultations could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Consultations are made available on our web site: http://www.dft.gov.uk.
Public Transport
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage bus and train operators to recruit more women into the transport sector. [68859]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport facilitates the Women’s Transport Network (WTN) to provide a forum for women to contribute to policy development in the transport field and to encourage women to enter and progress in the transport industries. However the recruitment of staff is a commercial matter for individual bus operators and train operating companies to manage.
Railways
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to facilitate the re-opening of the Leamside Line in Durham for (a) passenger and (b) freight use. [72805]
Derek Twigg: There are no plans by the Department for Transport to facilitate the re-opening of the Leamside Line in Durham for passenger and freight use. It would be for the local authority working in partnership with Network Rail, to develop a suitable business case which demonstrates value for money.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to ensure the re-opening of the Bletchley-Bicester section of the East-West rail link; and if he will make a statement. [72983]
Derek Twigg: The Government provided funding, through the Growth Areas Fund, for the recent “East-West Links Study”, which looked at the overall need for improved east-west transport links in the Milton Keynes-South Midlands growth area. The Government welcomed the publication of the study report by the “East-West” consortium of local authorities on 11 April.
The Government are now providing funding support to the Consortium for further work to establish the costs, benefits and opportunities for funding the scheme. Among the questions being addressed by this work are the scope to fund the scheme from land developer contributions, and whether Milton Keynes Central station could and should be served by “east-west” services. The Consortium expect to complete this further work later this year.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Sunday rail services have been cancelled in each of the last five years, broken down by train operator; and if he will make a statement. [71896]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not available in the format requested and would incur disproportionate costs in resources to obtain.
Information is however available for 2005 at an aggregate level for all days in the week as follows:
| Train operating company | Percentage of total trains planned |
| Source: Network Rail (Data for the period 9 January 2005 to 8 January 2006 inclusive) |
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average cost was of constructing a mile of (a) railway line and (b) light rail line in each year since 1997. [71995]
Derek Twigg: This information is as follows:
(a) The only significant heavy railway line constructed in England and Wales since 1997 is the channel tunnel rail link and details of the costs can be seen on the Department's website at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_035482.hcsp
(b) Light rail—costs per mile vary from scheme to scheme. The National Audit Office report “Improving public transport in England through light rail” published in April 2004, listed the construction costs per kilometre for schemes and a copy is in the House Libraries.
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