§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many kilometres have been travelled on his Department's business in each of the last three years broken down by(a) foot, (b) bike, (c) bus, (d) train, (e) tram, (f) light-rail, (g) plane, (h) motorbike, (i) car, (j) taxi, (k) river-taxi and (l) other modes of transport; what plans and targets his Department has to reduce the kilometres travelled by private transport by his Department's employees; and if he will make a statement. [91017]
§ Mr. HoonThe information on business travel is not collected in the form requested and therefore cannot be provided. As published in the Integrated Transport White Paper in July 1998, the Government have set a target that all Government Department headquarters buildings and main buildings occupied by Executive Agencies and Government Offices for the Regions should have green transport plans by March 1999 and all other key buildings by March 2000.
The FCO has completed a green transport plan covering its entire United Kingdom estate. This includes the Department's headquarters buildings in Central London and its sole provincial site at Hanslope Park, some 5 miles north of Milton Keynes. The plan aims to reduce car use by employees for business travel by such measures as reviewing rates of mileage payable to users of private cars and bicycles for official journeys and providing improved facilities for secure storage of cycles on official premises and improved locker and shower facilities for cyclists in order to promote cycling and encourage greater use of public transport.
144WThe Plan discourages the use of private motor vehicles for home to office transport to buildings in Central London by severely restricting the number of parking slots available for private use. "Casual" parking on official premises is not permitted. The FCO will continue to provide staff with loans to fund the purchase of annual rail season tickets and, in the longer term, may consider the introduction of loans for the purchase of bicycles,
The FCO has also taken steps to reduce the size of its official transport fleet in the United Kingdom and to ensure compliance with DETR emission regulations through tighter controls on maintenance standards. The trial of a vehicle fuelled by LPG is currently under way.