§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the London Underground activities for which he is responsible; what responsibility he has for London Underground's advertising; and if he will make a statement. [21107]
§ Mr. JamiesonResponsibility for the activities of London Underground Ltd., as a subsidiary of London Regional Transport (LRT), lies with the board of LRT. London Underground's activities support those of LRT, whose general duty is to provide or secure the provision442W for Greater London of public passenger transport services by railway in accordance with principles approved by the Secretary of State.
The responsibilities of the Secretary of State under the LRT Act 1984 are limited. He has powers designed for specific purposes such as issuing approvals, consents, determinations and directions to LRT. He does not have power to direct LRT's day to day business.
The Secretary of State has no responsibility for London Underground's own advertising.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the Deloitte and Touche report on the PPP for the London Underground's commentary on the concept of reputational externalities; and if he will make a statement. [18690]
§ Mr. JamiesonI refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) on 10 May 2001,Official Report, column 255W. Deloitte and Touche' s report is a matter for Deloitte and Touche.
§ Mr. PageTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what maintenance teams London Underground has dedicated to working around the clock to clean(a) buildings and (b) trains affected by graffiti; and how many staff are employed to perform these functions; [20732]
(2) when (a) he and (b) one of his ministerial colleagues last met a mystery shopper employed to survey the environmental state of London Underground's stations and trains; and whether (i) he and (ii) they have ever accompanied such a person while performing their duties under the normal conditions experienced by those who commute to London; [20726]
(3) what conclusions he and his ministerial colleagues have drawn from the conference held last March with experts from New York and with officials from the Home Office on tackling graffiti on the London Underground; [20730]
(4) what recent discussions he has had with Transport for London about graffiti on the underground; [20723]
(5) whether he expects Mr. Bratton to pursue a zero tolerance policy on graffiti on the London Underground; [20734]
(6) if it is possible to measure accurately changes in the level of recorded litter at London Underground's stations and to include the weighted results of surveys by mystery shoppers in the public-private partnership contracts; [20728]
(7) how many representations he has received from the Greater London Assembly, from London boroughs and other organisations since June on the need to tackle graffiti on the London Underground; and if he will allow local authorities to remove graffiti from London Underground's buildings and then to recover the costs from London Underground; [20729]
(8) what formal qualifications are required for appointment as a mystery shopper employed to survey the ambience of London Underground's environment; [20727]
443W(9) how those mystery shoppers appointed to undertake periodic surveys of graffiti at London Underground stations measure its level; [20733]
(10) how many high-pressure (a) jet washers and (b) gritting devices London Underground possesses for cleaning graffiti from bridges and brick walls at its stations; and what use has been made of them in the last three years for which figures are available; [20731]
(11) if he will list the criteria used by the mystery shoppers employed to survey the levels of graffiti and litter at London Underground stations; and how their findings are weighted in order to calculate the quarterly average score for ambience at particular stations; [20724]
(12) how often London Underground's stations and trains are subjected to environmental surveys by mystery shoppers; and whether these surveys are checked simultaneously. [20725]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe management of litter and graffiti and the conduct of the mystery shopper survey are operational matters for London Underground (LU). I understand from LU, that they have contracted NOP, an independent market research agency to conduct the mystery shopper survey on their behalf for the next couple of years. The results of the survey are collected and reported every three months. Under LU's tube modernisation plans, one of the factors which will determine the level of payments to the infrastructure companies will be their performance in keeping stations and trains clean.