HL Deb 13 February 2002 vol 631 cc151-2WA
Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why there is no peformance information on air travel, or usage or performance information on Heathrow Express services, in Transport Statistics: Bulletin of Public Transport Statistics: 2001 Edition when statistics on the usage and performance of public transport buses, metro and heavy rail are provided. [HL2729]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Information on airline punctuality at UK airports is produced by the Civil Aviation Authority. Summary data are published in table 7.2 ofTransport Statistics Great Britain 2001, which is in the Library.

The Heathrow Express is not a rail franchise and is therefore not regulated by the Strategic Rail Authority. It is operated as part of the British Airports Authority Heathrow business and is not subject to the performance measures which apply to rail franchise holders. Patronage figures for Heathrow Express have been published in the BAA Annual Report. These show that passenger journeys increased from 4.4 million in 1999-2000 to 5 million in 2000-01.

Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will obtain and publish usage and performance information in respect of those public transport services not currently covered by Transport Statistics; and what would be the additional cost of doing this. [HL2730]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

The range of transport statistics collected by the department has been determined by the needs of successive governments and external users. There is a requirement for the statistics to be reviewed regularly to ensure that the statistics being produced remain relevant and that the burden on data suppliers is not excessive.

Many government statistics have been designated by Ministers as National Statistics and are therefore subject to a programme of regular quality reviews. These reviews include consideration of the need for new statistical series. However, certain statistics—for example, those produced by government agencies such as the Civil Aviation Authority and the Strategic Rail Authority—are at present not included within the scope of national statistics. It therefore falls to these agencies to initiate any collection of new statistical series.