§ John ThursoTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes there have been in(a) road transport vehicle carbon emissions and (b) single occupancy car commuting from his Department against the baseline year set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [185697]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Department of Transport was unable to establish a baseline for 2002–03 for either(a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions or (b) single occupancy car commuting, due to the lack of available data.
§ John ThursoTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what have been identified as the most significant sustainable development impacts in relation to the operation of the estate of his Department. [185728]
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§ Mr. McNultyMost staff in the Department for Transport are located in about 100 larger properties while the remainder are located in relatively small properties belonging to the agencies. Consequently, the most significant sustainable development operational impacts of the main office estate are typically in respect of utility use, waste, paper, procurement and travel.
On the non-office estate there are also few sites that might be considered to have significant sustainable impacts beyond the typical and these are:
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch at Farnborough that handles crash wreckage from civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the UK, which they investigate.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency Maritime Rescue Sub Centres and Co-ordination Centres which are manned and operational 24 hours a day and include air-conditioned emergency operational areas, rescue equipment, emergency generators etc.The 24 acre Driving Standards Agency's training residential centre at Cardington.Vehicle Inspectorate's goods vehicle testing stations provide statutory testing of vehicles.The 100 HA motorway maintenance depots which provide a base from which to undertake routine motorway maintenance, and especially winter maintenance and could include one or more rock salt storage barns, a number of winter maintenance vehicles, weighbridge and washdown areas, and diesel fuel tanks.The sustainable impacts at these sites vary considerably depending on the nature of the work undertaken at them but are likely to cover such aspects as biodiversity, estates management, control of pollution, handling hazardous substances or waste and the discharge of water.
§ John ThursoTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what parts of his Department's estate will not be covered by the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [185729]
§ Mr. McNultyThe parts of the Department's estate not currently covered by the Framework commitments are
The Marine Accident Investigation Bureau which only has 28 staff in a small minor occupied office in Southampton.Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service at Crowthorne which comprise only 11 staff.The Traffic Area Offices at Birmingham and Edinburgh because they are minor occupiers in their buildings and useful utility and other environmental information is not available.643 Marine and Coastguard sites that are typically unmanned radio masts, garages or sheds where a vehicle or marine rescue equipment is stored.
§ John ThursoTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps have been taken by his Department to review arrangements for public reporting of sustainable development impacts since publication of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [185730]
§ Mr. McNultySince the publication of the Framework the Department now reports publicly on its sustainable development impacts and performance on its website and through the Sustainable Development in Government annual report.
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§ John ThursoTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements his Department has in place to report publicly on its key sustainable development impacts. [185731]
§ Mr. McNultyThe Department reports on progress made in addressing the sustainable development impacts of its policies, in its Annual Report, and through our contribution to the Government's annual Sustainable Development Report.
We monitor our performance against the Government's sustainable development indicators, laid out in "Quality of Life Counts", by publishing them in "Transport Trends".