Written question asked by Richard Page (Conservative) on Thursday, 29 November 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 December 2001. It was answered by David Jamieson (Labour) on Thursday, 6 December 2001 on behalf of the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

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Dept for Transport Local Government and the Regions

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 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; 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 whilst performing their duties under the normal conditions experienced by those who commute to London; 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; what recent discussions he has had with Transport for London about graffiti on the Underground; whether he expects Mr Bratton to pursue a zero tolerance policy on graffiti on the London Underground; 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; 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; what formal qualifications are required for appointment as a mystery shopper employed to survey the ambience of London Underground's environment; how those mystery shoppers appointed to undertake periodic surveys of graffiti at London Underground stations measure its level; 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; 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; how often London Underground's stations and trains are subjected to environmental surveys by mystery shoppers; and whether these surveys are checked simultaneously.

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Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

20732;20726;20730;20723;20734;20728;20729;20727;20733;20731;20724;20725; 376 c442-3W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Staff Contracts Inspections Greater London Authority Equipment Graffiti Qualifications Litter Railway stations Ministers London Underground Standards Underground railways Market research Public private partnerships Repairs and maintenance Trains

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk