---

Forth Bridge

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Health and Safety Executive to produce its report into the structural condition of the Forth bridge. [4436]

Mr. Watts: I understand that HSE hopes to be able to publish its report early in the new year.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many ministerial visits have been undertaken by each Minister in his Department between 6 July and 1 December; and how many and what percentage of these have involved the Minister travelling abroad. [4219]

Sir George Young: The details of visits, excluding attendance at EC Transport Councils, are as follows:

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 268

	Total number of visits	Of which, number abroad
Secretary of State	15	--
Minister for Railways and Roads	17	3
Minister for Local Transport, Road Safety and Transport in London	15	2
Minister for Shipping and Aviation	11	1

Cones Hotline

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many calls have been made to the cones hotline in each calendar month since its establishment; how many calls have been under the remit of the cones hotline; how many calls have resulted in cones being removed from the public highway; how much it has cost his Department to operate the hotline; what changes he plans to make to its operation; what assessment he has made of it; and if he will make a statement. [4435]

Mr. Watts: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) on 6 November at column 759, which answers most of the points that he has raised. My Department does not have a record of the number of calls made to the cones hotline in each calendar month since its establishment in June 1992, but information from the Highways Agency on the number of calls made each month this year is as follows:

Date	Number
Cones hotline
January 1995	900
February 1995	750
March 1995	450
April 1995	1,100
May 1995	1,000
June 1995	1,050
July 1995	800
August 1995	300
Highways Agency information line
September 1995	800
October 1995	1,150
November 1995	1,250

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 50 calls.

Rail Accidents

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving fatalities and serious injury to passengers there have been (a) on the railway network and (b) within the ScotRail network in each of the last five years. [4439]

Mr. Watts: The Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate maintains records of accidents. The tables show the information requested.

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 269

Fatal and Major Injuries to Passengers All railway network(9)

Year	Fatal	Major injury
1990	37	224
1991	8	92
1991-92	31	192
1992-93	18	238
1993-94	16	205
1994-95	17	204

Scotland only(9)

Year	Fatal	Major injury
1990	0	27
1991	0	3
1991-92	2	25
1992-93	1	27
1993-94	1	27
1994-95	1	19

Notes: 1990 calendar year. 1991 covers the 1 January 1991 to 31 March 1991. 1991-92 onwards periods are in the financial year 1 April to 31 March.

(9) Excludes metropolitan and minor railways.

Oily Waste Discharges

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the ports in the United Kingdom that do not have oily waste discharge facilities available to vessels. [4200]

Mr. Norris [holding answer 5 December 1995]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Stoke on Trent, North (Ms Walley) on 14 June 1995 at column 532.

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many aerial surveillance sorties were flown to check for oil spillages around the United Kingdom coast in (a) 1993, (b) 1994 and (c) in 1995 to date; [4199]

(2) if he will list those vessels that have since the publication of the Donaldson report been (a) identified discharging oily wastes illegally at sea and (b) prosecuted for those offences; and what fines have been imposed. [4197]

Mr. Norris [holding answer 5 December 1995]: I have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard Agency to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from C. J. Harris to Mr. Nick Ainger, dated 6 December 1995:

The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about aerial surveillance to check for oil spillages and vessels which have been identified as discharging oily wastes illegally at sea.
The number of aerial surveillance flights to check for oil spillages around the United Kingdom coast were as follows:

Year	Ship patrol flights	Oil rig patrol flights	Operational flights	Total
1993	91	57	77	225
1994	98	57	54	209
1995(10)	120	53	65	238




(10) To 30 November.

Since May 1994 the Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unite (MPCU) has identified 47 vessels as possibly being responsible for illegal discharges. These were referred for Port State Control inspections and of the 47 identified cases, 27 are currently open, 19 have been closed, either because no offence was committed or because of lack of evidence, and one has been prosecuted. The prosecution resulted in the master of the JENCLIPPER, being fined £4,000 in October 1995 for the illegal discharge of engine washings. In the absence of conclusive evidence the names of the other vessels cannot be released. Prosecutions are also brought by other organisations including local authorities, port and harbour authorities and environmental bodies. Further information is contained in annual reports prepared by the Advisory Committee on Pollution of the Sea (ACOPS). Copies are available in the House of Commons' Library.

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 270

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he plans to implement the Donaldson report recommendation that the cost of the use of oily waste reception facilities in ports should be included in harbour dues; [4201]

(2) if he will introduce a system of waste auditing in ports to improve the enforcement of discharge limits for oily wastes from shipping. [4198]

Mr. Norris [holding answer 5 December 1995]: I refer the hon. Member to the replies that I gave to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 1 and 2 November at columns 309 and 466.

Peakes Parkway

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much has been lent to Humberside county council and its successor authorities for the construction of the Peakes parkway in all its stages and what is the (a) duration of the loan and (b) the annual interest charge in percentage and cost terms to date. [4332]

Mr. Norris: I have been asked to reply.

The total financial support that my Department has given to Humberside county council for Peakes parkway is £8.287 million--£2.869 million of transport supplementary grant and £5.418 million in the form of borrowing approvals. The amount to be allocated to the scheme in 1996-97 will be announced later this month as part of the local transport settlement.

The Government do not specify either the duration or interest rate of any loans that result from borrowing approvals issued to local authorities. These are matters for the local authorities concerned.

Road Fatalities (Children)

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will (a) compare and (b) make a statement on the changes by category of road death, of those killed under the age of 15 years between (a) 1983 and 1985 and (b) 1992 and 1994. [3786]

Mr. Norris: The information requested is shown in the table.

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 271

The total number of children killed fell in both periods, although at a slower rate between 1992 and 1994. Reduction in casualties for the most vulnerable categories,

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 272

pedestrians and cyclists, continued in the second period but in-car casualties increased. I regard further improvements in child road safety as a high priority.

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 271

Road deaths in Great Britain: children under 15 years of age by road user type: 1983-85 and 1992-94

				Average				Average
	1983	1984	1985	1983-85	1992	1993	1994	1992-94
Pedestrians	360	333	305	333	170	153	147	157
Pedal cyclists	87	96	66	83	38	33	34	35
TWMV	1	1	4	2	3	3	3	3
Car	77	84	69	77	50	75	74	66
PSV	3	1	2	2	1	4	4	3
LGV	2	2	4	3	3	1	2	2
HGV	1	2	5	3	1	1	0	1
Other	5	2	2	3	2	0	1	1
Total	536	521	457	505	268	270	265	268

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 271

6 Dec 1995 : Column: 271

---