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Charter Flights (Safety)

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to check the airworthiness of

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all aircraft used in the holiday charter market; and if he will make a statement. [21116]

Mr. Norris: All international public transport aircraft are required to have a certificate of airworthiness issued by the aviation authority of their state of registration. Before permission is granted for a non-European Economic Area aircraft to fly to the United Kingdom, the Department of Transport seeks confirmation that such a certificate has been issued in respect of the aircraft. If there is any doubt about the safe operation of the aircraft, no permit will be issued until the Department is satisfied as to its safety. This may involve the Department asking the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct a physical check of the aircraft.

Buses (Safety)

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what restrictions apply to passenger carrying buses operating on motorways in respect of (a) standing passengers and (b) type of entry and exit; and if he will make a statement. [20863]

Mr. Norris: The measures controlling standing passengers set out in my answer of 1 February, Official Report, column 844, apply to all bus and coach operations. There are no additional restrictions for motorways. Regulations governing the number, position and size of the entrance and exits are contained in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended, and the Public Service Vehicles (Condition of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981.

Traffic and Economic Growth

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the relationship between economic growth and traffic growth; and what assessment he has made of changes in that relationship in the future. [21135]

Mr. Norris: Road traffic levels have in the past been driven largely by economic growth. Any significant change in that relationship would have to flow from major changes in present policies, lifestyles and industrial practices.

Competitive Tendering (Contracts)

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contracts for goods or services have been awarded in each of the last three financial years by his Department and its executive agencies after competitive tendering; and what was the total combined value of these contracts. [21030]

Mr. Norris: The Department's normal practice is to secure the goods and services it requires through competitive tendering. Departmental expenditure on goods and services in each of the last three years is set out in the table.

Year	Expenditure £ million
1992-93	500.9
1993-94	490.1
1994-95	473.0

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Details of the number of contracts awarded in the above years are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Road Accidents

Mr. Callaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries resulting

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from road accidents have been recorded in each year of the last 10 years (i) nationally and (ii) in the Greater Manchester area; and how many of those affected were under the age of 16 years. [21419]

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

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Severity	Age	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Casualties by age and severity: Greater Manchester: 1985-94
Fatal	0-15	23	26	24	23	20	17	28	22	17	18
	16+	146	162	155	156	169	157	142	138	123	95
Serious	0.15	479	391	380	409	403	461	429	432	329	335
	16+	1,565	1,395	1,357	1,355	1,394	1,440	1,341	1,160	1,136	1,078
Slight	0-15	2,344	2,426	2,393	2,579	2,646	2,716	2,454	2,559	2,359	2,553
	16+	9,208	9,791	10,351	10,697	11,800	12,406	11,680	12,188	12,228	12,793
Total	0-15	2,846	2,843	2,797	3,011	3,069	3,194	2,911	3,013	2,705	2,906
	16+	10,919	11,348	11,863	12,208	13.363	14,003	13,163	13,486	13,487	13,966
Casualties by age and severity: Great Britain: 1985-94
Fatal	0-15	515	450	466	462	440	417	377	310	306	299
	16+	4,647	4,926	4,653	4,565	4,906	4,765	4,169	3,908	3,493	3,320
Serious	0-15	10,614	9,621	9,087	8,909	8,965	8,870	7,683	7,434	6,670	7,226
	16+	59,721	58,542	54,516	53,945	53,648	50,958	43,281	41,134	37,642	38,543
Slight	0-15	37,649	36,472	35,399	36,541	38,502	39,353	36,349	36,442	35,614	37,626
	16+	200,085	207,137	203,430	213,865	230,791	232,534	215,079	215,998	216,659	221,822
Total	0-15	48,778	46,543	44,952	45,912	47,907	48,640	44,409	44,186	42,590	45,151
	16+	264,453	270,605	262,599	272,375	289,345	288,257	262,529	261,040	257,794	263,685

Note:

The tables do not include data where the age of the casualty was not recorded.

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Ferries (Safety)

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what plans he has to encourage ferry companies to install watertight internal doors on the vehicle decks on roll-on roll-off vessels in a similar manner to those being fitted in Norway; [20602]

(2) when roll-on roll-off ferries using British ports will meet the safety standards shortly to be universally applied to Norwegian ferries. [20163]

Mr. Norris: All ferry operators operating to and from the UK will be required to apply, within the agreed time scales, the survivability standard agreed with Norway and other maritime administrations last month at the Stockholm conference. The measures necessary to comply with the standard will depend on the characteristics of the individual ships.

Orimulsion

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the precautions to be taken to protect the Pembroke coastline against a spill of orimulsion from ships delivering to Pembroke power station. [20849]

Mr. Norris: Like all ships carrying oils in bulk, ships transporting orimulsion are required to be constructed and operated in compliance with the UK regulation giving effect to internationally accepted rules and standards on the prevention of pollution. Any additional conditions attached to the grant of planning permission in respect of the current applications for the construction of a jetty and

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for the conversion of Pembroke power station are matters for the local authority and the President of the Board of Trade respectively.

EU Driving Licence

Mr. Marlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what EU symbols the new driving licence will incorporate; by whom and when this was agreed; and what parliamentary approval was sought. [21213]

Mr. Norris: Gold stars which encircle the letters indicating the member state appear on a blue panel in the top left hand corner of the proposed plastic photocard driving licence. The proposal for an amending directive which will allow member states the option of introducing licences in a common plastic format has not yet been adopted, but a common position was adopted at the Council of Transport Ministers of 7 and 8 December 1995. An explanatory memorandum on the proposal was submitted to the House of Commons Select Committee on European Legislation in July 1995, and was considered by the Committee on 18 October 1995.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Upper Waiting Hall Exhibition

Mr. Harris: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the coverage of Parliament by PA News in the Upper Waiting Hall. [21672]

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Mr. Michael J. Martin: I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Administration Committee, arrangements have been made for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 13 May to Friday 17 May 1996.

Advisory Committee on Works of Art

Mr. Jessel: To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick upon Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what changes have been made to the membership of the Advisory Committee on Works of Art. [21690]

Mr. Beith: I understand that Madam Speaker has appointed to the Advisory Committee on Works of Art the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson) in place of the right hon. Member for Horsham (Sir P. Hordern).

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