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Integrated Rural Policy

Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans his Department has to adopt an integrated rural policy for Wales; and if he will make a statement. [24697]

Mr. Ron Davies: My appointment of my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) as Minister with specific responsibility for rural and countryside issues recognises the special needs of people living and working in rural Wales. I am committed to fostering an integrated approach so that there is improved co-ordination across the wide-range of agricultural, environmental and economic policies which affect the interests and well-being of rural communities. I have also initiated discussions with both farming unions in Wales to discuss these matters.

Subject to legislation, the creation of the new economic development powerhouse, equipped with the combined strengths, skills and expertise of the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales and the Land Authority for Wales, will provide for the first time the opportunity for unified policies and programmes for development across the whole of rural Wales. The legislation will also restore the Welsh Development

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Agency's grant-making powers, which will be available to promote business growth and diversification in rural Wales, and the powers to promote initiatives that support social as well as economic regeneration. The new economic development powerhouse, in partnership with the National Assembly and other agencies, will be well equipped to contribute to the promotion of sustainable development in rural Wales.

The new Agency will have a strong regional presence and a rural policy unit which, in collaboration with other partners, will I hope be able to come forward with effective and innovative proposals for securing the future prosperity of rural communities in Wales.

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Road Deaths (Alcohol)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of deaths caused in each of the last 10 years by drivers who had consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the 12 hours prior to an accident but who had a blood alcohol limit lower than the legal limit at the time of accident. [22821]

Ms Glenda Jackson: This information is not available in the form requested.

When drivers are breath-tested and found to be within the legal limit their precise breath or blood alcohol content is not normally measured, so no information about their alcohol consumption, if any, is available. It is known that some drivers with blood alcohol below the legal limit, including drivers who cause a death, are prosecuted and convicted of "under the influence" drinking-driving offences, but no estimate can be made of the number of fatalities.

Where a driver has been killed in a road accident the driver's blood alcohol level may be taken in post mortem examinations on behalf of Coroners and Procurators Fiscal. Figures based on these reports are given in the table. They have been adjusted for under-reporting and include the estimated number of persons other than the driver to have been killed in the accidents concerned. 1995 is the latest year for which sufficient information is currently available.

These figures do not show when alcohol was last consumed by the drivers in these accidents, nor whether the presence of alcohol played any role in causing or aggravating the accidents. Other things being equal, the lower the concentration of alcohol, the less likely it is the alcohol was the cause of the accident.

Accidents where the driver had a blood alcohol concentration below 10mg/100ml are not included in this table because below that level, measurement is unreliable and may indicate natural fermentation rather than consumption of alcohol.

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Fatalities in road accidents involving a motor vehicle driver or rider who was killed with a blood alcohol level between 10 and 80mg/100ml: Great Britain (adjusted for under-reporting)

	Number
1986	270
1987	310
1988	270
1989	320
1990	270
1991	270
1992	270
1993	200
1994	260
1995	250

Bridleways

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 18 November 1997, Official Report, column 133, what factors underlay the decision not to include measures to encourage the re-establishment of ancient bridleways in his plans for increasing access to the countryside. [24082]

Angela Eagle: We have a long-standing commitment to give people greater freedom to explore open countryside. However, we have no plans at present to introduce new measures relating to rights of way. Local authorities already have powers to create linear routes.

Driving Licence

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the new form of driving licence will display the union flag of the United Kingdom; and what consultations he is having regarding the format of the new licence. [24397]

Ms Glenda Jackson: The forthcoming photocard driving licence will, like existing paper licences, not include the Union flag in its design. Proposals for plastic photocard driving licences were the subject of public consultations in 1991 and 1996. No further consultations are proposed on the format of the licence, the main features of which are laid down in the second EC driving licence directive, as amended.

Diabetic Drivers

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what consultations were undertaken prior to the decision to exclude insulin-dependent diabetics from holding driving licences for categories C1 and D1 vehicles. [24223]

Ms Glenda Jackson: The Department consulted over 100 representative organisations in August 1996 on a number of proposals for implementing the requirements of the Second EC Driving Licence Directive (91/439). These included the proposal that drivers with entitlements to drive vehicles in categories C1 and D1 on the strength of an ordinary car licence should, on expiry of their current licence, have to meet the higher health standards required for those categories by the Directive if they wished to renew those entitlements.

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Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the number of accidents for each of the last five years involving vehicles in categories C1 and D1 driven by insulin-dependent diabetics. [24222]

Ms Glenda Jackson: No information is collected nationally on the medical conditions of drivers involved in road accidents. It is not, therefore, possible to supply the information requested.

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Rail Fatalities

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the monthly number of staff fatalities in the railway industry for each of the last five years. [24439]

Ms Glenda Jackson: Details on the number of staff fatalities in the railway industry for the past five years are as follows:

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	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	Total
April	0	0	0	1	0	1
May	0	1	0	0	0	1
June	2	0	2	0	0	4
July	1	2	1	2	0	6
August	2	0	0	0	0	2
September	0	0	0	0	1	1
October	0	0	3	0	0	3
November	1	0	0	0	1	2
December	2	2	1	1	0	6
January	0	0	1	0	0	1
February	0	1	0	0	0	1
March	3	2	1	1	0	7
Total	11	8	9	5	2	35

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The figures cover all railways in Great Britain, and are published in the Chief Inspector of Railways Annual Reports on Railway Safety, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the monthly number of railway fatalities per passenger mile in each of the last five years. [24438]

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Ms Glenda Jackson: This information is not available in the for requested. However, annual death and injury rates to passengers per billion passenger miles are published in the Chief Inspector of Railways Annual Report on Railway Safety, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library. The relevant extract from the report for 1996-97 listing these rates over the past five years is as follows:

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Death or injury rate: passenger

	Train accidents per billion passenger miles			Movement accidents per billion passenger miles			Non-movement accidents per billion passenger journeys
	Killed	Major	Minor	Killed	Major	Minor	Killed	Major	Minor
1991-92	0.08	0.75	12.01	1.16	3.03	90.65	0.63	63.64	2,091
1992-93	0.00	0.13	2.67	0.68	3.35	98.93	1.29	100.26	2,395
1993-94	0.00	0.22	5.67	0.62	1.80	95.37	1.30	103.05	2,793
1994-95	0.14	0.50	8.17	0.55	2.65	98.41	1.26	85.28	2,685
1995-96	0.04	0.04	2.24	0.29	1.91	102.91	1.23	98.65	2,819

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	Train accidents per passenger miles		Movement accidents per billion passenger miles		Non movement accidents per billion passenger journeys
	Killed	Injured	Killed	Injured	Killed	Injured
1996-97	0.04	6.50	0.40	20.21	1.80	1,025.80

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New accident regulations were introduced in 1996-97.

Under the new regulations--the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1995 (RIDDOR 95) there is no distinction between a major and minor injury to a passenger. The reporting trigger is that the person is taken from the site of the accident to hospital for treatment.

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Train accidents are accidents to trains and rolling stock. Movement accidents are accidents to people caused by the movement of railway vehicles, but excluding those involved in train accidents. Non-movement accidents are accidents to people on railway premises which are not connected with the movement of railway vehicles.

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