| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
11.47 pm
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng): The House will be grateful to the hon. Member for Taunton (Jackie Ballard) for bringing this important subject to the fore. The Larcombe family have been well served by her interest in this matter. The House will wish to extend its sympathy to them. Their experience is by no means uncommon.
The debate gives me, on behalf of the Government and, I am sure, the whole House, an opportunity to pay tribute to the police and the road safety organisations that work tirelessly to reduce the terrible toll of death and injury on our roads. I also pay tribute to those who provide care and support for victims and the bereaved during the difficult times that are all too often the consequence of road traffic incidents such as we are discussing.
My hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Mr. Miller) has, over the years, supported RoadPeace in its valuable work of campaigning on behalf of the victims of road traffic incidents. It is worth noting that its contribution has helped to put this issue on our national agenda. The hon. Lady and my hon. Friend referred to the European experience of road crashes. Our record on road safety is very good compared with other countries, but there is no room for complacency, and we can always learn from others, not least about support for victims. It is right that the House should continue to pay attention to this issue.
I had the pleasure--and it was a pleasure, even though it was also a challenging experience--of appearing recently before the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee to discuss road traffic and the Government's proposals for an integrated transport system. The Committee is rightly considering the roles of the Home Office and of the DETR together. That is our approach, because we recognise that we need to work across the departmental boundaries if we are to maximise the support that we can give to reducing accidents and fatalities on the road and to advancing road safety policy so as to achieve the most effective impact on road accidents, deaths and injuries.
My colleagues at DETR who are responsible for road safety policy launched in October a review of speed policy. It will advance our policies as outlined in the integrated transport policy White Paper, and will consider--in relation to safety, mobility, the economy and the environment--ways in which we can draw on informed opinion outside the House and expertise in the civil service. That review will be completed by autumn this year and will make specific proposals on speed policy.
Later in the year, we will also announce a new road safety strategy, designed to replace Campaign 2000. That too will be designed to target road casualties and to reduce them by 2010 in line with the comparable baseline figures from 1994 to 1998. That strategy will concentrate specifically on child safety, safety for vulnerable road users, speed, driver training, impairment and other issues. It will take forward a raft of proposals on enforcement issues. The police service will put its best efforts into supporting Government strategies designed to reduce road traffic casualties.
Mr. Miller:
Will my hon. Friend consider encouraging Members of Parliament to participate with the police and the Institute of Advanced Motorists in improving driving skills? If we gave a lead, it might encourage progress on some of the safety issues that can stem from better driver training.
Mr. Boateng:
Certainly, hon. Members who drive can help to set an example, although they should always do so with some humility, bearing in mind the pressures and strains under which they operate, which are not always conducive to road safety. It is possible--my hon. Friend is right to draw it to our attention--to encourage in our constituencies the acquisition of the skills that will assist in reducing road traffic incidents.
The Home Office recently published a report produced by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary that takes a thematic look at the policing of road traffic and related areas. That has been helpful in the promotion of good practice and in spreading it across the country. Indeed, Lord Whitty, the DETR Minister in the Lords, launched that report with me as another example of joint working on this matter.
A number of important initiatives are occurring on road death bereavement. The Victim Support working party published a report, "Support for Families of Road Death Victims", in 1994. We provide a substantial annual grant to the national charity and its 365 local schemes and
branches so that they may provide practical help and emotional support to more than 1 million crime victims each year. The charity has dealt increasingly of late with referrals after road deaths.
In March 1992, Victim Support's national council set up an independent working party to identify problems and ways to resolve them. The hon. Member for Taunton said that we had not always equipped Victim Support to help, and that issue is being addressed. A great deal of progress has been made, and we are working closely with the charity to take forward the recommendations in its report.
Jackie Ballard:
The Minister said that Victim Support can help after road deaths. Is that after a prosecution has found that someone is to blame, or can it help immediately after a death without waiting for a prosecution?
Mr. Boateng:
There is no reason to wait, and good practice suggests that schemes ought not do so. Victim Support regards this as an area in which it wishes to help, and it is being funded to do so. In response to pressure from Victim Support and its work with the charity, the Association of Chief Police Officers has endorsed a service delivery standard that covers road fatalities and support for bereaved families.
In the past, various police forces have published their own literature to support the bereaved. The Association of Chief Police Officers' traffic committee is in discussion with me and my officials about moving towards a standardised approach to provide specific support literature across the forces. That would deal with some of the distressing practical issues raised by the hon. Lady when an early word of advice or common sense could take an enormous burden off the minds and shoulders of those who live with the consequences of an incident.
The hon. Lady referred to the road safety research organisation BRAKE, an arm of which, the trauma advisory service, has produced five useful information booklets. The Government, through the Department of Health, are putting money into developing those booklets. The first two--"Coping with grief when someone you love has been killed on the road" and "Procedures following a death on the road in England and Wales"--are in general use by counselling organisations and are used widely by the police.
Road safety will continue to be of concern. We hope to continue to bear down on the number of road traffic fatalities and injuries. But there is a need for continued alertness and sensitivity. I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising the issue. We shall continue to work, not least with the voluntary sector and those campaigning organisations without which this important matter would not have received the attention that it deserves. We owe a great debt of gratitude to them and to the many families who live with fatalities and other incidents that cause grief and concern. We owe it to them to get our policy and practice right.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at one minute to Twelve midnight.
| Index | Home Page |