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Road Safety

Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the issue of deaths caused by negligent or dangerous driving will form part of the proposed White Paper on Road Safety. [95111]

Mr. Hill: The forthcoming road safety strategy will cover a wide range of issues, including those related to negligent and dangerous driving. It will also set out new targets to reduce the numbers of deaths and injuries on Britain's roads.

Rail Freight Terminals

Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the rail freight terminals operating in each Government Office region. [95556]

Mr. Hill: Railtrack's "A Guide to Rail Freight", published in April 1999, says that there are around 1,000 active rail freight terminals connected to their network; a terminal can be any interface between rail freight services, other modes and/or storage facilities, and they vary enormously in size and scope from a simple siding through to a large distribution park.

Railtrack's "A Guide to Freight Connections" (Third Edition), published in October 1998, contains at Appendix B1 a list of private siding connections and at Appendix B2 a list of freight operating company sites. Each entry includes its geographical location by Railtrack Zone.

Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to support the establishment of new Rail Freight terminals adjacent to motorways. [95578]

Mr. Hill: The Government's freight grants scheme is designed to assist companies in moving goods from road to rail where payment is justified by the environmental benefits. Capital grants are available towards the cost of new or refurbished freight facilities, including terminals, wherever they might be located. The Highways Agency has a Memorandum of Understanding with Railtrack to facilitate effective co-operation and understanding between the two organisations, and one of the areas of mutual interest mentioned in the Memorandum is the development of opportunities for the transfer of freight from road to rail through the provision of interchange facilities with access directly or indirectly from the trunk road network, including motorways.

25 Oct 1999 : Column: 679

Transport Safety Statistics

Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many injuries (a) per million passenger journeys and (b) per million train journeys there have been in each of the last 10 years. [94777]

Mr. Hill: Information about the numbers of casualties per train journey is not available. Information about numbers of casualties per passenger journey and per passenger kilometre on all railway undertakings in Great Britain is as follows:

Railway movement accidents(3): passenger casualty rates

	Casualties(4) per million passenger journeys	Casualties(4) per million passenger kilometres
1989	1.85	0.076
1990	1.73	0.072
1991-92	1.61	0.068
1992-93	1.59	0.066
1993-94	1.52	0.064
1994-95	1.54	0.069
1995-96	1.81	0.080
1996-97(4)	0.46	0.019
1997-98	0.47	0.020
1998-99	0.40	0.018

(3) Train accidents, or accidents due to the movement of railway vehicles (eg passengers entering or alighting from trains). Accidents not connected with the movement of railway vehicles, and casualties connected with trespass and suicide, are excluded.

(4) Until 1996 all accidents to passengers were required to be reported however slight their injuries. Under the Accident Reporting Regulations 1995, which came into effect on 1 April 1996, non-fatal injuries are only reported if the passenger is taken to hospital. Figures since 1996-97 are therefore not comparable with those for earlier years.

Radioactive Waste

Mr. Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to publish the (a) Government's response to the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on "The Management of Nuclear Waste" (HL Paper 41) published on 24 March, (b) High Level Waste and Spent Fuel Disposal Research Strategy project, (c) 1998 UK Radioactive Waste Inventory and (d) report on the UK's intentions for implementing the OSPAR strategy with regard to radioactive substances. [95881]

Mr. Meacher: I have today written to Lord Tombs, Chairman of the Committee, enclosing the Government response to the Select Committee report on "The Management of Nuclear Waste". Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

The Government's paramount concern is to protect the safety of both current and future generations. The Government agree with the Select Committee that widespread public consultation must come before a final decision is reached on the most appropriate option for managing radioactive waste. The Government note the Select Committee's conclusion that deep disposal is the only solution which is ultimately sustainable. We shall, however, want to study very carefully the results of the consensus building process, initiated by the consultation which we intend to launch early next year, before coming

25 Oct 1999 : Column: 680

to a final view. There are, in any case, questions to consider about when any underground repository might be needed and the period over which is should be possible to monitor and retrieve wastes placed in it. There is no need for an immediate decision at this stage.

The Government response is the first stage of the process to identify, develop and implement the best possible management option for radioactive wastes--one which commands widespread public support. It sets out the Government's commitment to a comprehensive policy for long-lived radioactive wastes, developed in an open and transparent way on the basis of widespread consultation to ensure the maximum possible public acceptance. The next stage will be full consultation on the management options for radioactive waste. Subsequent steps will need to be considered in the light of the results from this consultation. There is no question at this stage of looking at the potential suitability of any particular sites. This would only be necessary if, in the light of consultation, underground disposal were the chosen option. In any case, this would be some years away.

The Government have also accepted that it is possible that at least some plutonium may be declared a waste in the future. The response therefore also sets out our intention to consult with BNFL, British Energy and UKAEA on the likely future uses for the UK plutonium stockpile.

I have today published a report which my Department commissioned from consultants Quantisci setting out a research and development strategy for disposing of certain radioactive materials. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House.

The High Level Waste and Spent Fuel Disposal Research Strategy project has identified the scale and nature of the research and development that would be required, if deep geological disposal of high-level waste and spent fuel were to be pursued. The report will inform the forthcoming consultation paper on radioactive waste management.

I have also today published the 1998 UK Radioactive Waste Inventory. Copies of the summary report have been placed in the Library of the House.

The Inventory was jointly commissioned by Nirex and my Department. It describes all stocks of waste held in the UK at 1 April 1998, together with predictions of wastes arising into the future. There has been an increase of around 12 per cent. in the total volume of wastes in stock since the last inventory in 1994 due to the continued accumulation of intermediate and high level wastes in the absence of disposal facilities. However, the predictions of future arising have been revised downwards since the last report (17 per cent. for high level waste; 26 per cent. for intermediate and 2 per cent. for low level waste) due to developments in waste conditioning, better estimates of volume and some changes in the scale and nature of future operations.

The UK is one of the few countries where such information is made publicly available. Organisations involved with the nuclear industry, and relevant non-governmental organisations, will receive a free copy on compact disk. The summary report will also be available on the internet at www.nirex.co.uk.

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A report on the UK's intentions for implementing the OSPAR strategy with regard to radioactive substances has been sent to the OSPAR secretariat today. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House. Copies have also been sent to nuclear operators and relevant non-governmental organisations.

Departmental Twinning

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many requests there have been to his Department for placement of officials from Central, East European and CIS states as twins of his officials; how many such officials have been accepted as twins; from which countries (a) those who were accepted and (b) those who were not accepted came; and which of these twinnings related to the (i) environment, (ii) transport and (iii) regional policy aspects of his Department. [93993]

Ms Beverley Hughes: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz).

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