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Mr. Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of media campaigns in reducing the incidence of drink driving. [124053]
Mr. Hill: Our drink drive media campaigns have aimed to stimulate media and public awareness of the message not to drink and drive. They have also provided a focus for co-ordinated complementary activity by police forces, local authorities and many others in the public and private sectors. Effectiveness is measured on an ongoing basis by:
3 Jul 2000 : Column: 82W
Year | 1979 | 1998 | Percentage difference |
---|---|---|---|
Fatalities | 1,640 | 460 | -72 |
Serious injuries | 8,300 | 2520 | -70 |
Year | Percentage positive/refused |
---|---|
1988 | 25 |
1989 | 20 |
1990 | 17 |
1991 | 16 |
1992 | 17 |
1993 | 15 |
1994 | 14 |
1995 | 13 |
1996 | 13 |
1997 | 13 |
1998(34) | 12 |
(34) Provisional
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he has (a) been and (b) asked to be provided with information on whether any of the conventional rapeseed grown in the farm-scale evaluations contains genetically modified rapeseed; and if he will place copies of the written information in his possession in that regard in the Library. [126098]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 15 June 2000]: I have been advised that none of the Farm Scale Evaluation sites in England have been planted with the affected batches of Advanta Hyola rapeseeds, but I understand that the evaluation site in Scotland has been.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to the statement on 18 May 2000, Official Report, column 475, when the seed purity checks were put in place; how many consignments of GM seeds have been checked to date; to what degree of purity the seeds were tested; and what were the results of the tests. [126855]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 19 June 2000]: My Department has asked the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) to check for GM contamination of imports of oilseed rape and maize, as part of CSL's wider responsibilities for inspection and enforcement relating to GM releases and marketing. CSL are currently compiling data from which an appropriate inspection programme is being developed.
The programme will be in place in good time for the sowing of winter oilseed rape, which CSL will consider as its first priority.
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the (a) make, (b) model and (c) number of each make and model of car (i) owned and (ii) leased by his Department; and what is the (1) purchase price and (2) annual cost of the lease of each car. [127396]
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Ms Beverley Hughes: Information about the make and model of cars owned or leased by my Department has been placed in the Library of the House. Information about purchase price and lease costs is not held centrally.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many of his Department's telephone lines used by the general public are responded to by interactive voice response systems. [127390]
Ms Beverley Hughes: None of the telephone lines of DETR(c) currently use an Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) system.
Pursuant to my answer of 22 June 2000, Official Report, column 245W, I have been informed that two of the Department's Agencies--the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Driving Standards Agency (DSA)--make limited IVR facilities available to callers not using touch-tone telephones. DVLA has 345 telephone lines and DSA has up to 380 lines that have this facility.
I apologise for the error in my previous answer.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much funding was allocated for distributing copies of the draft regional planning guidance for the South East. [127798]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The costs to date met by Government of distributing copies of draft regional planning guidance for the South East have been approximately £3,500 by my Department, and approximately £12,300 incurred by the Government Office for the South East.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) how many responses were received to the consultation on the "Gas Safety Review: Options for Change" document; [127972]
Mr. Meacher: In total 664 replies to the Options for Change discussion exercise were received by HSE. These comprise 290 responses to questions raised by the main discussion document, and the associated document Key Issues for Consumers; and 374 responses to questionnaires from consumers in Glasgow and Lambeth, arising from related consultative exercises arranged jointly with local authorities.
A list of the organisations and individuals who responded has been placed in the House of Commons Library, and in HSE's Information Centres in London, Sheffield and Bootle.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to make an announcement concerning changes to be implemented following the "Gas Safety Review: Options for Change" document. [127983]
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Mr. Meacher: The Health and Safety Commission plans to report to Ministers with findings and recommendations during the summer. In the light of that we will make an announcement.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects the HSE to reach conclusions on the "Gas Safety Review: Options for Change" document. [127984]
Mr. Meacher: The review is being carried out on behalf of the Health and Safety Commission. HSC is likely to reach conclusions in the summer, before reporting to Ministers.
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to increase the central support protection grant for London boroughs in order to implement the Government's priorities. [127850]
Ms Beverley Hughes: We announced during the debate on this year's Local Government Finance Settlement, on 3 February 2000, Official Report, column 1271, that we intend to use the same central support protection grant arrangements for 2001-02 that we used for this year. These arrangements ensure an increase of at least 1.5 per cent. in grant for London boroughs and other local authorities with education and social service responsibilities.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the performance of driverless trains on the London Underground in relation to attributable delays, with special reference to peak hour traffic; and for what reason not all new rolling stock is equipped for driverless operation. [128041]
Mr. Hill: All London Underground trains have drivers. However, it is true that Automatic Train Operation (ATO) gives improved consistency of performance. ATO is already used on the Victoria line and on parts of the Central line. The driver, however, can always override the system if necessary. There are plans to extend its use on the Central line later this year and ATO for other lines will be considered at times of major upgrade.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the performance of the London Underground Central Line in 1999 in relation to attributable delays, with special reference to the age of rolling stock involved. [128040]
Mr. Hill: New rolling stock was introduced on the Central Line in 1993 and 1994, which incorporated a number of revolutionary new train system developments from which passengers are already benefiting. London Underground are working to remedy particular problems with the final trainborne element of the Automatic Train Operation (ATO) signalling system.
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