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School Crossing Patrols

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures he is undertaking to help local authorities recruit school crossing patrols; and if he will make a statement. [31368]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department is grant-aiding the update of the guidelines for local authorities on the management and operation of the school crossing patrols that was produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association. I hope this will address any general problems associated with the recruitment and retention of people to provide this valued service.

School Run

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills concerning the effect on traffic congestion of private car transport of pupils to and from school; and if he will make a statement. [31494]

Mr. Jamieson: My officials are in regular contact with officials from DfES in the context of the School Travel Advisory Group. The group was set up by the then

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Transport, Education and Health Ministers in December 1998 to advise on ways to reduce car use and improve safety for children on the journey to school. We have published guides and introduced a new programme of advice and support to assist local authorities and schools in promoting more sustainable school travel.

Road Safety (Commercial Drivers)

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with operators of commercial fleets and other bodies on the level of road crashes involving their vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31484]

Mr. Jamieson: The Department meets and corresponds with representatives of operators of commercial fleets and others on a regular basis on a wide range of issues. The Work-related Road Safety Task Group consulted the industry and its representatives last year on at-work road safety issues. The task group's report was published on 22 November 2001 and the Government are now considering the recommendations.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent studies he has commissioned to establish the number of road crashes involving company driven vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31482]

Mr. Jamieson: The Work-related Road Safety Task Group considered the nature and scale of at-work road traffic incidents. The group commissioned research by the Business Strategy Group and their report, published on 22 November 2001, summarises the findings of that and other related research projects. The report may be viewed on the Health and Safety Executive's website at www.house.gov.uk/road/content.traffic1/pdf. Details of the research are set out in Annexe 3.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it a requirement for drivers of company cars and vans to undertake additional driver training; and if he will make a statement. [31493]

Mr. Jamieson: The Government support high quality training for all drivers and are working with the training industry to ensure that those offering the training have the right skills. We have no plans to introduce compulsory training for company car or van drivers.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will apply to drivers of company cars and vans the safety time limits for driving applied to heavy goods vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31481]

Mr. Jamieson: There are no plans for legislation to restrict the number of driving hours by company car users. Drivers of goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes operate under the UK domestic drivers' hours legislation as they are specifically exempted from European Union (EU) drivers' hours rules.

We announced plans in the Transport White Paper to consult on the possible repeal of the UK drivers' hours rules, in favour of the EU rules. Unfortunately these plans had to be put on hold pending the outcome of discussions on the draft EU directive extending working time limits

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to mobile workers in the road transport industry. While the terms of this directive have now been agreed and are expected to be published in April, there is now a draft European Commission proposal to amend the EU drivers' hours rules themselves on which we have just gone out to consultation.

Contracts (KPMG)

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what contracts his Department has with KPMG; and what the value is of each one. [31318]

Dr. Whitehead: There are currently seven contracts the Department has with KPMG, which are listed as follows; the total value is £2,970,759.00.








I am unable to provide individual values for each contract, as the information is deemed commercially sensitive.

Marine Pollution (Shoreline Clean-ups)

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) how much funding has been awarded by central Government to local authorities to cover the implementation of plans to undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents in each of the last 10 years; [31211]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department recognises the importance of the role of coastal local authorities in preparing and maintaining contingency plans for

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responding to shoreline pollution following marine pollution incidents, and in carrying out that response. Since the beginning of 1998, my Department has received representations concerning the introduction of a statutory duty on coastal local authorities to plan for or undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents from: Aberdeenshire council, Ceredigion county council, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Devon county council, Dumfries and Galloway council, Dundee city council, Fife council, KIMO (Kommunenes Internasjonale Milj organisasjon), the Local Government Association, Pembrokeshire county council, Purbeck district council, Shetland Islands council, South Ayrshire council and the Tyne and Wear Emergency Planning Unit. This is a subject which falls within the scope of the Cabinet Office's ongoing review of "The Future of Emergency Planning in England and Wales", and specifically that review's proposal that existing emergency planning legislation be replaced with a new statutory duty for emergency planning, and my Department has made an input to that review. The result of the review is awaited.

The information requested about coastal local authorities which have implemented contingency plans on a voluntary basis has been placed in the Libraries of the House, in the form of a list compiled by my Department's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, using data collected in January 2001 (and which are being updated presently). Information about the amount of funding which local authorities have requested to cover the implementation of plans to undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents, and the amounts which local authorities have spent on setting up plans to undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents and on cleaning up shorelines following marine pollution incidents, is not held centrally. No specific grants have been made covering the implementation of shoreline clean-up plans following a marine pollution incident. My Department's Maritime and Coastguard Agency does, however, annually provide training courses for local authority officers on oil pollution contingency planning and response, and shorter courses on oil spill response, at no cost to the local authorities involved.

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