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10 Nov 2003 : Column 13W—continued
PRIME MINISTER
Correspondence
Mr. Collins: To ask the Prime Minister which Department will answer the letter from the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale to him of 21 October concerning the proposed closure of the Holehird Leonard Cheshire home for the disabled in Windermere; and when it will do so. [137920]
The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Health will be replying to the letter this week.
GM Trials
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Prime Minister what response he has made to the letter sent to him by 114 United Kingdom scientists relating to GM trials. [137703]
The Prime Minister: I strongly believe that science and technology are vital to our country's future prosperity. As a government, we need to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the top countries in the world for scientific research.
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I read the letter from Professor Burke and others with interest. In light of this, I have responded to the letter re-iterating that this government's approach is to make decisions on GM crops on the basis of sound science. The reason why we have not yet made a formal response to the results of the farm-scale evaluations is that we are waiting to hear the assessment of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, which we expect to receive around the end of this year.
Government Prospectus
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister (1) when the Government will publish a prospectus setting out its progress and the challenges facing the country; [134538]
- (2) what arrangements the Government proposes for consultation on its progress and response to challenges; and what resources it will commit to this exercise. [134539]
The Prime Minister: The prospectus will be a Labour Party publication. Individual departments account for their progress annually and regularly publish consultation documents on policy issues that are funded by those departments.
Kenny Richey
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Prime Minister if he intends to make representations for clemency to the President of the United States in the event that the appeal on behalf of Mr. Kenny Richey to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is unsuccessful. [136816]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State gave him today.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Serious Fraud Office
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General for what reasons the Serious Fraud Office did not initiate an investigation into whether payments made by a firm whose name has been communicated to her were authorised in the UK. [135892]
The Solicitor-General: If the hon. Member will write to me, outlining in full his concerns, I should be happy to provide him with a substantive reply.
TRANSPORT
Foreign-registered Lorries
Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign-registered lorries used British roads in the last 12 months. [136187]
Mr. Jamieson: During the 12 months ending June 2003, the latest period for which figures are available, foreign-registered lorries made 1.4 million trips to Great Britain. However, the number of vehicles was much less than this because individual lorries may make more than one trip.
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Lime Street Station
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the negotiations on Network Rail taking operational control of Lime Street station to be concluded. [137113]
Mr. McNulty: This is an operational matter for Network Rail. At this stage there is nothing further I can add to my answer of 4 November 2003, Official Report, column 540W, to my hon. Friend.
Montreal Convention
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to amend the Montreal Convention by substituting (a) incident for accident and (b) personal injury for bodily injury. [136998]
Mr. McNulty: Under the terms of the international 1999 Montreal Convention, in the case of death or injury to passengers airlines are strictly liable for claims up to 100,000 SDKs, and may be exonerated only from higher claims if they can prove absence of negligence.
Within such a regime it would be inappropriate to broaden the scope of airline liability by substituting (a) incident for accident or (b) personal injury for bodily injury, and I have no plans to propose amendments to the Convention.
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will press the European Union not to ratify the Montreal Protocol until airline liability is extended to include the health of air passengers. [136999]
Mr. McNulty: No. In the interests of airline passengers we look forward to the ratification of the Montreal Convention by the Community and by the member states as soon as possible.
National Rail Training Centre
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to set up a National Rail Training Centre; and if he will make a statement. [137124]
Mr. McNulty: The Centre for Rail Skills was established in July 2003 as the industry-wide training organisation. The CfRS does not itself provide training courses but is responsible for co-ordinating and facilitating them. This training takes place across the whole of the rail industry and throughout the country and is therefore delivered at a wide range of venues rather than from a single location.
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what statutory investigatory powers the Department has; which ones will be superseded by use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and what plans he has for removing these legacy powers. [136125]
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Mr. McNulty: The Department for Transport is responsible for the following statutory investigatory powers:
- Sections 179 and 180 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, 76 and 77 of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, 129 of the Transport Act 1985 and 128 and 129 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to require production of documents and to call witnesses in the course of an inquiry. 1
Section 180 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, to inspect a vehicle that has been involved in a road accident.
Section 75 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, to obtain information in connection with investigations of air accidents.
Sections 257 to 260, 267 and 268 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, to require the production of documents and call witnesses under a formal inquiry, and require production of ships' documents and other documents necessary for inspections and examinations.
Section 119 of the Railways Act 1933, to require the production of information to make directions to railway operators about safety.
Powers under section 259(2)(k) the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 to compel people to assist the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will be retained as they are used for other purposes not relating to accessing communications data. If the draft Order is enacted, these powers will not be used or attempted to be used for obtaining communications data.
- 1 Similar powers exist under sections 249 and 249 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 and section 56 of the Goods Vehicle (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, due to legislative changes these provisions will soon be repealed.
Road Safety
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department (a) has carried out and (b) has collated on the effect on the risk of collision of (i) hand-held and (ii) hands-free mobile phone use when driving. [137182]
Mr. Jamieson: The Department commissioned the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to review the relevant research on the use of any mobile phone while driving. The report, was published in 2001 and is available on-line at:
www.rospa.com/pdfs/road.mobiles/report.pdf.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with representatives of police forces concerning the enforcement of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No 4) Regulations 2003; and if he will make a statement. [137183]
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Mr. Jamieson: The Department consulted representative police organisations prior to making the new regulation introducing an offence of using a hand-held mobile phone when driving. Enforcement will be a matter for the police.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to publicise the new regulations concerning the use of mobile phones when driving. [137184]
Mr. Jamieson: My Department is publicising the new hand-held mobile phone legislation in a number of ways:
- National radio advertising will begin on 17 November 2003 and run for four weeks.
National press advertising will appear in late November 2003 and early December 2003.
Information will be emailed to the top 1,000 UK companies/Central and Local Government Departments in November 2003 encouraging them to cascade messages to employees.
National press release will be issued on 17 November 2003 and journalists approached to generate national and regional media coverage.
Variable message signs on motorways will carry messages regarding the new legislation.
Public relations activity will target relevant HR, business, personnel, office management, legal and auto-fleet magazines in November 2003.
Promotional materials including posters and leaflets are now available and will be disseminated by Road Safety Officers around the country.
Detailed information about the new legislation is available on the Think! website www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk and the DfT website.
- In January 2004 national radio advertising will run for two weeks.
National cinema advertising will begin in February 2004 and run for eight weeks.
Mr. Jamieson: The Department's advice leaflet on mobile phones and driving has been updated to take account of the new regulations and the text was recently added to the THINK Road Safety site at www. thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/mobile/index.htm. Printed copies (product code T/INF/885) will shortly be available free of charge from the Department's distribution centre, telephone 0870 122 6236.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many children under 16 (a) received a serious head injury as a result of a cycling accident and (b) died in each of the last 10 years. [136423]
Dr. Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.
The available information is shown in the tables.
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| Financial year | Number of admissions of children under 16 |
|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 2,333 |
| 1996–97 | 2,781 |
| 1997–98 | 3,349 |
| 1998–99 | 2,711 |
| 1999–2000 | 3,115 |
| 2000–01 | 3,489 |
| 2001–02 | 3,372 |
Due to changes in coding methodology it is only possible to provide the last seven years of data.
| Calendar year | Deaths from head injuries in cyclists | All deathsin cyclists |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 19 | 30 |
| 1994 | 27 | 39 |
| 1995 | 31 | 43 |
| 1996 | 34 | 47 |
| 1997 | 25 | 35 |
| 1998 | 18 | 29 |
| 1999 | 20 | 32 |
| 2000 | 14 | 24 |
| 2001 | 12 | 19 |
| 2002 | 10 | 19 |
Data for 2001 and 2002 may not be directly comparable to those for previous years, due to changes in coding methodology in 2001. The figures should therefore be interpreted with caution.
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