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11 May 2004 : Column 259W—continued

Road Traffic Accidents

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people (a) were seriously injured and (b) died in road traffic accidents in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since 1997. [171773]

Dr. Howells: The numbers of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in the East Riding of Yorkshire for each year since 1997, are shown in the following table.

	Killed	Seriously injured
1997	23	241
1998	33	270
1999	42	258
2000	21	260
2001	24	266
2002	36	286
Total	179	1,581

Shell Haven

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to report the result of the public inquiry into the Shell Haven Port inquiry. [172559]

Mr. Jamieson: The report of the public inquiry into the proposed London Gateway port at Shell Haven is under careful consideration. The report will be made public as soon as Ministers are able to announce their decision.
 
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Shipping (Straits of Malacca)

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether ships are searched as a matter of course if they have passed through the Straits of Malacca en route to the UK. [170062]

Mr. Jamieson: The decision to invoke control measures, including ship searching is largely intelligence led.

Statutory Off-road Notifications

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what procedures are followed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for issuing a reminder notice in the case of Statutory off-road Notifications. [172102]

Mr. Jamieson: Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) declarations are valid for 12 months. Approximately two weeks before expiry DVLA issues a notice to remind the motorist either to renew SORN or to tax the vehicle.

Transport Direct

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the consultants used to conduct work for the Department related to Transport Direct, broken down by (a) value of work and (b) nature of the work. [170868]

Dr. Howells: The following table provides this information.
£000

Nature of Work	Value of Work
Transport Direct Programme Management	210
Transport Direct Portal Project Management	342
Transport Direct Portal Technical Advice	716
Transport Direct Portal Contract Management	179
Research and Usability	196
Data Management	215
Management of Technical Standards	8
Development of an Evaluation Framework	15

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Transport Direct information service to go online. [171945]

Dr. Howells: The Transport Direct service will become available to the public in July 2004. The service itself came online—under password protection—in December 2003, since when extensive data testing has been undertaken.

Trunk Roads

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which trunk road schemes have been placed by the Department of Transport before regional assemblies for consultation. [171991]

Mr. Jamieson: Regional Assemblies, or their predecessor organisations, have been consulted for their views on all trunk Road schemes considered as candidates for entry to the Targeted Programme of
 
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Improvements, either as part of a wider public consultation process, through direct consultation between the Highways Agency and the relevant assembly or through their involvement in the multi-modal and road based studies which were set up following the 1998 Roads Review to examine proposals for major improvements to the motorway and trunk road network.

Walking

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects his Department's partnership website on walking to go live. [172051]

Dr. Howells: A website for walking professionals, developed and run by a partnership of national walking organisations, went live on 31 March this year. It can be found at www.walk2l.com. My Department provided some financial support for the project.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Air Quality

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the air quality was in each of the last five years in towns and cities in Northern Ireland for which records are kept. [172064]

Angela Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) of the Department of the Environment publishes an annual air quality monitoring report for Northern Ireland in partnership with the Chief Environmental Health Officers Group. The most recent report—for 2002—provides details of all air quality monitoring and results taken from district council and departmental monitoring sites. This report also draws together all the historical air quality monitoring data for Northern Ireland and includes trend analysis and discussion in relation to EU limit values and National Air Quality Objectives, where data permit.

The report can also be accessed on the EHS website. http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/environment/air/air.shtml

Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

Body Piercing

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the regulation of body piercing and tattooing establishments in Northern Ireland. [172029]

Angela Smith: Powers for the regulation by district councils of tattooing and ear-piercing establishments in Northern Ireland are provided by Part V of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.

Under this legislation, district councils may resolve to control tattooing and ear-piercing practices in their districts by requiring practitioners to register themselves and their premises with the district council. They may also make bye-laws concerning the cleanliness of registered premises and practitioners, and for the cleansing and sterilisation of instruments, materials and equipment with their district council.
 
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The Government intend to publish draft legislation for consultation later this year which would bring forward legislative proposals to extend these arrangements to body-piercing practices.

Castlereagh College

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps were taken to ensure Castlereagh College's involvement in assisting employees of TK-ECC following closure of the factory at Dundonald; and if he will make a statement. [171029]

Mr. Gardiner: Following two meetings with TK-ECC Senior Management, officials from the Department for Employment and Learning co-ordinated an inter-Departmental Outreach Service at the company's premises, from 8 to 12 March. During the meetings it was indicated to the company that Castlereagh College was keen to provide additional support to the workforce; subsequently, formal contact was established between the company and the college.

The company quickly established the Outplacement Centre, involving the Department for Employment and Learning, Invest Northern Ireland, Social Security Agency and the Inland Revenue in providing advice and guidance on their services, including referrals to jobs and training opportunities, benefit claims and entitlement, advice on business start-up and entitlement to tax credits. While it was the company's intention to engage with other interested organisations, including Castlereagh College, unfortunately, this did not transpire as the premises were vacated on 12 March, prohibiting intervention by these organisations.

The Department for Employment and Learning's District Manager for South and East Belfast met, subsequently, with the Principal and Chief Executive of Castlereagh College to clarify the situation pertaining to the closure of TK-ECC and to establish agreed practices in the event of future redundancies occurring within South and East Belfast.

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