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House of Commons

Tuesday 19 October 2004

The House met at half-past Eleven o'clock

PRAYERS

[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]

Oral Answers to Questions

TRANSPORT

The Secretary of State was asked—

Chase Railway Line

1. Tony Wright (Cannock Chase) (Lab): What steps are being taken to improve reliability on the Chase line from Birmingham to Cannock, Hednesford and Rugeley. [191988]

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Mr. Tony McNulty): Poor performance has been a problem on that line, mainly stemming from infrastructure problems. I understand that Network Rail has initiated a project to look at every problem on the line and identify solutions.

Tony Wright: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer. The Chase line, which serves my constituency, has been a huge success in terms of passenger usage since it opened, but its reliability has been a continuing disaster. We need serious investment in that line if we are to get people off the crowded west midlands roads and on to public transport. Will he do some real joined-up thinking and talk to Central Trains, which acknowledges the need for infrastructure investment, and to Network Rail, so that we can achieve some reliability improvements on that line?

Mr. McNulty: I certainly agree with my hon. Friend. As he suggests, the problems are mostly the result of aged infrastructure, and Central Trains has raised the issue, as a matter of major concern, with Network Rail. They have had a number of meetings, and they will meet again today. I will certainly take a keen interest in what flows from that meeting and in the subsequent infrastructure projects that Network Rail proposes, and I will get back to my hon. Friend because I accept his points.

Road Casualties

2. Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South) (Lab): What steps have been taken to reduce the number of road casualties in England since 2003. [191989]
 
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. David Jamieson): Reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads is the central feature of our wide-ranging road safety strategy. The provisional 2004 first quarter casualty figures show that we are now over halfway towards our 2010 target of achieving a 40 per cent. reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured and over three quarters towards our 50 per cent. reduction target for children. There is no room for complacency, but I believe that we can be justifiably proud of the progress that we are making.

Mr. Cunningham: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer, but will he tell the House what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on road safety training in schools, which is a very important factor?

Mr. Jamieson: I agree that the education of children in better road use is extremely important. I have had recent discussions with the Under-Secretary at the Department of Education and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Twigg), on that matter and on issues that relate to the School Transport Bill, which covers some wider issues, as well as the safety of children on the journey to school. I am pleased to say that much of the money that has come from my Department and gone to local authorities, through local transport plans and other revenue expenditure funds to create safer journeys to school, has been a large contributor to the massive reduction in the number of children killed and seriously injured on our roads in the past three years.

Mr. Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con): The Minister says that he is not being complacent, but why has he not mentioned the fact that road fatalities have been increasing under this Government? Is that not a matter of great concern? Does he not think that the Government are spending too much money on education in relation to obesity and the consequences of smoking in public places but not spending enough money on road safety education? If the Government were concerned about road safety education, why did they not allow safety camera partnership money to be invested in such education?

Mr. Jamieson: I thought that the hon. Gentleman was against safety cameras and that he wanted them all removed. If that were to happen, there would be no such spending on road safety. He says that we are complacent and he often recites lines to suggest that, somehow or other, there was a golden age when he was the Roads Minister and things were better. I do not want to be party political, but for the further information of the House, I remind him that, when he was a Minister, there were 1,000 more deaths and 18,000 more people seriously injured each year on our roads than today. Things are getting very much better. There has been enormous progress in the past three years. I just wish that the hon. Gentleman felt that he could share in the success that we are clearly achieving.
 
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Mr. Michael Clapham (Barnsley, West and Penistone) (Lab): My hon. Friend will be aware that the roadway is a workplace for many people and that about 1,000 of the people killed on the roads each year are professional drivers. Has he given any further thought to how he might work with the Health and Safety Executive to draw up a strategy to prevent those accidents?

Mr. Jamieson: Yes, about 1,000 people each year who die on the roads—about a third of road deaths—are killed in connection with their work. We have had discussions with the Health and Safety Executive for some time to consider ways in which we can make improvements, and many of the larger companies now use a code of practice that relates to the safety on the road of drivers of their company vehicles. Sadly, although some companies probably take health and safety seriously in the workplace, they still do not consider that drivers who have left the factory gate or the office remain their responsibility. We are greatly concerned about that, but I am sure that my hon. Friend would agree that it is a very complex and difficult issue to tackle. Nevertheless, we are focused on it.

John Thurso (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): Is the Minister aware of the worrying trend of motor cycle accidents? Motor cycle use last year rose by 10.4 per cent., but accidents rose by 14 per cent., and something like one in five of all those killed on our roads are motor cycle users. Does the Minister accept the recommendations and strategy of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling, and especially its recommendation for a fundamental review of the direct access scheme? What are the Government doing to give effect to those suggestions?

Mr. Jamieson: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. One of the reasons why road deaths increased slightly in 2003 was the number of motor cyclists killed on our roads, which is to be regretted. As he said, people on two-wheeled vehicles account for about 20 per cent. of road deaths. The Advisory Group on Motorcycling, which we set up, has met for some time and all motor cycling and safety interests are represented on it. It produced a wide-ranging, sensible and pragmatic report, after which we considered immediately the action that the Government, motor cyclists and the motor cycle media must take. We are seriously examining the matter of direct access to large bikes that he raised to determine whether measures could be implemented to stop people from rapidly accessing very large bikes because sadly a disturbing minority of their riders are killing or seriously injuring themselves.

Mr. Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab): I congratulate my hon. Friend on the leadership that he has given on the subject. May I follow on from the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) and ask the Minister whether he is in constant contact with Government Departments—not only the Department for Education and Skills, but the Home Office and the Department of Health—and other key players to help to bring together a strategy that embraces all aspects of the risks on our roads?
 
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Mr. Jamieson: My hon. Friend will probably know that the strategy is the three E's: enforcement, education—I have forgotten what the other one is, but it will come to me in a moment—[Laughter.]—and engineering. Those three things involve not only our Department, but all Departments. We work closely with the Department for Education and Skills on issues relating to school transport and we are also working with the Home Office on enforcement and offences, so other Departments are involved. The good work that is done by local authorities and other road safety organisations also contributes to the improvement in safety on our roads.

Dr. Andrew Murrison (Westbury) (Con): The A36 in my constituency is rightly known locally as death valley. Will the Minister acknowledge the safety case for the long-awaited Codford to Heytesbury improvements and fund them accordingly?

Mr. Jamieson: I would be interested if the hon. Gentleman made that point to his Front-Bench team because it is committed to cutting most of that expenditure. I will happily examine that specific road. If he wants to drop me a line, I shall be happy to have a discussion with him.

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