Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the regulations and criteria that must be followed by highway authorities when considering construction of roundabouts on A roads. [191766]
Mr. Jamieson:
Roundabout design criteria can be found in standards and advice notes within the Design
19 Oct 2004 : Column 612W
Manual for Roads and Bridges. The standards and advice notes of particular relevance are:
Volume 6, Section 2, Part 3: TD16/93 Geometric Design of Roundabouts
Volume 6, Section 2, Part 3: TA78/97 Design of Road Markings at Roundabouts
Volume 6, Section 2, Part 3: TD50/99 The Geometric Layout of Signal-Controlled Junctions and Signalised Roundabouts
Volume 6, Section 2, Part 7: TA23/81 Junctions and Accesses: Determination of Size of Roundabouts and Major/Minor Junctions
Volume 6, Section 2, Part 8: TA86/03 Layout of Large Signal Controlled Junctions
Volume 6, Section 3, Part 5: TD51/03 Segregated Left Turn Lanes and Subsidiary Deflection Islands at Roundabouts.
The use of these documents is mandatory for trunk roads. They are commended to other highways authorities but their use remains a matter for each local highway authority.
Copies of these documents have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary for Transport what plans he has to develop a strategy for UK ports. [192001]
Mr. Jamieson: We announced in the Future of Transport that we will be reviewing our port policy framework once decisions have been taken on outstanding proposals for major container port development. We expect these to have been taken by the autumn of 2005.
Nick Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road. [192005]
Mr. Jamieson: Uninsured drivers on our roads are a menace. We have taken a number of steps to bear down on uninsured driving including setting up a review of motor insurance arrangements in the UK by Professor David Greenaway. His report was published on 11 August and we are now taking urgent measures to implement the recommendations.
We are working closely with the insurance industry and we now plan to introduce legislation, further education and enforcement programmes to force uninsured drivers from our roads.
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what initiatives have been undertaken to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on UK roads; and what funding has been allocated for this purpose. [190372]
Mr. Jamieson:
The Government recognises that uninsured drivers causes considerable concern. Following publication, last August of the Greenaway report on uninsured driving we plan a further package of measures to address the problem.
19 Oct 2004 : Column 613W
The Government's tough new approach will target the estimated one million motorists on our roads driving without insurance.
Give the police the power to seize and, in appropriate cases, destroy vehicles that are being driven uninsured;
Link the DVLA's Vehicle Register and the Motor Insurance Databases, allowing police to know which vehicles on the road are uninsured;
Allow fixed penalties for people who ignore reminders that their insurance has expired.
We are also considering with relevant stakeholders:
Concerted action by insurance companies to continue to improve the Motor Insurance Database;
Simpler and clearer notification procedures so that no one is in any doubt when their insurance expires;
Automatic reminders sent out to those motorists who forget to insure on time.
We are considering what funding from Government will be needed.
23. Mr. Heath: To ask the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he has taken to co-ordinate Government policy between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other Government departments on rural areas. [192012]
Mr. Milburn: Rural Policy is co-ordinated by DEFRA across Whitehall. A series of meetings are held regularly between my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Rural Affairs (Alun Michael) and ministerial colleagues from other Government Departments.
There is a Cabinet Committee on Rural Renewal, DA(RR).
Rural Proofing is a key mechanism by which Government takes its rural work forward. Through it a proper analysis of the benefits and disbenefits to rural areas is made. It is now formally part of the Regulatory Impact Assessment.
24. Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the strategy unit's report on the future of the fishing industry. [192013]
Mr. Milburn: The report proposed a possible long-term strategy for improving the fortunes of the industry and the communities which depend on it. It calls for major reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy, whilst also saying that the fishing industry will gain more from the UK staying in the Common Fisheries Policy.
Responsibility for taking forward the reports' findings has now passed from the Strategy Unit to the fisheries departments of the UK, through an extensive process of consultation with the fishing industry and other stakeholders.
19 Oct 2004 : Column 614W
25. Mr. Gray: To ask the Minister if she will make a statement on the role, responsibilities and status of Lord Birt. [192015]
Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor provided to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on Wednesday 21 Jul 2004, column 332W.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will list the responses (a) made and (b) not yet made to reports on matters within her Department's responsibility by the Public Administration Committee since June 2001. [191935]
Ruth Kelly [holding answer 18 October 2004]: Information relating to responses made by the Government to reports of the Public Administration Select Committee is available in the Library of the House, or through the Committee's website at http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary committees/public administration select committee/public administration select committee reports and publications.cfm
A response to the Committee's Third Report of the 200304 session on "Ministerial Accountability and Parliamentary Questions" (HC 355) was sent to the Committee on 15 October, and will therefore not yet appear on the website.
A response to the Committee's Fifth Report of the 200304 session entitled "A Matter of Honour: Reforming the Honours System" (HC 2121) is still outstanding, and the Committee has been advised that the Government aims to reply before the Christmas recess.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which area of e-Government received the largest number of hits in the last period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [192014]
Ruth Kelly: A regular independent survey of traffic to government websites shows that JobCentre Plus, the Inland Revenue, Met Office and DfES regularly attract the highest traffic across government.
Directgov, the single destination for all e-Government services, which was launched in April is now 8th most popular government site. Visits to the site are continually increasing, with visits rising from 419,916 in May to 758,149 in September.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he issues to (a) schools and (b) other educational facilities on contingency preparations to put in place where community use may conflict with pupils who have allergies, particularly allergies to peanuts. [191014]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: All educational institutions have health and safety responsibilities towards the children and young people in their care, which include making health and safety risk assessments. The responsibility of the employer is to make sure that safety measures cover the needs of all pupils, which may mean making special arrangements for individual pupils with medical needs. This is set out in the joint DfES/Department of Health Circular 14/96: "Supporting pupils with medical needs in school. The associated Supporting pupils with medical needs:" a good practice guide provides advice and information to schools on managing medication and pupils' health needs including anaphylaxis (e.g. peanut allergy). We have also issued advice to schools and local education authorities on community use and health and safety responsibilities in Extended Schools: "providing opportunities and services for all." It advises that when offering additional activities and services that may affect the health and safety of staff and others, new risk assessments should be carried out to assess the likely risk to staff, pupils, visitors and users of the premises.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |