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Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what target his Department sets for the maximum acceptable time to respond in full to a parliamentary question; and what percentage of answers given by his Department failed to meet this target in each parliamentary Session from 199798 to 200304. [202561]
Charlotte Atkins: The effective handling of parliamentary questions is an issue to which I and ministerial colleagues attach great importance.
This Department aims to answer named day questions on the day specified and ordinary written questions within five working days of them appearing on the Order Paper.
The information provided is in respect of the period since the formation of this Department on 29 May 2002.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the trunk road network has been resurfaced with quieter surfaces pursuant to the policy announced on 17 October 2001; and what percentage will be resurfaced in each of the next three years. [203791]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 9 December 2004]: The Highways Agency estimates that overall 27 per cent. of the trunk road network has been resurfaced with quieter surfaces. The Highways Agency is currently reviewing the programme for quieter surfaces over the next three years.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of the schemes for resurfacing concrete trunk roads with quieter materials which were announced by the Highways Agency on 17 October 2001 have been completed; and at what cost. [203792]
Mr. Jamieson
[holding answer 9 December 2004]: The announcement on 17 October 2001 detailed a list of concrete road schemes planned for resurfacing, together with confirmation that further studies were underway to identify additional sites that met the criteria for quieter surfacing.
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19 schemes have been completed at a total cost of £141.6 million.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the trunk roads with concrete surfaces which have been opened since June 1988; what the results were of noise surveys in respect of each; and whether the actual noise levels recorded were significantly higher than those predicted at the time of the public inquiry. [203993]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 13 December 2004]: The surveys that the Highways Agency undertook on trunk roads with concrete surfaces opened since June 1988 measured the average noise levels arising from vehicles and compared these with the average predicted noise levels used at public inquiry, or public consultation where no inquiry was required. The differences between measurements and predictions for these roads are given in the following table:
The criterion of significance applied to differences in noise levels is 3 dB and this criterion was met by eight of the roads surveyed.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's publicity budget for road safety is in the current year; and what his Department's expenditure on road safety publicity was in each of the last seven years. [203989]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 13 December 2004]: The Department's publicity budget for road safety has increased from circa £6 million in 1997 to a budget of £14.1 million in this fiscal year, reflecting the increased commitment to publicity outlined in "Tomorrow's Roads Safer for Everyone" which was published in 2000 and set out the Government's road safety strategy and casualty reduction targets for 2010.
The current Department for Transport was created in May 2002. Road safety publicity figures to support the THINK! road safety campaign were £14.9 million and £13.4 million in 200304 and 200203 respectively. Given Departmental reorganisations, individual figures for each of the last seven years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents resulted in (a) death and (b) serious injury in the most recent year for which figures are available; and in how many cases (i) the victim was aged under 15 and (ii) a driver over the age of 70 was involved. [203904]
Mr. Jamieson: In 2003, there were 3,247 road traffic accidents that resulted in at least one fatality. Of these, 269 involved at least one casualty aged under 15, and 251 involved at least one driver or rider aged over 70.
There were 28,913 road traffic accidents in 2003 that resulted in at least one serious injury (but no fatalities). Of these, 3,847 involved at least one casualty aged under 15, and 1,129 involved at least one driver or rider aged over 70.
Personal injury road accident data in Great Britain are collected by the police and reported to the Department using the STATS 19 accident report format. Results are published in detail in "Road Casualties Great BritainAnnual Report". The report for 2003 was published on 30 September 2004 and a copy placed in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what proportion of road traffic accidents the victim was (a) a pedestrian and (b) a cyclist in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by age. [203905]
Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
Age group | Number | Percentage(3) |
---|---|---|
015 | 12,235 | 43 |
1659 | 17,037 | 10 |
60 + | 4,926 | 19 |
Age group | Number | Percentage(4) |
---|---|---|
015 | 4,685 | 17 |
1659 | 10,657 | 6 |
60 + | 933 | 4 |
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his latest estimate is of the number of (a) fatal, (b) serious and (c) non-serious injuries thought to have been caused by mobile phone use by (i) cyclists and (ii) other road users in a year. [203956]
Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the powers under the Railways and Transport
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Safety Act 2003 to carry out roadside drug tests will be utilised; and if he will make a statement. [203990]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 13 December 2004]: Section 6B(2) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003) requires the Secretary of State to issue a Code of Practice that trained police officers must use when administering roadside preliminary impairment testing, such as the 'walk and turn test'. This will be issued shortly to all police forces in Great Britain and will enable them to require drivers to take part in such testing, which is designed to help officers reach a judgment whether a driver may be impaired.
The police will be further assisted in dealing with suspect drivers when they are able to undertake preliminary testing at the roadside for the presence of drugs under section 6C of the Act. That requires equipment that must be type approved. The specification for type approval is in preparation by the Home Office
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who hope that it will be finalised in the first half of next year. Once devices are type approved, the police will be able to use them.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people killed in motor accidents in each of the last 10 years had illegal drugs present in their body at the time of the accident; and how many of these were (a) vehicle drivers, (b) vehicle passengers, (c) motor cyclists, (d) cyclists and (e) pedestrians. [203991]
Mr. Jamieson: [holding answer 13 December 2004]: This information is not collected by the police. A study by TRL Ltd. on behalf of the Department and published in 2000 surveyed a sample of fatal road accident victims for the presence of drugs, and alcohol, from 1996 to 2000. That gave figures for the victims covered by the study where traces of any drugs (legal and illegal) were found in their body. The figures reproduced in the table are taken from that study. The presence of drugs is not evidence of accident causation, though there may be an association. The full report (TRL495) is available on-line at www.trl.co.uk/1024/mainpage.asp?page=141.
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