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31 Jan 2005 : Column 584W—continued
TRANSPORT
Departmental Policies (Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East)
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency of his Department's policies since 8 June 2001. [206835]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the numbers of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1 billion in 1996–97 to 40.9 billion in 2003–04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality, emissions of the UK's two main pollutants—nitrous oxides and particles—fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002.
The funding provided directly to Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East since 2001 is shown in the following table. It has been for Middlesbrough and
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Redcar and Cleveland councils to determine how that allocation has spent, in line with their local transport plan and their priorities.
(1)Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding
Finally, the Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood. statistics.gov.uk./. In addition, the Department for Transport's website also contains data on transport trends over the past 20 years at http://www.dft.gov.uk.
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Departmental Policies (Hull)
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Kingston upon Hull North constituency, the effects on Kingston upon Hull North of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [211801]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Kingston Upon Hull constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the numbers of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1 billion in 1996–07 to 40.9 billion in 2003–04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality, emissions of the UK's two main pollutants(nitrous oxides and particles(fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002.
The funding provided directly to Kingston Upon Hull since 1997 are shown in the table below 1 . It has been for Kingston Upon Hull to determine how that allocation was spent, in line with their local transport plan and their priorities.
(2)Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding
In addition, since 1997 the Kingston Upon Hull constituency has benefited from major improvements to strategic infrastructure—for example, the Highways Agency's A1033 Hedon Road Improvement.
Finally, the neighbourhood statistics service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics. gov.uk./. In addition, the Department for Transport's website also contains data on transport trends over the past twenty years at http://www.dft.gov.uk.
1 Funding allocations for 1997–98 not included since they cover a period proceeding May 1997 and announcements concerning the 1997–98 allocations were made in 1996.
Airline Traffic Rights
Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in granting Syrian Air intermediate fifth freedom traffic rights between Manchester and Beirut. [211537]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department has already granted Syrian Air intermediate fifth freedom traffic rights between Manchester and Beirut on a temporary basis following a request from the Syrian authorities. We hope to formalise this arrangement during discussions early this year.
Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in granting Pakistan International Airlines additional traffic rights between Manchester and North America. [211538]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department is in discussion with the Pakistani aeronautical authorities to arrange air services negotiations on a range of matters relating to UK-Pakistan aviation relations, including traffic rights between Manchester and North America.
Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in granting Afriqiyah Airline landing rights at Manchester Airport. [211539]
Charlotte Atkins: Afriqiyah Airways of Libya already has the right to fly to Manchester Airport.
EC Legislation
Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on European Communities
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planned actions in the field of social legislation relating to road transport, with particular reference to projects arising from COM (2004) 360. [211385]
Mr. Jamieson: The two main action points arising from the report in question are being taken forward. The European Commission has made a legislative proposal to replace Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3820/85 on drivers' hours; this proposal is intended to clarify and simplify the legislation, make it easier to enforce, and update and remove outdated exemptions. Linked to thisis a proposal to amend Directive 88/599/EEC on drivers' hours enforcement, which is intended to increase the quantity and quality of checks and harmonise enforcement practices.
The Transport Council adopted its common positionon both these proposals in December 2004, and the European Parliament will consider the common positions shortly.
House Building (Transport Demand)
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with (a) the Deputy Prime Minister and (b) the West Midlands Regional Assembly about the impact of new housing in Worcestershire on the demand for travel to Birmingham. [212075]
Mr. McNulty: The Secretary of State and other Ministers in the Department for Transport have not had any discussions with either the Deputy Prime Minister or the West Midlands Regional Assembly about the impact of new housing in Worcestershire on the demand for travel to Birmingham.
Officials in both the Department for Transport and the Government Office for the West Midlands have, however, discussed the impact of new housing development across the West Midlands, including in Worcestershire, on the demand for travel in the West Midlands conurbation. Such discussions have been in the context of the Regional Spatial Strategy and the preparation of Local Transport Plans in Worcestershire and the conurbation. Working with ODPM the shared objective has been to ensure that regional and local strategies properly integrate transport with spatial planning to ensure sustainable strategies for economic growth.
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