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17 Mar 2005 : Column 348W—continued
New Estates
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many unadopted roads there are on estates built in the last 15 years; and how many unadopted residential streets there are in England. [222717]
Charlotte Atkins: Information is not held centrally on either question.
Private Car Parks
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is allowed to pass on details it holds on individuals to operators of privately-owned and operated car parks. [221968]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 15 March 2005]: Regulations provide for the release of vehicle keeper details from the register maintained by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to applicants who can demonstrate 'reasonable cause' for their request. Legal advice is that the enforcement of parking restrictions on private property meets the 'reasonable cause' criterion. If information were not released in these circumstances, landlords would have great difficulty in enforcing their rights to their property. The Information Commissioner is aware that personal data are used in this way and he has issued advice that is available on his website.
Rail Stations
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers have used (a) Bramley, (b) Burley Park and (c) Headingley rail stations in each year since 1987. [221965]
Mr. McNulty: Figures are only held from year 1990–91 and are shown in the following table.
Railways
Jeremy Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department will be assuming powers previously exercised by the Strategic Rail Authority in respect of (a) waiving penalty payments for train operators involved in industrial disputes, (b) providing compensation to train operating
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companies for loss of revenue arising from industrial disputes and (c) authorising pay and conditions agreements in the 12 months of a franchise. [222532]
Mr. McNulty: Penalty payments, train operators' revenue and approval of pay deals for train operators' staff are all aspects of franchising. Under the Railways Bill, responsibility for passenger rail franchising would pass to the Secretary of State for Transport and Scottish Ministers as appropriate. Whether and how these specific powers will be used in the future is an issue we will want to consider in due course.
Registered Car Owners (Essex)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many registered car owners there have been in (a) Southend and (b) Essex in each year since 1997. [222487]
Mr. Jamieson: DVLA is unable to provide information on numbers of car owners as our system cannot cater for multiple vehicles registered to a single owner. In addition DVLA registers vehicle keepers (the person responsible for the use of the vehicles on the road) and not legal owners. However, the numbers of licensed vehicles registered to addresses in the Southend and Essex areas are as follows:
(1) 2003 is the last full year for which information is currently available
Road Accidents/Deaths
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish the number of road accidents in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in 2004. [222471]
Mr. Jamieson: The Department for Transport will report accident and casualty figures for Essex and the unitary authority Southend on Sea in Road Casualties Great Britain: 2004", which is due for publication in September 2005.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government are taking in support of the policy of the European Union to halve the number of road deaths across the EU between 2002 and 2010. [222350]
Mr. Jamieson: We continue to develop and implement our wide-ranging road safety strategy. The provisional 2004 third quarter casualty figures show we are now over halfway towards our 2010 target of a 40 per cent. reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured, and over three-quarters towards our 50 per cent. target for children.
The first review of the road safety strategy identified that, while we are making good progress toward meeting our overall casualty reduction targets, the
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number of fatal casualties has levelled off. This is a complex issue, affecting other European countries which like us have a good record on road safety, and it is receiving in-depth analysis and special focus as we develop the strategy further.
Seafarers
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to review the operation of race relations legislation in relation to seafarers. [222309]
Mr. Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 17 January 2005, Official Report, column 675W, given to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).
Speed Cameras/Humps
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in descending order the 10 local authority areas in England which have the greatest number of fixed speed cameras. [221719]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 15 March 2005]: Details are in the tables of the safety camera partnerships' sites and casualties which my Department published and placed in the Library in June 2004.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many traffic calming schemes introduced in England since 1998 speed humps have been constructed and later withdrawn or modified, broken down by local authority. [222352]
Mr. Jamieson: Local authorities have the power to introduce or modify traffic calming schemes without approval from the Department, so there are no central records which contain this information.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of speed humps, with particular reference to (a) air pollution and (b) noise pollution; and if he will make a statement. [222353]
Mr. Jamieson: The Department has commissioned a number of research projects in recent years to assess the environmental impact of road humps.
The research has indicated that emissions from individual vehicles may increase with the implementation of traffic calming measures, due to increased driver acceleration and deceleration. However, the reduction in the volume of traffic within traffic calming schemes usually means that the overall changes in air quality are roughly neutral.
After the installation of road humps and speed cushions, research has shown that the maximum noise levels from light vehicles (cars) are reduced, as is the
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overall traffic noise level when light vehicles form most of the traffic stream. However, the effect on noise from large vehicles is more complex. While there are some decreases in maximum vehicle noise levels from large commercial vehicles due to reductions in their speeds, this can be offset by increases in noise from the bodywork of such vehicles as they pass over the humps and cushions. The net effect of these measures on the overall traffic noise depends on the proportion of large commercial vehicles in the traffic stream, and on the type of road hump installed.
The environmental impact of road humps has to be considered against the need to improve road safety. Around 3,500 people are killed and a further 34,000 are seriously injured on our roads every year. Nearly 2,400 of these casualties are child pedestrians. Compliance with speed limits would reduce these unacceptable numbers, and experience shows that traffic calming measures such as road humps have significant safety benefits.
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