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Roadside Accidents

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were (a) killed and (b) seriously injured in road accidents involving car occupants unexpectedly requiring to leave their vehicle at the roadside in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [222255]

Mr. Jamieson: The information requested is not available.

Traffic Commissioners

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many traffic commissioners have undertaken training with the Judicial Studies Board in each year since 2000. [223116]

Mr. Jamieson: All newly appointed traffic commissioners and deputy traffic commissioners attend the Tribunal Skills Development Programme organised by the Judicial Studies Board.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what disciplinary procedures apply when claims of misconduct against a traffic commissioner are substantiated. [223117]

 
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Mr. Jamieson: Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 provides that a Traffic Commissioner may be removed from office by the Secretary of State for Transport on the grounds of inability or misbehaviour.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role his Department's legal team plays in reviewing and deciding what information is to be released to the Law Society in respect of a complaint against a traffic commissioner relating to the commissioner's conduct. [223119]

Mr. Jamieson: Where a body such as the Law Society makes a request for the release of information from the Department, the request will be considered on a case by case basis. The Department's legal team may be requested to advice as necessary.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether it is his Department's practice to indemnify traffic commissioners in any actions brought against them for damages. [223120]

Mr. Jamieson: It is the policy of my Department to indemnify traffic commissioners in any actions brought against them in relation to the exercise of their statutory functions.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether traffic commissioners are required to notify their Department if they have business connections or other involvement with (a) haulage contractors, (b) coach operators and (c) transport consultants. [223121]

Mr. Jamieson: Paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 provides that if a traffic commissioner acquires a financial interest in a transport undertaking which carries passengers or goods by road within Great Britain, he or she must notify the Secretary of State for Transport within four weeks of the acquisition.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Accidents

Jon Trickett: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many accidents occurred at the House of Commons premises in each of the last five years involving (a) members of the House of Commons Service and (b) members of the public. [222565]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Service records and analyses information on the numbers and types of recorded injury accidents affecting those who work on or visit the Houses of Parliament. The following table outlines the statistics for the House of Commons for the past five years:

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
All injury accidents	304	198	155	155	138
House of Commons Service staff	207	143	117	128	99
Members of the public	13	8	2	1	6

 
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The slight increase in injury accidents to members of the public in 2004 may reflect the large increase in numbers of visitors on organised public tours.

Jon Trickett: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the Commission publishes the data for the number of accidents at work involving employees of his Office; and if he will make a statement. [222580]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: Since the House adopted a health and safety risk management strategy in 1999, accident rates have fallen steadily. An annual figure of 372 injury accidents in 2000 dropped to 172 in 2004. During the same period the number of injuries resulting in lost time from work fell from 43 to 15 incidents, indicating that more recent accidents are generally of lesser severity. A number of initiatives are under way to target hazards which may lead to accidents.

Statistical information on the numbers and types of recorded injury accidents for the House of Commons is available from Parliament's Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Service, and is reported to the House's Health and Safety Committee on a quarterly basis. The Committee analyses the information for trends and considers options of future strategy to help improve safety performance and further reduce accident figures. An article on accident statistics over the past five years is scheduled to be published in the next issue of the Parliamentary staff magazine, 'In House'.

Jon Trickett: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what arrangements for monitoring accidents at work involving members of House staff are in place; and if he will make a statement. [222630]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: All injury accidents are required to be recorded on Parliament's Incident Reporting Form in line with accident reporting procedures. Once reported an accident investigation takes place to identify root causes and put in place any reasonably practicable measures to prevent or reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

Copies of each accident report are sent to the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Service (OHSWS). OHSWS produce reports and statistical analysis of injury accidents on a quarterly, annual and rolling basis for the House's Health and Safety Committee. Trend analysis and risk assessment further identifies problem areas and helps development of appropriate strategy to improve safety performance and reduce future accident figures.

Early-day Motions

Lembit Öpik: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburghand Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what the marginal cost is of processing an early day motion; and how this figure is calculated. [222678]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: Costs of processing Early Day Motions (EDMs) include the time of Clerks in vetting the motion, costs of staff entering the data and costs of printing and publication, which depend on the number of times motions are reprinted. EDMs vary in size and complexity and the number of names added to them may be one or many. Processing and printing EDMs is
 
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only one of a number of tasks carried out by the staff involved and no realistic disaggregation can be made which can give a cost, marginal or otherwise, of all aspects of processing a single EDM. The best estimate available of the overall costs of printing and publishing Early Day Motions in 2003–04 is £573,000, giving an average cost per EDM of £263.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Kyrgyzstan

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department is giving to the Government of Kyrgyzstan to help it establish a framework for dealing with mentally ill patients in psychiatric institutions. [223201]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) is part of a multi-donor effort to help the Kyrgyz Government develop and fund a health sector strategy for the next 10 years. This comprehensive strategy will include work on mental health.

This assistance is part of DFID's broader programme of support to the Kyrgyz Republic that includes: technical assistance to support the reform of public administration; support for combating HIV/AIDS; strengthening poverty statistics; support for rural livelihoods, water and sanitation.

Oil Extraction (Third World)

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what assessment he has made of the impact on (a) the economies and (b) the environment of Third World countries of oil extraction; and if he will make a statement; [222622]

(2) what support his Department gives to Third World countries with regard to oil extraction; and if he will make a statement. [222623]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not directly fund oil extraction in developing countries. We do support the World Bank's involvement in the extractive industries. The oil and gas extractive industries form a very small part of World Bank Group's lending portfolio. Investments are subject to high social and environmental safeguards that set a standard for the industry at large, as set out in the World Bank Extractive Industries Review published in 2004.

We recognise that revenues from oil and gas resources can potentially support economic growth and social development that may lead to reduction in poverty. In some countries, however, the large revenues generated from oil and gas production have been associated with corruption, conflict and increased poverty.

The Prime Minister launched the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in September 2002. It seeks to increase the transparency of payments to Governments by oil, gas, and mining companies; and the
 
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transparency in use of revenues by Governments. DFID has led an international coalition of Governments, industry and international organisations, both within and outside countries hosting significant extractive industries, to improve transparency and reporting of revenues. Nine developing countries have committed themselves to implementing the principles of the EITI, with a further four African countries making new commitments at a London conference on 17 March 2005. The World Bank is actively participating.

DFID monitors and comments on the environmental and social impacts of projects and programmes funded by the World Bank and other International Financial Institutions (IFIs), where we have stakeholder obligations as contributors. In some cases we have commissioned independent studies to improve our understanding of key economic and environmental issues and evaluate how they are being addressed. One example is the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. We have also kept in close touch with the issues raised by the proposed Sakhalin Island 2 oil pipeline development in Russia.

DFID is working with others (including the IFIs) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on improved environmental assessment procedures for use at the planning stages of new projects and programmes. This will include the application of such procedures to large-scale projects in oil extraction, where these are funded by the IFIs.

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