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10 Oct 2005 : Column 102W—continued
Road Accidents
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State forTransport what discussions he has held with the oil and petroleum industries on the effects of low-level exposure to petrol fumes on the incidence of road accidents. [15408]
Dr. Ladyman: No discussions have been held.
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effects of exposure to petrol fumes on the incidence of road accidents; and if he will make a statement. [15410]
Dr. Ladyman: No assessments have been made by the Department for Transport.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people (a) died and (b) were seriously injured in road accidents in each year from 1976. [15690]
Dr. Ladyman:
The requested information is in the table.
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Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the number of road fatalities in Forest of Dean constituency in each of the last five years; what the average number for England was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [15759]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of road accident fatalities in the Forest of Dean constituency and the average number of road accident fatalities per English constituency; for the last five years are in the table.
| Forest of Dean | England(33) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 10 | 6 |
| 2001 | 11 | 6 |
| 2002 | 10 | 6 |
| 2003 | 9 | 6 |
| 2004 | 11 | 5 |
(33)Includes fatalities for which the constituency in which the accident occurred was not known.
The comparison between the number of fatalities in any given constituency and the average number across all constituencies takes no account of the differences in area, population, road type and traffic between each constituency.
Road Safety
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice his Department provides for local authorities regarding the siting of (a) speed bumps and (b) chicanes. [16603]
Dr. Ladyman:
Powers permitting the construction of road humps and traffic calming works are conferred by the Highways Act 1980, sections 90A to 90I. The
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Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1999 further restrict the location of road humps. Advice on the design and implementation of both road humps and chicanes is given in the Department's traffic advisory leaflets (TALs). I have placed copies of TAL 2/05 Traffic Calming Bibliography", which lists these, in the Libraries of the House.
Roads (London)
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will allocate sufficient funding to the Mayor of London for a scheme for improvements to the north circular at Henley's corner, Brent street and Bounds Green. [16870]
Dr. Ladyman: The A406 north circular road is the responsibility of Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor, and it is for the Mayor to determine which transport projects he takes forward.
Safety Cameras
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has collated in relation to the change in the number of serious accidents at speed camera sites. [15896]
Dr. Ladyman: The effectiveness of the national safety camera programme has been reviewed independently and the reports are available in the Library and on the Department's website. The review of the first three years operation of the programme, published on 15 June 2004, concluded that the number of people killed or seriously injured at camera sites had reduced by 40 per cent. A fourth year report, reflecting the rollout of the programme to thirty five safety camera partnerships, is being prepared.
School Crossing Attendants
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many school crossing attendants there were in each London borough in each of the last five years. [15830]
Dr. Ladyman: The figures requested are not kept centrally but individually by each borough.
Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on UK participation in the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention of the International Labour Organisation; what biometrics are involved; which UK ports will hold biometric checking devices; and what obligations there are on seamen in UK waters to carry identity cards. [16056]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Home Office on 12 September 2005, Official Report, column 2565W.
South Hampshire Light Rapid Transport System
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he expects to make a decision on the South Hampshire Light Rapid Transport System; [16500]
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(2) when he expects to announce a decision on the South Hampshire Light Rapid Transport System; and if he will make a statement on the time taken to reach a decision. [16832]
Derek Twigg: The Secretary of State made clear the position on the South Hampshire Light Rapid Transport System in his oral statement on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 159. Since then the scheme's promoters have developed revised proposals which we will decide upon in due course.
Street Works
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what benchmark he has established for the current cost of street works to measure changes that will arise from the introduction of permits; how this benchmark was set; what targets he has set for utility companies and highway authorities to improve; and what level of improvements he expects. [16646]
Ms Buck: We are developing proposals under the Traffic Management Act 2004 intended to reduce the impact of street works on congestion. This includes thenew concept of permits.
Consultation earlier this year on these measures revealed widely ranging views on permit fees, and other substantive comments. We are therefore to reconvene a working group on permits, comprising representatives of utility companies and street authorities, to review the fees for permits and the cost to utilities, and other related issues. This will also provide the opportunity to look at how utilities expect to improve their performance. We intend to develop key performance indicators to measure local highway authority performance for their own works, to allow comparison with utility performance.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 June 2005, Official Report, column 934, on roadworks, if he will make a statement on the method by which Halcrow concluded that the cost of congestion caused by utility street works was £4.3 billion per year. [16651]
Ms Buck: Details of the methodology are contained in the Halcrow report to Department for Transport, volume 3—Estimation of the Cost of Delay from Utilities' Street Works", dated September 2004. Copies of this document have been placed in the House Library.
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