House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 7 Mar 2006 (pt 13)

7 Mar 2006 : Column 1280W—continued

Road Safety

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made to reduce (a) serious accidents and (b) speeding on motorways and dual carriageways. [56076]

Dr. Ladyman: The number of serious personal injury road accidents on motorways and other dual carriageway roads in Great Britain has decreased year on year over the last five years. Casualty figures for 2004 show a 10 per cent. reduction in the number of serious accidents on motorways and a 21 per cent. reduction in the number of serious accidents on other dual carriageway roads, compared to the 1994–98 baseline averages. This is against a background of increases of 37 per cent. and 20 per cent. respectively in the total billion vehicle kilometres travelled on these roads in 2004, compared to in 1994.

Driving in excess of the speed limit amongst car drivers on motorways and non-urban dual carriageways has remained largely constant over the last five years. In 2004, 56 per cent. of cars exceeded the speed limit on motorways, and 48 per cent. on non-urban dual carriageways.

Tackling excessive speed on all roads is a priority for the Government and we work closely with the police to ensure the safe and reliable operation of Great Britain's strategic road networks. For example, the roll out of the Highways Agency Traffic Officer service across England's motorway network is enabling more police time and resources to be used on core police activities, including speed enforcement.

Roads (Gloucestershire)

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent assessment is of the volume of traffic flows on (a) the A40 between Gloucester and Highnam, (b) the A40 between Highnam and Huntley, (c) the A40 between Huntley and Ross-on-Wye, (d) the A48 between Highnam and Lydney, (e) the A48 between Lydney and Chepstow and (f) the A417 between Gloucester and junction 2 of the M50. [55901]

Dr. Ladyman: The average annual daily traffic flows on the lengths of trunk road specified are as follows:

A40 Gloucester (A38 Junction)-Highnam: 20,700 (2004 figure)

The latest available information for the A40 between Highnam and Ross-on-Wye is for 2002:

A40 Highnam to Huntley: 26,100

A40 Huntley to Ross-on-Wye: 15,200

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The A48 between Highnam and Chepstow was de-trunked with effect from 1 July 2005 and is now the responsibility of Gloucestershire county council. However, the latest figures prior to that date are for 2003:

A48 Highnam to Lydney: 12,100

A48 Lydney to Chepstow: 7,700

The A417 between Gloucester and Junction 2 of the M50 has never been part of the trunk road network and the appropriate highway authority is Gloucestershire county council.

Rural Public Transport

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent to improve rural

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public transport in (a) Bath and North East Somerset and (b) South Gloucestershire in each of the last eight years. [54401]

Ms Buck: The statistics collected by the Government on actual council spend do not identify all council expenditure on rural public transport as a discrete item.

The relevant funding allocated to Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils by the Department for Transport is shown in tables A and B (respectively). The revenue funding paid by the Department supplements the non-service specific financial support provided through revenue support grant. The integrated transport block can be spent on a variety of types of capital project, including related to rural public transport, according to the councils' local policies and priorities.
Table A: Bath and North East Somerset council

£000
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06

Integrated Transport Block⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾— ⁽⁶⁾— 1,273 2,358 2,560 2,587 2,389 2,392

Rural Bus Subsidy Grant⁽⁷⁾ 140 140 140 179 205 209 217 225

Rural Bus Challenge⁽⁷⁾ 0 0 466 40 169 22 90 83

Table B: South Gloucestershire council

£000
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06

Integrated Transport Block⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾— ⁽⁶⁾— 1,430 2,368 2,570 2,406 5,267 3,515

Rural Bus Subsidy Grant⁽⁷⁾ 191 191 191 244 280 286 294 306

Rural Bus Challenge⁽⁷⁾ 182 249 557 80 379 513 119 0

⁽⁵⁾ Capital.
2 In 1998–99 and 1999–2000 the equivalent of the integrated transport block was a number of separate funding streams, none of which in these areas was targeted towards rural public transport.
⁽⁶⁾ Revenue.

£000
	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
Integrated Transport Block⁽⁵⁾	⁽⁶⁾—	⁽⁶⁾—	1,273	2,358	2,560	2,587	2,389	2,392
Rural Bus Subsidy Grant⁽⁷⁾	140	140	140	179	205	209	217	225
Rural Bus Challenge⁽⁷⁾	0	0	466	40	169	22	90	83

£000
	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
Integrated Transport Block⁽⁵⁾	⁽⁶⁾—	⁽⁶⁾—	1,430	2,368	2,570	2,406	5,267	3,515
Rural Bus Subsidy Grant⁽⁷⁾	191	191	191	244	280	286	294	306
Rural Bus Challenge⁽⁷⁾	182	249	557	80	379	513	119	0

Safety Cameras

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of static speed enforcement cameras in capturing speeding motorcyclists travelling (a) towards and (b) away from a static camera site. [56590]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of static speed enforcement cameras in capturing speeding motorcyclists travelling towards and away from a static camera site. The majority of static safety cameras photograph vehicle number plates from behind and in this respect motorcycles, which only have a licence plate on the back, are treated the same as other vehicles. As motorcycles do not have a front licence plate they cannot be registered by the small number of enforcement cameras that photograph vehicles from the front.

Transport Links (England and Wales)

Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements are in place for regular contact between his Department and the National Assembly Government to discuss the improvement and maintenance of transport links between England and Wales. [55830]

Ms Buck: The Department enjoys a good working relationship with the Welsh Assembly Government and my ministerial colleagues and I are always happy to meet our counterparts from the Assembly to discuss how transport links between Wales and England might be improved and maintained.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mental health professionals his Department has in place in Afghanistan to identify and treat service personnel. [55112]

Mr. Touhig [holding answer 6 March 2006]: The mental health care capability on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan is currently fulfilled by Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPN) based in the UK and able to deploy at short notice.

In order to support the increasing number of troops to be deployed on Operation HERRICK later this year, two CPNs will shortly be deployed in Afghanistan, consistent with the main deployment of British troops to the region.

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Argentina

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions there have been between (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department with their Argentine counterparts. [55984]

John Reid: In the past year, there have been no contacts by UK Defence Ministers with their Argentine counterparts. However, during the Defence Staff Talks held in Buenos Aires in June 2005, senior Ministry of Defence officials met with the Argentine Deputy Defence Minister, Sr. Jaime Garreta. Officials within the MOD have regular contact with Argentine Defence Attaches based in London and, equally, UK Defence Attaches based in our Embassy in Buenos Aires liaise as necessary with Argentine defence officials at various levels in support of UK interests.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Royal Navy warships were in the vicinity when the British trawler John Cheek was impounded by Argentine coastguard forces; and if he will make a statement. [55985]

John Reid: No Royal Navy warships were in the immediate vicinity of the Falkland Island's registered fishing vessel John Cheek when the fishing vessel was boarded by Argentine officials. The nearest warship would have been HMS Dumbarton Castle, which was on exercise off the Falklands Islands. Additionally, HMS Endurance was alongside in the Falkland Islands at the time.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the increase in the size of the Argentine air force; and if he will make a statement. [55986]

Mr. Ingram: We have no evidence that the Argentine air force has increased in size.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which an Argentine submarine was recently detected by the Royal Navy near South Georgia. [55987]

Mr. Ingram: No Argentinean submarines have been seen or detected recently near South Georgia.

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