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22 May 2006 : Column 1283W—continued
Road Safety
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents have been attributed to vehicles skidding in each year since 1997. [71829]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents in Great Britain reported to the police involving one or more vehicles skidding in the years 1997 to 2004 (the latest year for which figures are available) is given in the following table.
| The number of accidents involving a vehicle skidding: Great Britain, 1997-2004 | |
| Number | |
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many head-on collisions have led to (a) fatalities and (b) serious injury in each year since 1997. [71830]
Dr. Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police involving two vehicles with frontal impacts, leading to (a) fatalities and (b) serious injuries, is shown in the following table.
| Number of road accidents leading to fatalities and serious injuries involving two vehicles with frontal impacts( 1) : Great Britain, 1997-2004 | ||
| Fatal accidents( 2) | Serious accidents( 2) | |
| (1) May include a minority of road accidents where both vehicles had frontal impacts but not necessarily with the other vehicle. (2) The severity of the most seriously injured casualty in the accident. |
Road accidents involving more than two vehicles have been excluded because head-on collisions cannot be accurately identified from the information held in these cases.
Roads (Suffolk)
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total mileage travelled on roads in Suffolk by (a) all vehicles and (b) cars in each of the past 10 years. [72531]
Dr. Ladyman: The following table gives the information requested for each year from 1995 to 2004 (the latest year for which estimates are available):
| Estimated distance travelled in Suffolk | ||
| (million vehicle miles) | ||
| All motor vehicles | Cars | |
Royal Flight
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Government's policy is on the use of fixed wing aircraft BAe146 by members of the Royal Family for private purposes. [72025]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 18 May 2006]: The BAe146 and HS125 aircraft of 32 Squadron may be used by senior members of the Royal Family (HM the Queen, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and HRH the Prince of Wales) for private journeys with the cost of the journey reimbursed at a commercial rate.
Safety at Sea
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he has taken since 1997 to improve safety at sea within United Kingdom territorial waters; and if he will make a statement. [72031]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government take maritime safety seriously. Since merchant shipping is very largely an international activity, the UK plays a leading role in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and in the EU on a range of safety measures aimed at improving the safety of ships. From 1997 those measures have included:
Most merchant shipping in United Kingdom territorial waters (in transit or calling at UK ports) is engaged on international trades and will be subject to international safety regulation. Ships which are engaged on domestic voyages only are subject to the international regulations where appropriate or to a domestic equivalent reflecting the nature of voyages
and the UK sea areas in which the ships operate. An example of the latter is the domestic version of the International Safety Management Code.
Thameslink 2000
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 26 January 2006, Official Report, columns 2278-9W, on Thameslink 2000, whether the inspector has presented his report to him; and whether the TravelWatch report has been completed. [72454]
Dr. Ladyman: We received the inspector's report on the re-opened Thameslink 2000 inquiry on 21 February 2006 and the London TravelWatch report on the related rail closures on 20 April 2006. Both of these reports are currently being considered by the Department.
Transport Expenditure
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total projected public expenditure per head of population for transport is for (a) London, (b) each of the English passenger transport executive areas and (c) each of the English regions for (i) 2006-07 and (ii) each of the following five years. [69163]
Gillian Merron: Information on the Department's identifiable expenditure by region per head, planned for 2006-07 and 2007-08, was published in the Department's Annual Report 2005 (Cm 6527), table A8. No other regional breakdown of total public expenditure for transport in future years has been made.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the projected central Government expenditure is per head of population for local public transport for (a) London, (b) each of the English passenger transport executive areas and (c) each of the English regions in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) each of the following five years. [69169]
Gillian Merron: Table 9 of the Department's Annual Report 2005 (Cm 6527) includes the Department's identifiable expenditure on local public transport by region for 2003-04. No comprehensive projections of central Government expenditure for local public transport in future years have been made, as the allocation of funding to different functions depends on decisions made by individual authorities.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what the public expenditure per head of population was for local public transport for (a) London, (b) each of the English passenger transport executive areas and (c) each English region in each of the last 10 years; and what the basis is for his calculations; [69171]
(2) what the public spend per head of population for local transport overall was for (a) London, (b) each of the passenger transport executive areas in England and
(c) each English region for each of the last 10 years; and on what basis this was calculated. [69172]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 8 May 2006]: The information requested on public expenditure for local transport is not collected centrally in the form requested.
Trunk Roads (Litter)
Mr. Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve litter collection on trunk roads in Northumberland under the control of the Highways Agency; and if he will make a statement. [72530]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency is responsible only for the A1(T), A19(T) and A69(T) in Northumberland.
Under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990: Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, the responsibility for clearing litter on the A1(T) and A19(T) in Northumberland lies with local authorities. In the case of the A1(T) and A19(T), the Highways Agency works with local authorities in Northumberland and is currently negotiating agreements to undertake litter picking on their behalf. In addition, it is also the Highways Agency's policy to collect litter during routine grass cutting operations and let local authorities know when traffic management is in place so that they can make use of this for clearing litter. Routine grass cutting operations in Northumberland are scheduled to begin in June this year.
The A69 is a Design Build Finance & Operate (DBFO) route and responsibility for the removal of litter rests with the DBFO Company Roadlink (A69) Ltd. under the terms of its contract.
Unfilled Rail Posts
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he is taking to reduce the number of unfilled rail posts in his Department; how many such posts are vacant; and whether he is considering outsourcing to the private sector. [71426]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 17 May 2006]: The Department for Transport's Rail Directorate currently has 11 vacant posts.
Five of these posts are in the process of being advertised internally. One post is being advertised externally following an unsuccessful internal recruitment exercise. Recruitment into the remaining five posts is on hold.
There are currently no plans to outsource the work currently undertaken by the Rail Group to the private sector.
Uninsured Motorists
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's estimate is of the
number of uninsured motorists driving on public roads in each of the last five years; and what percentage of all drivers this represented in each year. [72312]
Dr. Ladyman: Our latest estimate is based on a comparison of the vehicle register, maintained by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), and the motor insurance database. It is that there are about 2 million vehicles (about 6 per cent. of the UK vehicle fleet) being driven by uninsured drivers. There are no similar comparisons for earlier years.
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