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21 Feb 2008 : Column 884W—continued
Information on grants provided by the Department’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies is held by the bodies themselves. This information is not held centrally.
M3
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment (a) her Department and (b) the Highways Agency has made of the capacity of junction 6 of the M3 to deal with predicted traffic levels (i) up to and (ii) beyond 2011. [188007]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Highways Agency, Hampshire county council and Basingstoke and Deane borough council have agreed in principle that improvements to M3 J6/Black Dam roundabout would be needed for development envisaged in the Basingstoke local plan to proceed.
Hampshire and Basingstoke councils are developing a transport model for Basingstoke which will be used to test development options and identify impacts on transport infrastructure for inclusion in the new Local Development Framework documents. This model will identify likely future traffic flows at M3 Junction 6. The Highways Agency is working in partnership with the two councils to look at appropriate improvement options for the junction.
Minibuses: Tachographs
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will bring forward proposals to exempt volunteer drivers of minibuses used for voluntary work from the requirement to use a tachograph. [188329]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The EU Regulation on drivers’ hours (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006), which requires the use of tachographs, provides a national exemption for vehicles with between 10 and 17 seats used exclusively for the non-commercial carriage of passengers. This was implemented in Great Britain by means of the Community Drivers’ Hours and Recording Equipment Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/1819).
This exemption would apply to minibuses used by the voluntary sector provided the operation as a whole
is carried out without a view to profit nor incidentally to an activity which is itself carried out with a view to profit.
Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles were wrongly impounded under the Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 1996 in each of the last three years. [186937]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is in the following table.
| 2006-07 | 2007-08( 1) | |
|
Percentage of the total number of vehicles wheelclamped/impounded | ||
| (1) To January | ||
Railway Stations: Safety Measures
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made by the Office of Rail Regulation with train operating companies on reducing the number of accidents on station platforms. [187225]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) undertakes inspection programmes with mainline train operating companies which, where appropriate, include assessing the company’s health and safety arrangements for managing the risk on station platforms.
Recently ORR has also worked with some of the major owning groups on strategies to reduce accidents. Industry statistics show signs of a reduction in the number of accidents at stations.
Railways: Safety
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps have been taken with train operating companies to improve passenger safety on late-night services. [187224]
Mr. Tom Harris: Over a third of the 2,500 stations on the network now have CCTV, as do an increasing number of trains. Over 600 stations are accredited under the Secure Stations scheme which was launched in 1998 to improve security at overground and underground stations for both passengers and staff.
More remains to be done, but the most recent National Passenger Survey showed only 8 per cent. of passengers dissatisfied about their personal security while at the station and 6 per cent. dissatisfied about their security while on the train.
Railways: Watford
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which (a) groups, (b) companies and (c) individuals have been consulted on the decision to terminate railway services between Brighton and Watford at Clapham Junction. [187085]
Mr. Tom Harris: Southern, the train operating company responsible for the operation of the Brighton to Watford services, issued a consultation document in October 2007. The circulation list for this consultation included passenger representative bodies and local authorities.
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many road traffic (a) accidents and (b) fatalities there were in (i) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency and (ii) Suffolk in each year since 1997; [187610]
(2) how many road traffic (a) accidents and (b) fatalities there were involving drivers under the age of 21 in (i) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency and (ii) Suffolk in each year since 1997. [187611]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of reported personal injury road accidents, the number involving drivers under the age of 21, and the resulting fatalities in (i) the parliamentary constituency of Bury St. Edmunds and (ii) Suffolk in 1997 to 2006 are given in the following tables:
| Accidents and fatalities in the parliamentary constituency of Bury St. Edmunds and Suffolk: 1997 to 2006 | ||||
| (i)Bury St. Edmunds( 1) | (ii) Suffolk | |||
| (a) Accidents | (b) Fatalities | (a) Accidents | (b) Fatalities | |
| (1) Based on the 2004 parliamentary constituency boundaries | ||||
| Accidents and fatalities involving drivers aged under 21 in the parliamentary constituency of Bury St. Edmunds and Suffolk: 1997 to 2006 | ||||
| (i) Bury St Edmunds( 1) | (ii) Suffolk | |||
| (a) Accidents | (b) Fatalities | (a) Accidents | (b) Fatalities | |
| (1) Based on the 2004 parliamentary constituency boundaries | ||||
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents occurred (a) on the A14 in Suffolk and (b) in Suffolk in each year since 1997, broken down by the day of the week on which the accident occurred. [187613]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of reported personal injury road accidents on the A14 in Suffolk, and in Suffolk, by day of the week, in 1997 to 2006 are given in the tables.
| Reported personal injury road accidents, by day of week: A14 in Suffolk 1997-2006 | |||||||
| Number of accidents | |||||||
| Day of week | |||||||
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
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