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6 May 2008 : Column 733W—continued

M1: Whipsnade

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) cameras and (b) other equipment are installed on the gantries recently erected in the vicinity of junction 9 of the M1 motorway; what purpose each piece of equipment serves; and if she will make a statement. [203529]

Mr. Tom Harris: (a) There are currently no cameras mounted on gantries in the vicinity of M1 junction 9. Close circuit television (CCTV) cameras used by the Eastern Regional Control Centre (ERCC) are located, one northbound and two southbound, on 15 m high masts adjacent to the gantries. ERCC use the images from CCTV to monitor local traffic conditions and to direct Highways Agency Traffic Officers to incidents and breakdowns.

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(b) The following equipment is mounted on gantries in this area:

Advanced Motorway Indicators (AMI)—Located over every lane and used to control speeds.

Enhanced Message Sign (EMS)—Located over the hard shoulder and used to notify drivers of traffic conditions, weather messages, campaign messages etc.

In addition standard lane indicators which display speed and fog warnings are mounted on 3 m high posts on the entry (on) and exit (off) slip road verge.

Piracy

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance her Department issues to UK-registered ships operating in or passing through areas where there is a risk of piracy on (a) intervention in and (b) taking active steps to prevent acts of piracy. [202713]

Jim Fitzpatrick: UK registered vessels are issued with advice by the Department for Transport on taking active steps to counter piracy, armed robbery and other acts of violence against merchant shipping. This is set out in “maritime guidance note” MGN 298(M), a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

In addition to this advice, the Department issues specific tailored advice regarding particular piracy hot spots. This is based on intelligence and threat assessment, and is of a sensitive nature. The Department has regular dialogue with the industry to consider further practical measures, where appropriate.

The Department does not issue guidance to UK registered vessels on intervening in acts of piracy.

Roads

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what her Department’s definition is of a pothole with reference to roads maintained by (a) the Highways Agency and (b) local authorities; [202885]

(2) what statistics her Department collates on the number of potholes in roads. [202886]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Statistics on the condition of roads in England and Wales are published annually in the National Road Maintenance Condition Survey Statistics Bulletin. Abrupt changes in the level of the road such as potholes are only one component of the overall condition of the highway and are not separately defined.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras there were in each local authority area in each year since 2001. [203340]

Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 1 May 2008]: The Department for Transport only holds information about the number of safety camera sites (covering both fixed and mobile camera enforcement) operating within the national safety camera programme for England and Wales which ended on 31 March 2007. The following table shows the number of speed camera sites operating within the national programme within
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each year using the ‘date established’ supplied by the safety camera partnerships. Different areas entered the national programme on different dates, and in many cases had established camera sites before joining the programme which are not shown in the table.

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Since 1 April 2007, the deployment of safety cameras has been the responsibility of individual local partnerships. The number of cameras in place since then will therefore be a matter for each individual partnership.

Camera sites by area and year
	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Avon and Somerset	104	189	228	247	247	247	247
Bedfordshire	30	88	90	95	114	114	114
Cambridgeshire	36	56	67	74	88	92	92
Cheshire	18	26	54	64	75	80	80
Cleveland	34	38	47	52	52	54	54
Cumbria	0	0	35	35	39	44	44
Derbyshire	45	73	108	123	127	128	128
Devon and Cornwall	55	95	105	124	145	147	147
Dorset	29	51	92	99	102	105	105
Essex	117	126	159	168	215	220	220
Gloucestershire	29	29	60	72	72	72	72
Greater Manchester	67	79	135	153	261	268	271
Hampshire	19	22	50	61	66	68	68
Hertfordshire	23	23	51	63	80	94	95
Humberside	0	0	64	77	81	81	82
Kent and Medway	38	62	96	118	126	129	129
Lancashire	63	150	268	338	344	345	345
Leicestershire	7	65	77	83	83	88	88
Lincolnshire	25	38	48	57	60	61	61
London	294	305	323	352	403	439	439
Merseyside	0	0	0	0	24	46	51
Mid and South Wales	74	266	327	353	354	355	355
Norfolk	8	14	24	29	31	37	37
North Wales	27	28	66	72	73	73	73
Northamptonshire	26	28	35	39	77	84	84
Northumbria	34	34	103	121	121	126	126
Nottinghamshire	10	44	44	53	55	62	62
South Yorkshire	35	112	119	119	119	119	119
Staffordshire	54	55	65	81	98	98	98
Suffolk	1	3	47	55	55	55	55
Surrey	15	16	16	16	21	23	30
Sussex	25	50	58	69	77	78	81
Thames Valley	213	266	269	274	275	275	275
Warwickshire	8	20	21	34	34	37	37
West Mercia	0	0	40	53	56	60	63
West Midlands	97	100	116	141	155	161	161
West Yorkshire	6	27	47	79	83	86	86
Wiltshire	6	23	50	62	62	63	63
Grand total	1,672	2,601	3,604	4,105	4,550	4,714	4,737

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