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10 Mar 2009 : Column 366W—continued
The Driving Standards Agency is responsible for conducting driving tests within Great Britain. The Driver and Vehicle Agency is responsible for driving tests conducted within Northern Ireland. The number of practical driving tests taken and passed in Great Britain over the last five years for car, bike, lorry and bus categories are as follows:
| Overall | |||
| Conducted | Passed | Percentage pass | |
The number of practical car driving tests conducted in Northern Ireland are shown in the following table. Data for other categories are unavailable.
| Overall | |||
| Conducted | Passed | Percentage pass | |
Railway Stations: Opening Hours
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009, Official Report, column 496W, on railway stations: opening hours, what criteria the ticketing and settlement agreements with (a) South West Trains and (b) First Capital Connect contain in respect of the minimum hourly number of (i) visits and (ii) ticket purchases required for a ticket office to remain open. [262265]
Paul Clark: The arrangements for through ticketing and rail retailing are specified in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA). Each train operator’s passenger licence requires them to be a party to, and comply with the TSA. Franchise agreements also require operators to comply with the TSA. The TSA does not vary by train operator.
The criteria within the TSA for changing ticket office opening hours do not specify either a minimum number of visits or ticket purchases which must be made.
Railways: Sussex
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that the process of producing a Sussex Route Utilisation Strategy secures a substantive revision of the timetable with a view to eliminating problems and shortening timetabled rail journey times. [261794]
Paul Clark [holding answer 9 March 2009]: Network Rail is in the course of developing a route utilisation strategy (RUS) for Sussex, in conjunction with, and on behalf of, rail industry partners and wider stakeholders. Editorial control of each RUS lies with a Stakeholder Management Group and it would be inappropriate for Government to seek to interfere in the workings of such a group.
Road Traffic: Urban Areas
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change in congestion levels was recorded by each of the urban areas to receive the Urban Congestion Performance Fund payment announced on 23 February 2009. [261628]
Paul Clark: The following table contains the percentage change in average person journey time per mile in each urban area from the baseline (a combination of 2004-05 and 2005-06 data) and 2007-08:
| Urban area | Percentage change |
The full table is available in “Road Traffic and Congestion in Great Britain; Quarter 4 2008”, available at:
Roads: Accidents
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents have been recorded involving hit and run drivers in (i) England and (ii) each local authority area in each year since 1997. [262310]
Jim Fitzpatrick: A table showing the number of accidents involving hit and run drivers in (i) England and (ii) each local authority area in each year since 1997 has been deposited in the Libraries of the House.
Roads: Compensation
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was paid in compensation by (a) the Highways Agency and (b) local highways authorities for claims relating to vehicles damaged as a result of poor road maintenance in each of the last three years. [262190]
Paul Clark: The Highways Agency paid compensation as follows (calendar years):
| £ | |
Information relating to claims against local authorities is not collected centrally.
Trade Unions
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which trade unions are recognised in his Department. [262083]
Mr. Hoon: The Department for Transport recognises the following trade unions: Public and Commercial Services, FDA and Prospect. In view of the nature of their work, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Government Car and Despatch Agency also recognise Unite (formerly T and G Workers Union).
Transport: Snow and Ice
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to build increased resilience into key national transport networks for circumstances where temperatures drop below freezing. [255181]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 9 February 2009]: The owners and operators of the key national transport networks have a wide range of plans in place to ensure resilience in the event of adverse weather conditions, including snow and freezing temperatures.
As a result, in the case of the recent severe weather, the Highways Agency was able to minimise disruption to the strategic road network (motorways and major
trunk roads in England) which the Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for, while also providing emergency road salt supplies to a number of local authorities (who are responsible for around 95 per cent. of roads in England).
Network Rail is responsible for the rail network and makes all reasonable preparations for exceptional weather in the winter. They along with train operating companies take responsibility for ensuring stations are maintained during these periods.
Additionally, the major transport sectors will be undertaking reviews of their performance during the recent severe winter weather, to ensure appropriate lessons are learned to support the continuous improvement to winter services.
Health
Abortion: Drugs
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which abortifacient drugs are licensed for use in England; and if he will make a statement; [261398]
(2) when his Department last undertook a review of clinical evidence on the use of (a) mifepristone and (b) the morning-after pill that drew on (i) UK and (ii) international research; and if he will make a statement. [261581]
Dawn Primarolo: In the United Kingdom Mifegyne (mifepristone or RU486) is licensed for the termination of pregnancy (abortion). This product licence was granted following advice from the then Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) that was based on a review of all the available evidence for safety, efficacy and quality.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in consultation with the wider Department, has reviewed the use of emergency hormonal contraception on a number of occasions: in 2001, when Levonelle-2 was made available for sale in pharmacies as Levonelle; in 2003, when the dosing regimen was changed from taking two tablets 12 hours apart to taking them at the same time; and in relation to this, when the strength of the pill was doubled in 2004 so that only one tablet need be taken. Advice from the Committee on Safety of Medicines (now the Commission on Human Medicines) was sought on all occasions.
In 2005 the safety of mifepristone was reviewed within the UK and Europe in response to the reporting of very rare cases of fatal toxic shock following infection, reported from the United States of America, in association with the use of mifepristone and misoprostol for medical abortion. The Food and Drugs Administration concluded that no causal relationship could be established and that serious bacterial infections may occur with all types of abortion, whether spontaneous, surgical or medical. Similar cases of fatalities had not been observed in the UK or Europe. No new safety concerns were identified and no action considered necessary. We are also aware that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists reviewed the clinical use of mifepristone in order to update their September 2004 guideline on ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion’. This guideline recommends pre-abortion management for all types of abortion which includes infection screening and prophylaxis.
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