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3 Mar 2010 : Column 1193W—continued
Driving Offences: Local Government
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many cases heard by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal were brought by local authorities in respect of their own vehicles in the last 36 months. [319803]
Mr. Khan: This information is not held by central Government.
Driving under Influence: Crime Prevention
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of instances of drink driving. [319753]
Paul Clark: There is stringent legislation around drink driving, with a minimum 12 month ban for drivers found over the prescribed alcohol limit for driving. We have worked closely with the police on enforcement, such as equipping police forces with new digital breathalysers, and in making the links between police campaigns and our drink-drive advertising. This long-term strategy has helped deliver more than a 75 per cent. reduction in drink-drive related deaths and serious injuries since 1980.
The Government consulted last year on a number of further measures to reduce drink-related casualties in the Road Safety Compliance document, the results of which will feed into the Government's post-2010 Road Safety Strategy to be published later this year.
The Department for Transport also announced in December that it had commissioned an independent review of drink and drug driving legislation. As far as drink driving is concerned, the review, led by Sir Peter North, is examining the case for changes to the current provisions, including options for reducing the legal alcohol limit for drivers. The study is also considering the likely impact of such changes on driver behaviour. Sir Peter has been asked to report by the end of March
and the Government will then consult on his findings before finalising and publishing the new road safety strategy.
Copies of the Road Safety Compliance consultation document and the terms of reference for the North review have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
In addition to these steps, the Department for Transport is developing a new multi-media publicity campaign targeting drivers who continue to mix drinking and driving. We are aiming to launch the campaign in summer 2010.
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will make it his policy to collect information on the country of issue of driving licences held by drivers involved in traffic accidents. [319161]
Paul Clark: The collection of information about driving licences held by drivers involved in traffic accidents was considered as part of the latest review of personal injury road casualties statistics collected by the police on behalf of the Department. The review has to consider user needs against the additional burden and practicality of collection. A copy of the summary review report, published on 4 February 2010, has been placed in the House Library.
The review proposed a new variable to identify whether a driver has a valid licence. No further details of the licence, including country of issue, will be collected as part of the statistics form. The introduction of a new electronic collision reporting system for the police from 2011 may enable further information on driving licences held by drivers involved in traffic accidents to be obtained in the future.
Exhaust Emissions
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the total carbon dioxide emissions from trains in the last 10 years; and what projection he has made of such emissions from trains in the next (a) 10, (b) 20 and (c) 50 years. [317025]
Mr. Khan: Rail carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the last 10 years can be found at:
The source of the data is AEA/Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Projected CO2 (ktonnes) emissions in GB, as published in the Carbon Pathways Analysis document by the Department for Transport, are shown in the following table:
| 2014 | 2020 | 2022 | ||||
| Min | Max | Min | Max | Min | Max | |
| Source: Carbon Pathways Analysis, Figure 2.10, page 33 http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/analysis.pdf | ||||||
Projected carbon emissions are on a different basis from the historic figures. The former are based on data from the Office of Rail Regulation, while the latter are from the UK's Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the total carbon dioxide emissions from (a) domestic and (b) international aviation in the UK in the last 10 years; and what projection he has made of the emissions from (i) domestic and (ii) international aviation in the UK in the next (A) 10, (B) 20 and (C) 50 years. [317026]
Mr. Khan: Aviation carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the last 10 years can be found at:
The source of the data is AEA/Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
The following table shows the Departments latest forecasts for international, domestic and total CO2 emissions from flights departing from UK airports in 10, 20 and 50 years.
| Million tonnes | |||
| 2020 | 2030 | 2060 | |
| Notes: 1. Data are for UK departures only. 2. These forecasts refer to the central demand scenario s12s2, with Stansted R2 in 2015 and Heathrow R3 around 2020, as presented in "UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts", January 2009. 3. These CO2 forecasts include freight, APU and a residual adjustment to ensure consistency with the DECC outturn estimate. | |||
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the total carbon dioxide emissions from road transport in the last 10 years; and what projection he has made of such emissions from road transport in the next (a) 10, (b) 20 and (c) 50 years. [317028]
Mr. Khan: Road transport carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the last 10 years can be found at:
The source of the data is AEA/Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
The Department for Transport's most recent forecasts of total road transport carbon dioxide emissions for England were produced as part of the road transport forecasts for 2010, 2015, and 2025. These are available in 'Road Traffic Forecasts 2008: Results from the Department for Transport's National Transport Model', which is available at:
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Syms: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he has made an estimate of the number of (a) pedestrians and (b) cyclists injured in road traffic accidents in which the use of a personal music device was a contributory factor in the last five years. [320378]
Paul Clark: The information requested is not collected by the Department for Transport.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many road traffic accidents were recorded in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in each year since 1997. [320645]
Paul Clark: The information requested is given in the following table.
| Reported personal injury road accidents in Essex and Southend: 1997 to 2008 | ||
| Essex( 1) | Southend | |
| (1) Essex county, including the unitary authorities of Southend and Thurrock | ||
Roads: Tolls
Mr. Scott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a national satellite-based road pricing scheme. [319661]
Mr. Khan: Department for Transport Ministers last had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a national satellite-based road pricing scheme in the context of the Budget 2008 announcement of an invitation to the private sector to run a number of projects based on charging by time of day, distance travelled and route chosen.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Air Pollution
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking towards the achievement of public service agreement 28 on ambient air quality. [320000]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In the delivery agreement document for this public service agreement (PSA) published in October 2007 DEFRA said it will take forward actions under the UK air quality strategy and implement the EU air quality directives.
The Department will also take forward the review of the national air quality strategy to identify potential new policy measures to provide further health benefits and help move closer towards the strategy's air quality objectives. DEFRA will integrate environmental objectives, such as air quality targets, and sustainable development into policies and practice, and promote these across government, the UK and internationally. DEFRA will continue to work with partners in the EU and internationally on actions and measures to tackle national and transboundary air pollution.
Further detail on the PSA is available in the Treasury booklet "PSA Delivery Agreement 28: Secure a healthy natural environment for today and the future" available from the Treasury website at:
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which areas of the country he expects to be compliant with EU limits on ambient air concentrations of particulates and nitrogen oxide at the conclusion of the term of the renewable energy strategy. [320001]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The renewable energy strategy is the Government's comprehensive action plan for achieving the UK's share of the EU 2020 renewable energy target. It was published in July 2009 alongside the low carbon transition plan.
Projections of air quality, which exclude the impact of the renewable energy strategy, indicate that the UK is expected to be in full compliance with limit values for particulate matter in 2020, and that exceedences of limit values for nitrogen dioxide will be confined to a small number of roadside locations in London. These exceedences are associated with road transport emission sources.
Emission projections, which include policies contained within the low carbon transition plan and the renewable energy strategy, indicate a small net increase in the emission of oxides of nitrogen due to increased uptake in combined heat and power units, and no change in relation to emissions of particulate matter. While a full exceedences assessment has not yet been undertaken based on these emissions projections, it is thought unlikely that there will be any impact on the extent of limit value exceedences in 2020.
DEFRA and DECC have worked closely to identify policies within the renewable energy strategy that may impact on air quality. For example, the renewable heat incentive proposes a maximum emissions standard for biomass boilers below 20MW to minimise any detrimental impact on air quality in urban areas.
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