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Lord Rooker: No, my Lords, the exact opposite is the case. The fact is that cameras should be located at accident problem areas—accident hotspots. They should be highly visible to motorists and they should be properly signed in advance. The idea is to slow down the motorist in the targeted areas where accidents occur; it is not to catch motorists per se or to collect extra money for the Treasury. The aim is to make those roads in particular safer.
Viscount Tenby: My Lords, how many county forces have signed up to self-financing roadside speed cameras, and are there any plans to make such a scheme compulsory?
Lord Rooker: My Lords, the pilot scheme was run in eight areas of the country and is due to be rolled out all over the country. The idea is to place cameras only at accident problem areas. The money from fines should finance the cameras; it will be netted off. The cameras are highly visible and well signed. There is a plan to make the roads safer; it will apply in those areas where there are known problems. Cameras will not be placed on certain roads, such as motorways, which are the safest roads in the country.
Lord Bradshaw: My Lords, is the Minister aware that the new published criteria for siting and signing are much higher than those applied by many counties?
They are so high that it is impossible to site cameras in the accident areas to which he referred. They are simply too high.
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I do not have any evidence about that. All the evidence shows that the cameras have been extremely successful. When questioned, 70 per cent of motorists agreed that having cameras at such accident hotspots is a very good idea. The scheme is not a fund-raising affair and I hope that there will not be any difficulties. When the new scheme is rolled out across the country it will work to criteria, save lives and prevent accidents in the first place without being seen simply to penalise motorists.
Baroness O'Cathain: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his very intelligent response to the Question of the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. However, following on from the question raised by the noble Viscount, Lord Tenby, in relation to the introduction of self-financing, or self-funding, cameras by police forces, is this another case of creeping hypothecation?
Lord Rooker: No, my Lords. I believe that motorists and others have always complained that the fines go to the Treasury and that they are therefore simply intended to raise revenue. It is not the function of this programme to raise money for the Treasury. Through co-operation with magistrates and following a decision on where accident hotspots are located, the scheme is used initially to finance the cost of installing the cameras. If the cameras operate automatically, that will save police time and allow the police to do the job that they should be doing—that is, keeping our streets, our homes and our workplaces safe. At the same time, it will make the roads at those locations even safer.
Lord Cobbold: My Lords, given the ever-increasing volume of traffic and the inadequacies of the national road network, does the noble Lord agree that the number of road accidents is remarkably low and that the beleaguered British motorist deserves to be congratulated rather than subjected to more interference from the nanny state?
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I do not accept that. Motorists can become extremely angry. One once said to me that he considered the most unsafe car on the motorway to be a police car patrolling at 69 miles per hour because, as those of us who use the roads see, that causes bunching. Statistically, motorways are the safest roads in the country. The motorist is not beleaguered. We are trying to save motorists' and pedestrians' lives and, indeed, we are doing so in a targeted way. No surreptitious photography takes place. The cameras will be highly visible and they will be well signposted in advance so that motorists can slow down. That is part of the issue. If they do not slow down, they will be photographed and subsequently prosecuted.
Baroness Hayman: My Lords, does my noble friend accept that, although we have a very good record on
road safety, our record on child pedestrian casualties is not one about which we should be complacent? I endorse absolutely the Government's priority in focusing cameras on areas with particularly high accident rates. But is it not essential to avoid diluting the overall message that excessive speed at any place can be extremely dangerous? That is why we need the types of advertising campaign being run at present.
Lord Rooker: My Lords, my noble friend is right. Excessive speed on the road is a greater factor in respect of accidents than any other, including drink-driving. Some people believe that it is safer to drive at night because traffic travels at a greater speed, but all the other factors mitigate against that. Perhaps I may mention to the House the number of speed limit offences that have occurred over the past five years. In 1996, there were just over three-quarters of a million; in 2000, there were one-and-a-quarter million. There is a problem. We are trying to address it in a targeted way that is in the interests of everyone concerned.
Patient Care: Medicines Management
3.23 p.m.
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How they respond to the increased deaths and £500 million costs highlighted in the Audit Commission's report A Spoonful of Sugar.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My Lords, we take this matter very seriously. The safe and effective use of medicines is an important issue for NHS trusts. Our controls assurance standards and the medicines management performance framework highlight the central role of hospital pharmacists in delivering this vital element of patient care.
Baroness Noakes: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. However, will he say what information the Government collect on the incidence of medication error at the level of individual trusts? Will he say, in particular, whether the Government award star ratings, autonomy and possibly even the new-fangled foundation status to trusts without knowing whether those trusts have an acceptably low incidence of medication error?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, we are very keen to ensure that information per trust is collected routinely, that it is robust and that it is, indeed, taken into account in future assessments of the performance of individual NHS trusts. In addition, the National Patient Safety Agency, which commenced work some six or so months ago, has set up a national authority to which NHS trusts can report on safety issues and near-misses. That will enable us to quantify the problem far better, which in itself will lead to action to reduce its incidence.
Lord Clement-Jones: My Lords, the report highlights the importance of prescribing skills and
knowledge. Therefore, what on earth induced the department to terminate the funding for the Prescribers' Journal, leading to its closure, when it was such a valuable tool for prescribers?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, my experience of the pharmaceutical and committee pharmaceutical network is that there is no shortage of information, advice and journals. The noble Lord will know that the training course for pharmacists was extended by one year to four years. We are also concerned that doctors should receive the appropriate training in this area, both in their undergraduate training and induction training in hospitals.
Earl Howe: My Lords, has the Minister read the section of the report that deals with automated dispensing? If he has, will the Government consider the merits of commissioning jointly with the Welsh National Assembly a national specification for robotic dispensing?
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, as ever, we stand ready to work in partnership with the Welsh Assembly. We are considering the recommendations of the Audit Commission on automated dispensary systems and shall bring forward our decision in due course. I certainly understand the potential of such dispensing. It is in its infancy in this country but we shall give it serious consideration.
Northern Ireland
3.26 p.m.
Lord Glentoran asked Her Majesty's Government: When and how they intend to address the increasing levels of lawlessness in Northern Ireland.
The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn): My Lords, the level of lawlessness in Northern Ireland is the legacy of its violent past. The Government continue to provide the resources necessary to protect the vulnerable and bring the perpetrators to justice. They are moving to cut off the sources of funding of the criminal organisations and are joining forces with the devolved Administration to tackle the underlying social and economic issues.
Lord Glentoran: My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord the Lord Privy Seal for that Answer. But is he aware that morale in the police force is at an all-time low, especially among those who are out in the streets on the ground? Furthermore, is he aware that within the Province drug dealers and paramilitary gangsters are operating with complete immunity? As a result, the whole population is losing confidence in its police force. How and when do the Government propose to address this very dangerous issue?
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