HC Deb 13 December 1983 vol 50 cc826-7
10. Mr. Deakins

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the savings to the National Health Service which have resulted from the reduction in injuries since the wearing of seat belts was made compulsory.

Mr. John Patten

We do not yet have the information needed for a reliable estimate, but I welcome the reduction in deaths and serious injuries which my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Transport, reported in her reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) on 5 December.

Mr. Deakins

Do not the trends that the Under-Secretary has given show the importance of the Government spending money on the prevention of disease and injury, as that affects the National Health Service? In those circumstances, is it not unfortunate that, because of the many cuts in the Health Service, including those in my area of Waltham Forest, there is a serious danger of a disproportionate and adverse effect on the preventive services?

Mr. Patten

I do not accept that. We have shown our interest in prevention by, for example, increasing the sums of money made available to the Health Education Council. It is not doubted that the introduction of seat belt legislation has led to a reduction in deaths and injuries. We shall not know most of the full picture until next summer when we shall have the results of a report headed by the distinguished consultant, Mr. W. H. Rutherford of the Royal Victoria hospital, Belfast, which will bring together the experiences of 15 different accident and emergency services in the year before and the year after the introduction of the legislation.

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

Are the Government taking any action on the other half of the problem—the continued fitting in new cars of toughened rather than laminated windscreens, which is what people's heads go through if they come out of their seat belts? Or is that being left entirely to the Department of Transport?

Mr. Patten

That is indeed a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

Mr. Dubs

Although the trend in the figures is encouraging, does the Minister agree that there is still a need for publicity to reinforce the law, especially in relation to the all too frequent practice of front seat passengers wearing seat belts but carrying small children or babies who are not protected?

Mr. Patten

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely correct, although it is heartening to note from police reports that between 95 and 96 per cent. of all front seat passengers wear seat belts regularly.