§ 13. Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York)If he will make a statement on the incidence of road accidents in North Yorkshire in the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [124001]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Ms Beverley Hughes)The total number of personal injury road accidents in North Yorkshire, including the City of York, in the last three years for which published figures are available, was as follows: in 1996, 3,274; in 1997, 3,315; and in 1998, 3,278.
§ Miss McIntoshDoes the Minister agree that 160 injuries and deaths in accidents per 100,000 of population—her own Department's figures—gives North Yorkshire the worst road accident rate in the country? Most of the traffic is coming from and destined for parts outside North Yorkshire, and is putting increasing pressure on North Yorkshire county council's highways budget. If the Government proceed to detrunk, which is 788 their announced intention, it will be totally unfair and unjust to ask the council, against the background of those figures, to meet the total contribution.
§ Ms HughesThe written answer that the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr. Hill), gave to a question about road accidents in relation to static population did give that figure for North Yorkshire but, as the hon. Lady knows, and as North Yorkshire police have pointed out, North Yorkshire is a very large county in terms of area and road miles—it has 6,000 road miles. However, it has a very small population. Therefore, any comparison of accidents in relation to population will give a relatively large figure. If we relate accidents to road miles in North Yorkshire, the incidence is no higher than the national average; indeed, it is somewhat better. We are not, however, complacent.
The Government have given North Yorkshire a 58 per cent, increase in its local transport capital settlement—to the tune of £8.5 million—so that it will be able to put even more emphasis on local safety measures. In the past few years, North Yorkshire has certainly been reducing the number of road accident casualties and serious injuries. I am sure that the hon. Lady will be pleased to note that, since the previous general election, in North Yorkshire, the number of road accidents, the total number of casualties and the number of those who are killed or seriously injured in accidents have all declined significantly.
§ Mr. Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby)I welcome the improvements that my hon. Friend has just described in road safety, particularly on trunk roads, in North Yorkshire. However, will she consider speaking with people at the Highways Agency about progress on the A64 corridor to Scarborough, examining very carefully the growth in traffic that has occurred in the corridor since the general election, and reviewing progress on possible future work on the A64?
§ Ms HughesCertainly. As the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) will know—at the end of February 2000, she received a letter from the Highways Agency outlining all the initiatives on trunk roads, particular safety studies and traffic calming in North Yorkshire—the A64 trunk road and the A1 Bramham to Scarborough are the subject of a route improvement strategy for improving safety, particularly in relation to the A64 between the A1 and Scarborough. The strategy has recently been presented to the regional planning forum for its agreement, and includes a variety of individual proposals designed to deal with the problems that my hon. Friend rightly raises.