§ 46. Mr. BuckleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of all spending by his Department is used for safety improvements.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyA key objective for the Department is to promote and improve safety across the transport modes. Safety-related expenditure is incurred, for example, on constructing and improving roads, on investigation of road, rail, sea and air accidents, on licensing drivers of private vehicles, buses and lorries, on inspecting vehicles of all types and approving vehicle components and systems, on regulating the bus, lorry and shipping industries and the carriage of hazardous substances, on the coast guard, on research and on publicity.
It is not practicable to specify the proportion of all spending by the Department which is used for safety improvements. Direct expenditure on safety is bound up with expenditure incurred for other reasons (for example, in the case of road construction), and safety-related expenditure varies widely in character, from physical measures such as road improvements, to research projects, to administrative costs and overheads associated with regulation, licensing, inspection and enforcement.