Road Safety (Hansard, 9 February 1994)

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) which local authorities no longer employ road safety officers;
(2) what is his estimate of the overall number of road safety officers employed in 1993–94 (a) in total and (b) for each local authority.

§ Mr. Key
No central record is kept of the numbers of road safety officers either in total or in any one authority. It is for individual local authorities to assess their own requirements for road safety officers, having regard to the needs of the local community.

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which local authorities have submitted road safety plans accompanying the transport supplementary grant plans under the national road safety plan; and if he will make a statement as to the use made of these plans.

§ Mr. Key
All local traffic authorities have submitted road safety plans. These are used to provide advice on the allocation of funds for local safety schemes. More importantly, they are used by the authorities themselves to focus and monitor road safety activity within the authority.

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is currently responsible for the co-ordination and monitoring of road safety policy.

§ Mr. Key
Mr. right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for the Government's road safety policy.

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account is taken of road accidents in the determination of road safety policy.

§ Mr. Key
The reduction of road accidents is the fundamental objective of road safety policy, and the yardstick by which its success is measured.

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all the requirements within the Road Traffic Acts relating to road safety; and what enforcement measures in each case are required of the police.

§ Mr. Key
The main provisions of road traffic law relating to road safety are set out on pages 67 to 72 of the Highway Code. The police have a duty to enforce all laws and it is for each chief constable to decide how best to fulfil that responsibility.

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what responsibility he expects the Highways Agency to have for road safety.

§ Mr. Key
The Highways Agency will be required to support the Department's road safety policy and to contribute to the Secretary of State's target of reducing road casulaties by one third by the year 2000 compared with the annual average from 1981 to 1985.

§ Ms Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the overall budget spent on road safety by local authorities.
268W

§ Mr. Key
The local roads settlement for 1994–95 includes provision of £50 million for expenditure on local safety schemes, maintaining the level of provision for the current year. In addition, local authorities spend money on education, training, publicity, street lighting, road maintenance, gritting and snow clearing, crossing patrol officers and many other safety related activities. No central record is kept of total expenditure.