§ Mr. Keith HillTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to publish the preliminary conclusions of his analysis of the introduction of central European time on road accident casualties in Scotland; if he will immediately publish the methodology on which this analysis has been based; and what consultations his officials have had with the Transport Research Laboratory in the course of this study. [9454]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythScottish Office statisticians have published a report outlining the methodology used in their analysis of the likely effect on road accident casualties in Scotland following the introduction of central European time. Their interim conclusions are that such a change would be broadly neutral in terms of total road accident casualties in Scotland. Copies of the report are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses. My statisticians have met statisticians from the Transport Research Laboratory and the Department of Transport, most recently on 20 December 1995, to discuss the methodologies used for estimating casualty savings from adopting central European time.
I have arranged for this information to be made available to the Department of Transport and the Transport Research Laboratory.