HC Deb 02 December 1999 vol 340 cc274-5W
Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many(a) drivers, (b) riders, (c) passengers and (d) others have been killed in crashes where one or more driver or rider has exceeded the legal alcohol limit in each of the past five years, for (i) urban and (ii) rural areas; what the average figures were for 1981 to 1985; and if he will make a statement. [100041]

Mr. Hill

The numbers of fatalities in road accidents where one or more driver or rider was over the legal alcohol limit are not available for urban and rural areas; however, estimates can be made by the speed limit of the road on which the accident occurred. The estimates in the table, shown rounded to the nearest 10, are for built-up roads with a speed limit of 40 mph or less and for non-built-up roads with a speed limit of more than 40 mph, for the last five years for which figures are available.

invasiveness and persistence of the plant as a weed, etc. The statutory Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) has been set up to advise ministers on these issues and has published the guidance note "The Regulation and Control of the Deliberate Release of Genetically Modified Organisms" on the risk assessment procedure.

In the case of the farm-scale evaluations of GM oil seed rape and fodder maize currently underway, ACRE has already advised on the risks to the environment of the GM plants themselves. In addition, the independent scientific steering committee will also be able to advise Government on the significance, and therefore the acceptability, of any impacts on farmland wildlife associated with the management of the crops as compared with equivalent non-GM crops, such as a reduction in invertebrate or weed numbers.

In the light of the results and the advice from the committees, decisions will be made on the commercialisation of the GM crops.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research he is currently undertaking into the role that the cauliflower mosaic viral promoter may play in enhancing horizontal gene transfer. [100169]

Mr. Mullin

The statutory Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) has recently been asked to consider this issue and will be advising shortly. ACRE's advice will be published, and if the committee considers it necessary, appropriate scientific research will be commissioned.