§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the President of the Council, pursuant to her oral statement of 1 February 1998,Official Report,column 593, concerning the lack of insurance cover for travel on 1 January 2000, if she will list the relevant authorities examining the issue in each sector. [69573]
§ Mrs. BeckettIt is the responsibility of the transport industry to ensure that their transport services can be delivered without increased risk to the public over the Millennium. However, relevant public authorities are taking steps to ensure that this work is done. These include the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Civil Aviation Authority, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Rail Regulator, Railtrack, the Health & Safety Commission and the Highways Agency. These organisations are also working with relevant international organisations, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Maritime Organisation to look at the safety of international travel.
The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and relevant regulators are also facilitating a programme of independent assessment of preparedness across the UK transport sector as part of a programme of work that is being led by Action 2000 through the National Infrastructure Forum. The first results from this work should be published in the Spring.
14W
1996 1997 1998 County Officers Soldiers Officers Soldiers Officers Soldiers Avon 1 6 0 13 0 11 Bedfordshire 1 0 0 3 0 7 Berkshire 2 8 0 8 0 13 Buckinghamshire 0 11 0 4 0 0 County Durham 0 14 0 7 1 11 Cambridgeshire 0 27 0 19 0 18 Cheshire 2 18 1 24 0 26 Cleveland 0 13 0 20 0 23 Cornwall 0 6 0 7 0 10 Cumbria 0 23 0 10 0 16 Derbyshire 0 16 0 11 0 13 Devon 0 39 2 40 0 34 Dorset 1 0 1 0 0 0 Essex 0 23 0 18 0 24 Greater London 1 24 1 10 0 24 Manchester 0 13 0 16 0 15 Gloucestershire 0 5 2 7 0 8 Hereford and Worcestershire 0 18 0 21 1 15 Hampshire 1 35 1 41 2 50 Hertfordshire 1 0 1 0 0 0 Humberside 0 18 1 20 0 11 Kent 0 31 0 24 0 20 Lancashire 0 93 0 62 0 66 Leicestershire 0 11 0 4 0 14 Lincolnshire 1 34 0 28 2 23 Merseyside 2 27 0 7 0 16 Northern Ireland 1 15 0 12 2 20 Norfolk 0 10 0 9 0 9 Northampton 0 10 0 18 0 9 With respect to the availability of travel insurance over the Century date change, I understand that insurance cover remains available for both travel companies and transport companies, as well as for individual members of the public over the Millennium, although any policies may be subject to a number of specific Year 2000 related exclusions.