§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he has taken to reduce the number of deaths on North Yorkshire's roads.[125872]
§ Mr. HillThis Government are committed to further improvements in road safety. We launched a new road safety strategy in March this year, and we are providing substantial extra resources for Local Transport Plans.
In the Local Transport Capital Settlement for 2000–01, North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) received £8.5m as a block allocation, an increase of 58 per cent. over 1999–2000. This increase will allow NYCC to place additional emphasis on local safety schemes during the current financial year.
We have also in the region commissioned two safety studies which will investigate trunk road safety problems, one between Bramham and Barton on the Al and the other between Scotch Corner and Penrith on the A66. Details of these studies, together with other planned trunk road safety schemes, are outlined in the letter from the Acting Chief Executive of the Highways Agency to the hon. Member, 29 February 2000, Official Report, columns 190W–92W.
In North Yorkshire there has been a continuing reduction in the fatal and seriously injured categories, and in 1998 the County met the then national target of a one third reduction by the year 2000 compared with the 1981–85 base.