§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the minimum qualifications which will be required by persons seeking appointment as traffic officers under the Traffic Management Bill. [145536]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Highways Agency is placing significant importance on appointing the right people to traffic officer posts. Persons applying for a position as a traffic officer will be required to have two years of relevant experience or one year of relevant experience with a minimum of 5 0 Levels/GCSEs at grade C or above.
Applications will also be considered against a set of stringent competencies, aptitudes and essential criteria. A copy of the competences required has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by police authority the number of police officers that will be displaced as a result of the provisions of the Traffic Management Bill, and the proposed timescale for such displacement. [145542]
§ Mr. JamiesonOnce implemented, the provisions within the Traffic Management Bill will free up police time from some traffic management duties. While the police will still patrol the network, they will be able to spend more time and resources dealing with vehicle, road and other crime including detection and enforcement against bad driving, vehicle theft and licensing offences.
357WThe plans for Highways Agency Traffic Officers will free up the equivalent of more than 500 police officers, as they are phased in over a period of three years. The information is not broken down by police authority. The effect of civil enforcement of further traffic offences by local authorities will depend on the take up of the new powers and the level of current enforcement activity in respect of those offences by the police. The manner in which any resources released are re-deployed will be a matter for the police.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many convictions there have been in each of the last five years for offences under section 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for failing to comply with the indication given by a traffic sign; and how many convictions there were in respect of traffic signs that would be subject to civil enforcement under the Traffic Management Bill. [145545]
§ Mr. JamiesonSupplementary tables to annual Home Office Statistical Bulletins on offences relating to motor vehicles give numbers by offence type that were the subject of police action in England and Wales. The number of fixed penalty notices and convictions for "neglect of traffic directions", the offence type which includes failing to comply with the indication given by a traffic sign, in the last five years for which statistics have been published were as follows:
Fixed penalty notices Magistrates court findings of guilt Crown court findings of guilt 2001 162,885 29,034 42 2000 168,234 30,844 43 1999 175,793 30,891 32 1998 189,921 31,946 53 1997 191,923 33,144 63 A detailed breakdown of these numbers by the types of traffic signs contravened is not held centrally. but the figures include fixed penalties and prosecutions for traffic light offences detected by cameras. They accounted for a quarter of the fixed penalties and convictions for neglect of traffic directions over the five years. Traffic light offences will not be subject to civil enforcement under the powers contained in the Traffic Management Bill.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what proportion of police time in 2002–03 expended on traffic duty on motorways and trunk roads is represented by 550 full-time equivalent police officers; [145547]
(2) if he will give the data underlying the statement in the regulatory impact assessment for the Traffic Management Bill that the equivalent of 550 full-time police officers will be released as a result of creating traffic officers, and the number of police officers to be released by each police authority. [145549]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Highways Agency and Association of Chief Police Officers "Roles and Responsibilities Report" identified plans that could free358W up the equivalent of about 540 full-time equivalent police officers. Based on figures from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary of 6,540 designated roads police in 2001–02, the report estimated that a transfer of non-core police activities to the Highways Agency enabled approximately 8½ per cent. of police time to work on other key tasks. Resources will be freed up over a period of about three years as Highways Agency Traffic Officers are phased in across all motorways and some key trunk roads.
Calculations for the number of police officers to be released by each police force were made at a national level and have not been translated into resources for individual police authorities. The manner in which resources are redeployed is a matter for the police and will depend on, among other things, the current resources available and policing priorities. This does not mean that police will stop patrolling the network. instead they will be able to spend more time dealing with vehicle, road and other crime.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many regional control centres will be established under the Traffic Management Bill; what their annual cost will be; and how many new positions will be created. [145823]
§ Mr. JamiesonThere will be seven regional control centres with an annual cost of about £15 million. It is currently envisaged that the number of new posts created will be about 300.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost is of each additional traffic manager as proposed in the Traffic Management Bill. [145824]
§ Mr. JamiesonWhile the Traffic Management Bill proposes that each local traffic authority will be required to appoint a traffic manager, it is for each authority to decide who should carry out the role and precisely what duties they should have. The traffic manager could be an existing member of staff and/or could have other duties as well, so there could be no increase in costs. Taking the Bill measures as a whole, the Government consider that, on average, there should be no net cost to authorities.