Cycling (Hansard, 4 March 2004)

§ Mr. Nigel Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much the Department spent on the promotion of cycle helmets in each of the last five years; and what assessment has been made of the cost-benefit achieved in terms of injuries prevented from(a) helmets and (b) other methods of reducing risk to cyclists; [158024]
(2) what monitoring methods are used to assess the effectiveness of cycle helmets in reducing the (a) number and (b) severity of head injuries; and whether these methods would detect changes in the number and severity of head injuries arising from increased use of cycle helmets. [158025]

§ Mr. Jamieson
Since the creation of the Department for Transport in May 2002, the following has been spent on cycle safety campaigns, which include the promotion of cycle helmet wearing.
2002–03 'Cyclesmart' campaign, targeting 7–11 year olds. £19,630 'Cyclesense' campaign, targeting teenage boys £25,480
2003–04 'Cyclesmart' campaign £26,450 'Cyclesense' campaign £136,550
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My Department commissioned research on the effectiveness of cycle helmets, including the relative risk of injury to cyclists with and without helmets, by way of a literature review, and this was published in November 2002 (Road Safety Research Report No.30), a copy of which was placed in the Library. The conclusion from the review was that helmets have been found to be effective at reducing the incidence and severity of head, brain and upper facial injury, particularly for children. A fully quantified cost benefit review comparing the effectiveness of helmets and other methods of reducing risk to cyclists is not possible since many measures, such as education, training and publicity, are not fully quantifiable. The Department therefore pursues a comprehensive package of measures. This is proving effective, and deaths and serious injuries to cyclists in 2002 were 34 per cent. down compared with the 1994–98 baseline for our Road Safety Strategy.
Our casualty data does not allow us to monitor the number and severity of head injuries due to increased use of helmets because it does not identify injury by specific parts of the body. However, in addition to the periodic monitoring we carry out of the wearing rates for cycling helmets, we plan to initiate further research to explore the possible relationship between cycling casualties and cycling levels to throw further light on this subject.

§ Mr. Keetch
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to encourage cycling in the City of Hereford; and if he will make a statement. [158645]

§ Mr. McNulty
We have allocated Herefordshire Council just over £11 million to spend on local transport schemes throughout the district in 2004–05 under the Council's Local Transport Plan (LTP) which includes measures to increase cycle usage. The Council's last annual progress report on its LTP showed a 4.8 per cent. increase in cycling in 2002–03. Hereford is also one of the seven shortlisted towns looking for support from the Department for a sustainable travel town initiative. Two towns will soon be selected to apply a package of measures to promote not only cycling, but also walking and public transport. We have budgeted £7.5 million for this initiative, which will run for five years.