Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of any extension of the Central London Congestion Charge to Sundays on (1) the ability of people to attend places of worship in the zone, and (2) the financial sustainability of Churches in the zone.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and delivered by Transport for London. The decision to temporarily extend the hours of the congestion charge was taken by the Mayor of London and it is a matter for him to confirm what assessment was made of impacts to churches and church goers.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the law concerning dangerous driving to include dangerous driving by cyclists.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Cycle Safety Review was announced on 21 September 2017. Phase 1 of the review will consider the case for a new offence for cyclists akin to causing death or serious injury by careless or dangerous driving.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pedestrian deaths involving a cyclist were recorded in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The information requested is in the table below:
Number of pedestrians killed and injured when hit by pedal cyclists in Great Britain, 2012 to 2016
| Number of casualties | ||
Year | Killed | Injured | Total |
2012 | 2 | 430 | 432 |
2013 | 6 | 460 | 466 |
2014 | 5 | 493 | 498 |
2015 | 2 | 442 | 444 |
2016 | 3 | 457 | 460 |
Source: DfT STATS19 (RAS30018) | |||
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the state of litter collection on the M11 motorway.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I understand that Highways England’s assessment litter collection on the M11 is that it meets their obligations under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The M11 is inspected weekly and where excessive litter has accumulated, picking is quickly carried out to ensure that Highways England remains compliant with the current requirements of the Act. However, as part of a new initiative, Highways England will be identifying areas where litter is most prominent; and will be dedicating resources to tackle these areas. The M11 near Junction 6 has been identified as one of these areas; and the operational team has been charged with ensuring a lasting improvement to this area.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on London's traffic of the introduction of cycle superhighways.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London, and cycle superhighways and their impact on traffic flows in the capital are entirely a matter for him.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authorities routinely scan pet cats and dogs that are the victims of road traffic accidents on local roads and where possible contact their owners.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the distress of owners who lose a beloved pet. The main focus for this Government is to continue to ensure we reduce road casualties and improve road safety. By doing this it is hoped that we can make our roads safer for all users, as well as reducing the risks to all animals.
It is the Government position that it is best practice to scan deceased pets found on the local highway. Some local authorities do endeavour to identify the owners if the pet has a collar or microchip and we encourage others to adopt the same practice. On 26 March 2015 the then Minister for Roads, Rt. Hon. John Hayes MP, wrote to all local highway authorities recommending that they consider scanning any deceased cats or dogs found on the public highway for which they are responsible as a matter of standard practice.
It is, however, for each local highway authority to determine how any deceased animals found on the roads are handled and the Department for Transport does not collect information on how many undertake scanning.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many deceased cats and dogs have been collected and identified by Highways England since the Department for Transport committed in March 2015 to ensure that it is mandatory for all new and existing contractors to collect and identify cats and dogs killed on the strategic road network.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Backbench Business Committee Debate on 2 March 2015, considered legislating collection and identification of pet fatalities on the strategic road network (SRN). During the debate key commitments were made to immediately make the necessary arrangements to ensure it is mandatory for all new contracts to collect and identify dogs and cats killed on the strategic road network and contact their owners, where possible, and to review how to retrofit the requirements to existing contracts.
The review was completed in September 2015. Mandatory instructions were issued to Highways England service providers in October 2015. Since this time there have been the following dog and cat fatalities on the strategic road network:
From October 2015 | Number of fatalities | Number identified |
Dogs | 39 | 14 |
Cats | 42 | 2 |
Service Providers are required to make a search for a collar or disc at the incident sites. Where the owner’s details are found on a collar and/or disc, the remains are bagged, separate from any debris, taken to the depot and the owner notified as soon as possible to be given the option of collecting their pet.
Where no collar/disc is found the entire body is scanned for microchips. Any positive identification is recorded and the appropriate identification body is informed (eg PetLog).
If remains cannot be positively identified they are cold-stored, where facilities are available, for at least seven days or until the cold store is due to be emptied, whichever is sooner. If no owner has come forward at the end of the seven-day period, the remains are disposed of.
Due to the high speed nature of the SRN it is impossible to guarantee that remains can be fully identified e.g. the microchip may have been lost in the collision. In this case, if the remains can be identified as a dog or cat, they are cold stored and as much information as possible is recorded.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many road traffic accidents in which a dog was injured were reported to the police in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for Transport collates information on animals identified as carriageway hazards in reported personal injury road accidents. However, information on the kind of animal involved in accidents is not collected.
The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving animals1 in the carriageway, in Great Britain, 2012 – 20142, is shown in the following table.
Year | Accidents | |
2012 | 804 | |
2013 | 734 | |
2014 | 692 |
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 30 November (HL3685), on what basis they differentiate dogs and cats in the requirements to report accidents.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires a driver to stop and report an accident involving horses, cattle, sheep, asses, mules, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals. This requirement arises from their status as working animals rather than as domestic pets.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amend road traffic legislation to make it compulsory for drivers who run over a cat to report it to the police.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has no plans to amend the legislation.
The Highway Code advises drivers to report any accident involving an animal to the police, which I hope would lead to domestic animal owners whose animals are killed in road accidents being made aware of their loss.
The police also advise drivers that, if possible, they should make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals, such as cats, and advise them of the situation.