To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue from fines for motoring offences arising from detections by speed cameras was paid into the Consolidated Fund (a) directly and (b) from surpluses of safety camera partnerships in each of the last 10 years. (276454)

The Department for Transport only holds information about speed and red light cameras operating under the National Safety Camera programme which started in 2001 and ended on 31 March 2007. The Department does not hold details of fines imposed by courts and paid directly into the consolidated fund. The gross surpluses returned to the consolidated fund from the partnerships are shown in the following table. This surplus represents the difference between the total of fixed penalties paid for speed and red light offences detected by cameras, and the costs reclaimed by partnerships in the prevention, detection and enforcement of these offences. A portion of the amount shown will have been deducted prior to payment to Treasury in order to cover departmental costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent from the public purse on the (a) purchase and (b) maintenance of speed cameras in each year since 1997. (276455)

The Department for Transport only holds information about speed and red light cameras operating under the National Safety Camera Programme which started in 2001 and ended on 31 March 2007. Under the netting off funding arrangements, safety camera partnerships reclaimed expenditure directly attributed to the prevention, detection and enforcement of speeding and red-light offences from fines issued as a result of camera enforcement. The programme was therefore not funded from the public purse but by drivers who had been caught speeding or contravening red traffic lights.

Figures from the audit certificates for the partnerships in England and Wales for the seven financial years between 2000-01 and 2006-07 are contained in the table. These show the amount of fine revenue reclaimed by the partnerships and used for the prevention, detection and enforcement of speed and red light offences. The Department does not hold more specific information on purchase and maintenance costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what methodology his Department uses to estimate the number of lives saved attributable to the installation of speed cameras. (276467)

The independent evaluations of the National Safety Camera Programme assessed the effectiveness of cameras using a statistical model which took account of a range of parameters including the effects of long-term trends and seasonal variations. Details of the modelling approach are included in the Appendices to these reports.

The four-year evaluation, published on 15 December 2005 and available in the Library of the House and on the Department for Transport's website, found a 42 per cent. reduction in people killed or seriously injured at camera sites, that means around 1,745 fewer people killed or seriously injured per annum, including over 100 fewer deaths.