Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that road accident and casualty statistics are published on time; and if he will make a statement.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has postponed publication of its annual 2016 road casualty data until 28 September as a result of a delay in receiving final validated data from Transport for London (TfL), in particular the data which TfL receives and processes for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The MPS data makes up around 15% of the road casualty dataset for Great Britain and therefore a significant component of the national total. The Department for Transport is working closely with TfL to obtain final validated data from the MPS.

The procedures for submitting reported road casualty data to DfT are well established and outlined in the published manuals detailing the instructions for completion of accident records and how these records should be checked for accuracy. It is the responsibility of those organisations supplying the data to DfT, either directly from police forces or via highway authorities, to ensure that accident records meet the required quality standards. DfT has regular contact with all data suppliers and works with them to identify any errors in the data on a continuous basis.