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  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12540, whether the process for Government approval of bus regulation as part of devolution deals referred to in that Answer will require secondary legislation or his formal permission.

    Andrew Jones

    The Buses Bill will be introduced later in this Parliamentary session, so proposals are still in development. It is therefore too early to confirm the process that may be proposed through the Bill.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the operation of the procurement process in the Highways Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England complies with the Public Procurement Regulations. Each procurement exercise is led by a professional Procurement Officer who oversees the process to ensure that best procurement practice is followed.

    Highways England is continually looking to improve its procurement processes. For example, when a contract is being renewed, a contract working group (CWG) is established to consider lessons learnt from the previous contract and to look at opportunities to improve.

    Highways England is corporately accredited by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) which is an external endorsement of its procurement processes. CIPS Corporate Certification is an independent, comprehensive and procurement-specific assessment and signifies that Highways England has all the procurement governance mechanisms in place for effective and efficient procurement.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the influence of major contractors over procurement processes in the Highways Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    The Secretary of State and Minister for Transport hold frequent discussions with Highways England on all aspects of their performance and delivery of the Road Investment Strategy. Highways England has recently published its Supply Chain Strategy. This sets out its procurement approach and strategies which are being developed with input from highways suppliers and others, to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the Road Investment Strategy.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the role of automated cone laying and retrieval on road maintenance worker safety.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England and the Department for Transport (DfT) fully support the adoption of innovative techniques such as automated cone laying, where this will realise safety benefits for road maintenance workers. The then Highways Agency tested one machine – ‘Conemaster’ built by Jordan products Ltd., some years ago. On-road trials facilitated by the Highways Agency were successful and this indicated that the technique did offer positive safety benefits. In addition, the Highways Agency subsequently commissioned an independent economic assessment of the benefits of Conemaster in 2011. The final report, produced early 2012, concluded that the cone laying machine also offered positive economic benefits.

    Highways England has a client role and it is for its supply chain to design and deliver traffic management solutions and it is for these suppliers to procure such equipment. The DfT has worked to assist Conemaster in its efforts to market its product and a meeting was facilitated with the then Highways Agency’s suppliers to demonstrate the benefits of the product.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to reduce barriers to small and medium sized enterprises supplying new products to the Highways Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England has set up an Engagement Council to ensure all highways suppliers, wherever they sit within the supply chain network, can have a voice and show leadership in identifying waste (cost, time and quality) and improvement to deliver better value.

    Engagement Council

    • Membership extends to all highway suppliers wherever they sit in the supply chain for Highways England contracts
    • Prime route for collaboration
    • Promotes innovation and improvement

    Other ways which Highways England encourages SME involvements in its supply chain are:

    • The use of Constructionline – a case study recently published by Constructionline recognises the benefits it brings to removing barriers through our Meet the Buyer events which allow us to directly engage with SMEs. This helps to identify potential tendering opportunities and give advice on the tendering process.
    • Contract clauses – A standard contract clause included in our Model Contract documents to encourage the use of SMEs by our Tier 1 suppliers.
    • Project Bank Accounts (PBA) – Highways England promotes the use of these on all contracts (unless there is a compelling reason not to do so) benefitting suppliers from a significant acceleration in payment of their monthly invoices.

    Current PBA data at August 2015

    • 48 PBAs in operation for live schemes.
    • PBA total declared contract value of £4.66bn as of August 2015.
    • In the first quarter of 2015/16 27% of the overall scheme spend is with SMEs. This data however is only based on those SMEs included in the PBAs and does not take account of spend with SMEs in the extended supply chain which could significantly increase this %.

    Highways England is currently developing an SME mentorship scheme alongside key industry associations as well as the larger contractors operating on the network. The scheme will allow SMEs the chance to develop their capability and help to create an environment which removes barriers to market allowing them to operate effectively. Health & Safety, innovation and leadership will be key elements of the scheme.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with airline companies on seat accommodation for larger people travelling on aeroplanes.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There have been no discussions between the Department and the airline industry on the specific issue of seat accommodation for larger people travelling on aeroplanes.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many tonnes of steel (a) used and (b) projected to be used in the construction of Crossrail were sourced from (i) UK-based steel manufacturers and (ii) all steel manufacturers; and what the monetary value was of those orders.

    Claire Perry

    Crossrail Ltd. does not directly procure steel as this is undertaken by their tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. However, Crossrail keeps an oversight of its critical contracts and estimates that 85% of its supply chain providing steel to the project is UK based; this includes the 57km of rails for the central tunnelled section that is being sourced from the UK.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will examine evidence from Scotland on the effects of a lower drink-drive limit; and if he will make it his policy to equalise the limit in England.

    Andrew Jones

    Tackling drink driving is a priority for this Government and we have continued to focus on tough enforcement. In April 2015 legislation was introduced through the De-Regulation Act which removed the automatic right for drivers who fail a breathalyser test to demand a blood or urine test. This has denied people the chance to sober up while waiting for the test to be taken. Also, ‘High Risk Offenders’ are now required to prove that they are no longer alcohol-dependent before being allowed to drive.

    I would be interested to see a robust and comprehensive evaluation of the change to the Scottish drink drive limit.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s policies on increasing access to public transport for disabled passengers.

    Andrew Jones

    We have made significant progress since 2010 on increasing access to public transport.

    Compliance with bus accessibility regulations is 89% of buses in England in 2015 compared to 59% in 2009-10; while 60% of rail vehicles, up from less than 40% in 2010, were built or fully refurbished to modern access standards.

    By the end of this year Access for All will have completed more than 150 step-free routes at rail stations against a target of 125. More than 1,200 stations have also received smaller scale improvements. To build on this success £160m has been allocated to another 68 stations to be delivered by 2019.

  • Kate Hollern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hollern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on his Department’s rail electrification programme.

    Andrew Jones

    Since 2010, the Department has overseen the successful delivery of 50 miles of electrified track as compared to the ten miles which were delivered in the 13 years from 1997 to 2010. Electrification between Liverpool and Manchester, and Liverpool and Wigan, was completed earlier this year.

    The work to electrify and upgrade the North TransPennine has resumed, as announced on 30 September 2015 by the Secretary of State. When the North of England electrification programme is finished, the whole route from Liverpool to Newcastle (via Manchester, Leeds and York) will be fully electrified.