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  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides were recorded as having taken place on the strategic road network in each year since 2009-10; and what work Highways England has undertaken with the Samaritans related to suicides on roads.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England records details on its Command and Control (C&C) database, of incidents that occur on the strategic road network, but only when the Traffic Officer Service have an awareness or involvement. Therefore due to the current Traffic Officer network coverage, the majority of incidents recorded occurred on the motorway network.

    The following table records the number of incidents coded as ‘suicide/suicide attempt’ on the C&C database and reflect those incidents that the Traffic Officer Service have been directly involved in or have been reported to them:

    Year

    Number of suicides/attempted suicide incidents

    2009/10

    93

    2010/11

    125

    2011/12

    110

    2012/13

    84

    In April 2014 a review of the database was carried out and the closure code for ‘suicide/attempted suicide’ was changed. This created significant anomalies in the data capture which means that the 2014/15 data are not robust. We are in the process of verifying the data and will be in a position to provide the figures later this year.

    Highways England (formerly Highways Agency) has worked closely with organisations such as the Samaritans in helping to prevent further suicides on the strategic road network. Highways England has commenced work to take forward a Suicide Prevention Group. This group will comprise of relevant stakeholders such as the Samaritans, emergency services and our service providers to develop and co-ordinate delivery of an action plan to reduce the number of suicide attempts on the strategic road network. We are also working closely with both the Samaritans and Network Rail to identify best practice following their success in reducing suicide attempts on the rail network.

    Known suicide hotspots are investigated to look at possible improvements, such as raising the height of the parapets on bridges and introducing or improving crisis signing. Highways England consults The Samaritans when undertaking this work.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many properties in Eddisbury have been purchased under the Exceptional Hardship Scheme since phase two of High Speed 2 was announced.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    As of 31 January, 3 properties have been purchased under the Exceptional Hardship Scheme in Eddisbury.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a list of (a) ongoing projects and (b) planned projects within the strategic road network in each region under the first road investment strategy; and how many such projects he expects will be completed (i) ahead of schedule, (ii) on schedule and (iii) behind schedule.

    Andrew Jones

    The Road Investment Strategy (RIS) and the Highways England Delivery Plan 2015-2020 list the ongoing projects and planned projects for each region. Of the 112 projects named in the RIS, five projects have either opened of will open in 2015-16 as planned. For the remaining projects all but two are progressing on or ahead of schedule.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers, (c) special officers and (d) police dogs were in the service of the British Transport Police on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    As of 9 February 2016, the British Transport Police has (a) 3,061 officers (compared to 2,901 in 2009/10), (b) 362 police community support officers (compared to 340 in 2009/10), (c) 285 special officers and (d) 38 police dogs in service.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which British Transport Police sites have closed since May 2010.

    Claire Perry

    Since May 2010, there have been 9 operational closures of British Transport Police sites at the following locations:

    Debden

    Ealing Broadway

    Hastings

    Ipswich

    St Leonards

    Taunton

    Wood Green

    Watford

    Wednesbury

    The BTP has advised that the closure of these operational posts has not affected the policing capability or visibility at these locations. The majority of the offices closed were either very small satellite offices or in unsuitable locations where coverage is more cost-effectively provided from larger neighbouring stations.

    Additionally, two further sites have closed since May 2010 but they have been replaced by newer refurbished premises in the same vicinity.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 24915, which potential employment protections would protect seafarers from nationality-based pay discrimination.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Both the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (with the section pertaining to seafarers currently under review by BIS) offer protection from nationality-based pay discrimination.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21012, what further estimate he has made of the (a) number of and (b) cost of repairs identified to date to the (i) strategic road network and (ii) local road network.

    Andrew Jones

    Two sections of road on the strategic road network have been damaged by the recent flooding. The river bank was washed out on both sides at Warwick Bridge on the A69 near Carlisle. This will be repaired, as agreed with the Environment Agency (EA), using gabion baskets at an estimated cost of £60,000.

    A 1.5 mile section of the westbound dual carriageway on the A66 in Cumbria is currently closed following the storms. The provisional cost estimate for reopening this section of the network is between £3m and £5m dependent on the findings of a recent geotechnical survey.

    The rest of the strategic road network in the North West region has now been returned to a fully serviceable condition. The cost of clearing the affected network in the North West region is estimated at £275,000.

    The Department for Transport is continuing to collate a comprehensive list of damage caused to the local highway network following the recent storms encountered in some areas of the country.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24913, what assessment he has made of the likely take-up of the (a) deck and (b) other Maritime Trailblazer ratings apprenticeships (i) before and (ii) after the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy from April 2017.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Apprenticeship Levy will encourage the take up of apprenticeships generally. It is not possible to say how it might impact on individual apprenticeships, particularly those still under development.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on the extension of the plug-in grant to motorcycles; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has received representations from the Motorcycle Industry Association on a consumer incentive for zero emission motorcycles, as well as correspondence form the public at official level.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 24416, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the downturn from further affecting the national maritime skills base.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Maritime Growth Study chaired by Lord Mountevans and published on 7 September 2015 identified areas that would help the UK to compete successfully within a global market. These included Government and industry carrying out an assessment of the requirement for seafarers in the UK. Work on this has already commenced alongside an extension of the apprenticeship programme.

    The Government remains committed to the training of seafarers and has a number of policies to grow the UK’s maritime skills base, in particular through the £15m Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) fund. A review of the SMarT programme will start shortly and will take into account the impact of the low oil price on the North Sea fields.