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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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25018, what his Department’s estimate is of the cost of the Emissions Testing Programme; and what Skoda’s financial contribution is to the ongoing testing of VW vehicles outside that programme.

    Andrew Jones

    There is an initial budget of £650k for the Emissions Testing Programme. To retain independence we are not seeking contributions from manufacturers. Where testing is being done specifically on Skoda vehicles outside of this test programme, Skoda will be charged on a case by case basis by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). The fees are set out in The Motor Vehicles (Type Approval and Approval Marks)(Fees) Regulations 1999, as amended. VCA will charge between £8,000 and £10,000 per vehicle. The emissions test facilities will be charged separately.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of Highways England’s compliance with the conditions on environmental duties set out in paragraphs 5.23 and 5.24 of the Highways England: Licence, published in April 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    The Office for Rail and Road (ORR), as Highways Monitor, published a six month report on Highways England’s performance in December 2015. This comments on the Highways England Biodiversity Action Plan, which was published in June 2015.

    ORR will report annually on Highways England’s performance and in line with the requirement in the Licence, I expect Highways England to publish their environmental strategy shortly.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s press release of 18 August 2015, entitled Earnings outstrip rail fare increases for the first time in a decade, what the statistical evidential basis is for the statement that increasing regulated rail fares by the retail price index between 2016 and 2020 will save season-ticket holders around £425 each.

    Claire Perry

    Data on all annual season ticket issues and the revenue associated with them was used to create an implied average annual season ticket fare. This was then uprated under both the RPI+0 policy, and the Department’s previous assumption about future policy (RPI+1), using the OBR’s assumptions of future RPI increases. The difference between the two was then summed to reach an average saving of £425 over the period.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25993, whether his Department had a Cycling Health sub-group.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department had a Cycle Stakeholder Forum, established from 2011 – 2014, which had some sub-groups including a group on cycle health, chaired by the Department of Health. The sub-group was disbanded when the Cycle Stakeholder Forum was dissolved.

  • 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 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to performance indicators for helping cyclists, walkers and other vulnerable users of the network in the Highways England operational metrics manual, whether any additional resource funding has been allocated under the Road Investment Strategy to reduce vulnerable user casualties.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists, walkers and other vulnerable road users. Through the first Road Investment Strategy for Highways England, a ring-fenced allocation of £175 million has been made available between 2015 and 2020 to improve the safety of the Strategic Road Network and improve conditions for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

    The Highways England current delivery plan states that £78 million will be used to improve conditions for those cycling alongside and crossing the Strategic Road Network. The remaining £97 million will be used to enhance the safety of our network, with £20 million of this specifically targeted at improving facilities to provide a more accessible and integrated network.

  • Kwasi Kwarteng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kwasi Kwarteng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kwasi Kwarteng on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his policy to expand London’s transport zones to include (a) Spelthorne constituency and (b) other new areas inside the M25 orbital that do not use the oyster system.

    Claire Perry

    The Travelcard map, showing the zone in which each station falls, is set out as part of the Travelcard Agreement between the Train Operating Companies and Transport for London (TfL). Any changes to station zones must be proposed by a signatory to the Agreement and then agreed by the remaining signatories. The government is not a signatory to the Agreement and therefore has no role in proposing such changes to station zones.

    Once a change is proposed by TfL and the Train Operating Companies, the Department for Transport can approve or reject the change proposals. This decision is made by the Secretary of State for Transport, on the basis of a business case and other wider policy and initiatives that may be considered at the time. If the proposal does not represent good value for money, it would be unlikely to get approval. It would be inappropriate for the Government to promote or back any proposals outside of this established process.

    In the current rail franchising contracts there are commitments for train operators to bring forward proposals to extend Oyster and Contactless to Swanley, Epsom, Hertford North, Luton Airport Parkway and Welwyn Garden City. The Secretary of State will consider these proposals on their individual merits when they have been developed and submitted in accordance with the process set out above.

  • Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he estimates the Severn River crossing concession will end.

    Andrew Jones

    The Severn River Crossing concession is currently forecast to end in 2018.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 23952, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010.

    Andrew Jones

    Departmental Ministers and officials have held meetings with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010, but the precise number is not calculable.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    Alun Cairns

    The Wales Office is subject to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) policies for HR and pay purposes.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of the Government Equalities Office were in each of the last five years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) transferred into the Department for Education on 1 September 2015. Prior to September, GEO were part of DCMS. We are therefore not able to provide historical salary data.

    The Government Equalities Office (GEO) pays annual salaries. These have been converted to hourly rates using the calculation ((Gross Basic Salary*FTE)/52)/Weekly hours.

    Please find details of the average hourly earnings of the groups of GEO staff requested below:

    Mar-11

    Mar-12

    Mar-13

    Mar-14

    Mar-15

    Jan-16

    Male

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £25.33

    Female

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £23.38

    Full-time

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £24.06

    Part-time

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    £23.94