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  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cycling and walking projects will be funded annually by the (a) Government’s £80 million five-year Access Fund and (b) Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In February 2016 we confirmed that the Access Fund would be preceded by a £20m Sustainable Travel Transition Year. This competition is live and I therefore cannot confirm how many projects it will support. That said, support for cycling and walking is one of the Fund’s objectives and all bids will need to demonstrate support for cycling and walking in order to secure funding.

    The remaining £60m will support the Access Fund, which will launch in summer 2016. I cannot confirm how many projects will be supported by the Access fund, but, similar to the Sustainable Travel Transition Year, I can confirm that support for cycling and walking will be a key funding criterion. We therefore anticipate that all successful projects will support cycling and walking in some way.

    The Local Sustainable Transport Fund concluded in March 2016. All 44 projects in 2015/16 supported cycling and walking in some way.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 29270, and with reference to the Answer of 31 March 2008, on cycleways, when his Department stopped collecting data on the creation of cycle lanes by local authority area.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The previous Parliamentary Question refers to figures from 16 years ago. We have been unable to ascertain from Departmental records precisely when we stopped collating this data, but it will have been a decision made by the previous Labour administration.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the suitability of alternative travel options for passengers and employees travelling to and from Gatwick Airport in the event that the Brighton Mainline is out of service.

    Claire Perry

    No formal assessment has been carried out by the Department, however Network Rail and the rail operator are required to work together in the event of disruption on the Brighton Main Line to ensure that passenger needs are catered for. Alternative travel options are put in place for planned engineering works, and these worked well during the Christmas period last year when extensive engineering work took place. The rail industry is required to have contingency plans in place for disruptive events.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department of Energy and Climate Change on ensuring the Government meets its EU renewable energy targets.

    Andrew Jones

    The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) requires larger fossil fuel suppliers to demonstrate that sufficient renewable fuel has been supplied to meet their obligation. The obligation is set as a proportion of a supplier’s overall fuel supply by volume.

    Renewable fuels supplied for use in transport in the UK are also reported under the RTFO on a volume basis, in litres or kilograms. The energy content of renewable fuels used in transport is calculated using the default energy values set out in Annex III of the Renewable Energy Directive (Directive 2009/28/EC).

    Officials from the Department for Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change are in regular contact on the development of proposals to meet EU renewable energy targets, under the Directive.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the contribution of the Minister of State in his Department, the hon. Member for Scarborough and Whitby, on 23 March 2016, Official Report, column 1657, what the value is of the funding that has been made available for the initial feasibility work for the preparation of an outline masterplan for Euston Station; which agency is expected to lead that work; and when he expects that work to be completed.

    Claire Perry

    The design for HS2 is for one integrated HS2 station at Euston, which will be delivered in two stages (A and B1) to ensure a roll-out of passenger benefits in 2026 and again in 2033 as the Phase 1 and Phase 2 HS2 services are delivered​.

    Both the Department and Network Rail are committed to exploring how the ‘classic’ mainline station (Stage B2) might be integrated with the new HS2 station and potential Crossrail 2 station in the future, as part of a ‘masterplan’ for the Euston Station site. The Department, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd are currently working together to produce a plan to progress the initial feasibility and business case work needed for this project over the next two years, which will include the timing, resource required, and estimated cost.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the safety of users of private hire vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    The legislation that provides for licensing of private hire vehicle services aims to safeguard passengers by ensuring that drivers and vehicles are fit for purpose. This legislation allows local licensing authorities the discretion to set standards that they deem to be appropriate for their area. To help licensing authorities set standards the Department has issued best practice guidance.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) overall and (b) contingency for High Speed 2 (HS2) (i) Phase 1, (ii) Phase 2a, (iii) Phase 2b and (iv) rolling stock in 2015 prices; and what the overall expenditure has been on HS2 on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The 2015 Spending Review reconfirmed the Government’s commitment to the programme providing a long-term funding envelope of £55.7bn in 2015 prices. A breakdown of this envelope with and without contingency has been provided below:

    £’bn, 2015 Prices

    Phase One

    Phase 2a

    Phase 2b

    Rolling Stock

    Total

    Without Contingency

    18.0

    2.7

    14.7

    5.4

    40.8

    With Contingency

    24.3

    3.7

    20.7

    7

    55.7

    To date (2009/10 – 2015/16) the government has spent £1.5bn on the HS2 programme. Please note that actual expenditure data for 2015/16 is pre-audit.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the proposal to the International Maritime Organisation to develop a work plan to define shipping’s fair share in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the meeting on 18 to 22 April 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We welcome the paper submitted to the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee proposing the development of a work plan to define international shipping’s fair share in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    Negotiations on how the global shipping sector can contribute to the goal in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C, are at an early, technical stage.

    Department for Transport officials have been working closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and other departments to ensure that the UK is well placed to play a leading role in the upcoming discussions regarding this “fair share” and will continue to do so as progress is made towards a global solution to tackling emissions from international shipping.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the proposal to the International Maritime Organisation to develop a work plan to define shipping’s fair share in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the meeting on 18 to 22 April 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We welcome the paper submitted to the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee proposing the development of a work plan to define international shipping’s fair share in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    Negotiations on how the global shipping sector can contribute to the goal in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C, are at an early, technical stage.

    Department for Transport officials have been working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other departments to ensure that the UK is well placed to play a leading role in the upcoming discussions regarding this “fair share” and will continue to do so as progress is made towards a global solution to tackling emissions from international shipping.

  • 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 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) his Department and (b) Highways England are improving their assessments of user satisfaction in relation to the strategic road network.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department appointed Transport Focus (TF) as the road user watchdog and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as the Highways Monitor on the formation of Highways England on 1 April 2015. In addition to reporting from TF and ORR, officials regularly meet with Highways England to discuss all aspects of their performance, including customer satisfaction.

    TF is developing a new Strategic Roads User Survey to measure satisfaction among those using Highways England’s network with input from the Department. It is intended to pilot this throughout 2016 and then launch the new survey during 2017. This will run in parallel with Highways England’s existing National Road User Satisfaction Survey until that ceases in March 2018.