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  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many meetings she has had with chief executives of FTSE 100 companies since May 2015 at which she raised the issue of increasing the number of women on company boards.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities and I have met with many business representatives since taking on our roles as Ministers for Women and Equalities. We have also met employers and business representatives as part of our plans to introduce gender pay gap reporting and always ensure that we use these opportunities to raise the issue of achieving a better gender balance on boards. This includes attending and speaking at conferences and events, including at the 30% Club and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents 190,000 businesses in the UK.

    Since May 2015, we have met numerous business leaders at conferences and events, including meetings with:

    • Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE

    • Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, CBE, CEO, Mitie Group PLC (in her capacity as Chair of the Women’s Business Council)

    • Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, CBE, CEO, Mitie Group PLC

    • Cilla Snowball, CBE, Group Chairman and Group CEO, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO

    • Denis Woulfe, Partner, Deloitte LLP

    • Emer Timmons, President, BT Global Services UK

    • Fiona Dawson, Global President, Mars Food, Drinks, and Multisales, Mars Food

    • Sue Langley, OBE, Non-Executive Chairman, A J Gallagher UK, UK Asset Resolution Limited (Northern Rock Asset Management and Bradford & Bingley)

    • Sue O’Brien, OBE, Partner, Ridgeways Partners

    • Amanda Harrison, HR Director, Centrica PLC

    I also spoke at the launch of Lord Davies’s final report, which was attended by a large cross section of over 100 businesses.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received on the protection of hedgehogs in Regent’s Park from trucks using the London Zoo car park for the construction of High Speed 2.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    12 petitions to the 3rd additional provision to the Phase One hybrid Bill were received that included concerns regarding the impact on the hedgehog population in Regent’s Park of the proposed lorry holding area in the London Zoo car park. Additionally, one of the responses to the AP3 Environmental Statement Consultation raised concerns about the hedgehog population in the Regents Park area. As part of the ongoing engagement with the Zoological Society of London, HS2 Ltd are considering locations for replacement habitats to mitigate the impact on the hedgehog population.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on staffing levels at coastguard stations in the Irish Sea.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The new National Network for Her Majesty’s Coastguard became fully operational in December 2015.

    Coastguard centres within this network do not have fixed geographic boundaries; the network enables workload and incidents to be managed on a national rather than centre-by-centre basis. Workload is moved around the network to balance local demand against a national workforce.

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the low oil price since summer 2014 on the number of UK seafarers employed on offshore supply vessels in the North Sea.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The 2015 seafarer statistics have just been published. We estimate that there were 23,380 UK seafarers active at sea in 2015, an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year. We are aware that the current downturn in the offshore sector may not yet be fully reflected in these figures.

  • Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Chris Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the level of planned investment by local enterprise partnerships in cycling and walking infrastructure through the local growth fund.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department estimates that an investment of at least £270m is planned for cycling infrastructure and an investment of at least £250m is planned for walking infrastructure, totalling at least £520m across the current Growth Deal period. This figure is derived from self-reported figures provided by Local Enterprise Partnerships to the Department in January 2016; the final figure for spend is therefore likely to be higher.

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the revenue raised by Southern Rail in the last five years was passed back to GTR by his Department.

    Claire Perry

    Under the terms of its Franchise Agreement, Southern Railway Limited retained all of its revenue. The services operated by Southern Railway Limited were combined into a new franchise, the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise, on 26 July 2015 when the previous franchise ended.

    No Southern Railway revenue has been passed back to GTR by the Department for Transport.

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Transport for London’s press release of 20 January 2016, TfL sets out plans to modernise and enhance London’s private hire industry, what representations he has received from the Mayor of London on the introduction of legislation that would enable TfL to restrict overall numbers of private hire drivers and vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    We receive representations on a range of issues from the Mayor of London.

    The Government supports choice for consumers, and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper in London and elsewhere. The Government is prepared to continue discussing various options with the Mayor but does not believe legislation allowing him to cap the number of private hire vehicles is warranted.

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 19 January 2016, Official Report, column 1364, what the evidential basis is for his statement that his Department will go further still in raising cycling spending per head.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Under the previous Government, spend on cycling increased to £6 per head from the £2 inherited in 2010. This Government has made clear its intention to make this country a cycling nation and our commitment to the publication of a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is evidence of our support to go further in supporting cycling on a longer term basis. The strategy will set out our objectives, activities and the funding available for cycling and walking in England in the long term and will be published in the summer following a consultation in spring.

    We are also going further by making sure that provision for cyclists is now embedded into wider transport programs.

    Through the Road Investment Strategy, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users, with a plan to invest £100m between 2015/16 and 2020/21 to improve provision for cyclists on and around the strategic road network.

    At a local level, a record £6 billion is being allocated to local authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, and from 2018/19 the plan is to change the allocation formula so that it takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting that it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding will be based on footway and cycleway lengths.

  • 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 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations in Great Britain were equipped with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many ITSO-compliant smartcards had been issued by (a) South Eastern, (b) Govia Thameslink Railway, (c) c2c, (d) Greater Anglia, (e) London Midland, (f) East Midland Trains and (g) Great Western Railway on the most recent date for which figures are available.

    Claire Perry

    There are currently 718 railway stations in England that are equipped with at least one ITSO-compliant smartcard reader. The devolved administrations are responsible for Scotland and Wales respectively.

    The Government does not hold figures for how many ITSO-compliant smartcards have been issued by train operating companies as this is a commercial matter for them.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value is of refunds unclaimed by people who sold their vehicles but then failed to apply for a refund of vehicle tax since 2010.

    Andrew Jones

    Prior to October 2014 motorists could apply for a refund or transfer the vehicle licence to the new keeper of the vehicle. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold information about how many keepers chose not to claim a refund. Since vehicle excise duty was made non-transferable in October 2014, vehicle keepers no longer have to apply for a refund. This is issued automatically when the DVLA is notified of the sale of a vehicle.