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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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the correlation between cycle usage and household income.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The number of cycle trips and distance cycled per person per year for different household income levels (based on data for households in England in 2014) are given in the table.

    Real household income quintile

    Lowest real income level

    Second level

    Third level

    Fourth level

    Highest real income level

    All income levels

    Cycle trips per person per year

    21

    15

    15

    18

    21

    18

    Distance cycled (miles) per person per year

    50

    46

    43

    64

    88

    58

    “

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent analysis his Department has made of levels of cycling among different age and gender groups.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The number of cycle trips per person per year for different age and gender groups are given in the table (based on data for England in 2014) are given in the table.

    Males

    Females

    All people

    0-16

    22

    6

    14

    17-20

    30

    5

    18

    21-29

    33

    13

    23

    30-39

    33

    16

    25

    40-49

    38

    10

    24

    50-59

    29

    11

    20

    60-69

    22

    6

    14

    70+

    14

    2

    7

    All ages

    28

    9

    18

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase cycling among (a) women and (b) older people.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government remains committed to its manifesto target to double the number of journeys made by bicycle. In order to achieve this, all potential cyclists’ needs must be considered, including women and older people.

    The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking, with SR2015 announcing funding support of over £300m. In addition, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

    By improving existing cycle provision and ensuring that cyclists are considered when designing and building new infrastructure then our roads will be more appealing to cyclists of all ages and ability.

    The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published in summer 2016, will fully explain the Government’s investment strategy for cycling and walking.

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what annual fee his Department will pay to (a) Ernst and Young in the UK, (b) Arup and (c) Interfleet for their advice to him on fulfilling his duties under Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993; and for what period those companies are contracted to provide him such advice.

    Claire Perry

    Following a successful procurement competition using the new STAR (Specialist Technical Advice for Rail) Framework Agreement, the Department has appointed a partnership comprising Arup, SNC-Lavalin Transport Advisory (InterFleet), and EY to provide services to support the Secretary of State in connection with his duties under Section 30 of the Railways Act.

    The contract is for 2 years and commenced in November 2015. It has an optional extension of 12 months which is exercisable at the Department’s discretion. The fees payable to the partnership are capped at £616k (excluding VAT) for the two years of the contract. In addition to core contractual commitments, further fees are payable at agreed daily rates for other services which include, but are not limited to, the full mobilisation of a public sector train operator.

    Following the successful award of the East Coast franchise to Virgin East Coast last year, it was not a good use of taxpayers’ money to maintain DoR’s full corporate structure on a ‘just in case’ basis. We have scaled back Directly Operated Railways operations and brought it in-house with the Department for Transport.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in what circumstances his Department can terminate the (a) Southern, (b) Thameslink and (c) GTR contracts early.

    Claire Perry

    Whilst Southern and Thameslink are used as operating names by the franchisee, they are in fact part of the GTR franchise, which operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) Franchise.

    Schedule 10.2 of the TSGN Franchise Agreement (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488198/tsgn-franchise-agreement.pdf p.506) specifies how this franchise can be terminated by the Department.

    “

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent steps the Government has taken on approving the City Deal proposals for the (a) Inverness, (b) Aberdeen and (c) Edinburgh city regions; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mundell

    I was pleased to be in Aberdeen on 28 January to announce a £250 million City Deal for the city and region. We are currently considering the Inverness and Edinburgh proposals and hope to make an announcement on next steps shortly.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether he visited the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016, in his official capacity.

    Mr David Cameron

    Details of Ministerial overseas travel is published quarterly and is available on the gov.uk website.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to his oral contribution of 21 January 2016, Official Report, column 1556, whether he has since been advised of the date on which the House will hold its debate on the maingate for the successor to the Trident programme.

    Chris Grayling

    Future business of the House will be announced in the usual way.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what investigation his Department is making into the concerns recently raised by assistant coroner Christopher Wooley with regards to failures at HM Prison Parc.

    Andrew Selous

    I have received a report from the Coroner following the recent inquest into the tragic death from natural causes of a prisoner at HMP Parc in 2014. I have noted the matters of concern set out in it, which include issues of policy across the prison estate, as well as local practice at HMP Parc. The National Offender Management Service is working with the Director of the prison, and the other organisations to which the report has been sent, to ensure that the concerns are examined and appropriately addressed, and that the Coroner receives a response to his report within the statutory deadline.

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he had considered the interim findings of the report of Professor Walton on the insolvency litigation landscapes, published on 10 December 2015, before making the announcement on 17 December 2015 to end the insolvency exemption from the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

    Dominic Raab

    Since the passage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, it has always been the government’s stated intention that the exemption for insolvency cases would be temporary. Commencement of Part 2 of LASPO’s conditional fee (or ‘no win no fee’) arrangement reforms for insolvency, was announced in December and will apply from April this year. The aim of LASPO’s reforms was to control the cost of civil litigation.

    Ministry of Justice Officials discussed Professor Walton’s report with him, but the Ministry of Justice did not agree with his conclusions. Officials have also met representatives of insolvency practitioners who use no win no fee arrangements to fund these cases, as well as those who fund them in other ways.