Tag: Cheryl Gillan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which legal advisers and barristers have been used by (a) HS2 Ltd and (b) his Department on matters relating to High Speed 2 since the start of the project; and how much each such adviser or barrister (i) has been paid and (ii) is owed.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Since the start of the High Speed 2 project, High Speed Two (HS2) Limited and the Department for Transport have used two types of external legal advisers – solicitors (including parliamentary agents) and barristers.

High Speed Two (HS2) Limited has appointed solicitors Eversheds LLP in relation to property & planning and general commercial work, and Herbert Smith Freehills in relation to construction. High Speed Two (HS2) Limited has indicated to the Department that to date it has paid £2,202,410.59 to Eversheds LLP and £763,064.07 to Herbert Smith Freehills. Both figures exclude VAT.

The Department has appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to provide support in relation to Phase One of the High Speed 2 project. To date, it has paid £4,019,170.18 to Winckworth Sherwood and £3,022,492.30 to Eversheds. These fees are correct up to the end of September 2015 and are exclusive of VAT.

The Department has previously, or continues to, instruct the following barristers to support the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill: Tim Mould QC, James Strachan QC, Lisa Busch, Richard Wald, John Jolliffe, Jacqueline Lean and Richard Turney. Each barrister is remunerated at government hourly rates agreed with the Attorney General. The current spend to date on these barristers in relation to the Bill is £1,404,978.96 and is exclusive of VAT.

Since approximately 2010, the Department has also instructed a number of barristers on other HS2 work. These barristers will have been remunerated at government hourly rates agreed with the Attorney General, but unfortunately it would involve disproportionate cost for the Department to provide precise figures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he made of the number of lung cancer patients in England who have accessed the immuno-oncology drug nivolumab via private healthcare providers or other private sources of funding in the last year; and when NICE will make its final decision about NHS patients gaining access to that drug.

George Freeman

The Department does not hold the requested information concerning private healthcare or other private sources of funding.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence currently has two technology appraisals of nivolumab for lung cancer in development:

(i) Nivolumab for previously treated locally advanced or metastatic squamous non-small-cell lung cancer, with an anticipated publication date of May 2016.

(ii) Nivolumab for previously treated locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer, with an anticipated publication date of September 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his most recent assessment is of the number and location of sites which will be affected by construction of phase one of High Speed 2 which are known habitats of species subject to the strict protection requirements in Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Phase one of High Speed 2 does not adversely affect any sites designated as a Special Protection Area or a Special Area of Conservation.

HS2 Ltd have carried out habitats regulations screening assessments to determine if the railway might indirectly affect certain species associated with the Southwest London Waterbodies SPA/Ramsar site in the Colne Valley, and to consider potential effects of traffic pollution in the Chilterns Beechwood Special Area of Conservation. No significant effect was determined in either case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the effect on air quality of the construction of Phase One of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill

There have been regular ongoing discussions with officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on all the environmental aspects of HS2, including air quality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NHS England has made on including an indicator in the Mental Health Services Data Set recording a diagnosis of autism; and when data collection of such diagnoses is planned to commence.

Alistair Burt

NHS England has been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop reporting from the new Mental Health Services Data Set. This mandatory data set includes provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded, and reporting on this data has been prioritised. We expect experimental data reports on the number of people diagnosed with autism to be published by the end of 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the use of mechanical thrombectomy in treatment of stroke on length of stay in hospital and bed occupancy rates.

David Mowat

As yet, there are insufficient patients being treated with mechanical thrombectomy to assess its impact on processes, such as length of hospital stay and bed occupancy rates, outcomes of care and the effect on post stroke rehabilitation.

However, the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme is now collecting data on patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy and the results will be reported as soon as it is feasible. Sufficient cases will need to be undertaken before conducting the necessary statistical analyses and reporting the data.

NHS England is considering whether mechanical thrombectomy should be an area covered by its specialised commissioning portfolio and work is underway on this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the shortage of people with rail engineering, environmental and construction skills.

Paul Maynard

The transport sector faces significant skills challenges driven by a range of factors including an ageing workforce, a lack of diversity, the introduction of new technologies (such as digital signalling in rail) and the sheer scale of our transport investment programme.

The National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) has identified rail skills shortages in signalling and telecommunications, electrification and plant, traction and rolling stock of 10,000 people between 2014 and 2019.

In response to these challenges, in August 2015 this Department appointed Crossrail chair Terry Morgan to develop the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy (TISS). The TISS was published in January 2016 and the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT) was launched on 15 April 2016 as an employer-led group to oversee the delivery of the TISS recommendations andto address these skills shortages including through the delivery of 30,000 transport apprenticeships by 2020.

The Taskforce has commissioned NSAR to update skills forecasts for both road and rail. This analysis is expected to be complete by the end of December this year.

The National College for High Speed Rail will provide specialist vocational training to the next generation of engineers working on HS2 and beyond. Over 1,000 students are expected to graduate from the college each year.

Construction of the college is now officially underway and on course to open its doors to students in time for the start of the 2017-18 academic year.

Both the existing UK construction and engineering workforce as well as new entrants, such as apprentices, will benefit from the training that will be provided by the new college. The college will tackle the engineering skills shortage that is one of the industry’s biggest barriers to sustainability, productivity and growth.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) salary and (b) contract length is of each member of the HS2 Independent Design Panel.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The independent Design Panel will advise and inspire HS2 Ltd to design and deliver a transformational railway for the nation.

Design Panel members will only be paid for the days they work for HS2. On average, that commitment will be between 4 and 5 days per year. This would mean a salary of between £1,600 and £2,000 per year.

Their contract length is two-years with the option of a one-year extension.

The Design Panel Chair is on a £590 daily rate and currently works six days a month, dropping to four days a month from April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of the (a) cost of construction, (b) environmental effects and (c) construction time of High Speed 2 and a conventional electrified rail line along the High Speed 2 route.

Mr Robert Goodwill

A comparative assessment of the costs of construction and environmental effects of a High Speed and conventional electrified line was presented in the November 2013 HS2 Ltd report; London – West Midlands environmental Statement, Volume 5, Alternatives Report. The comparative assessment with a conventional line can be found from page 23 of the report which can be accessed online via

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259616/Vol1_Alternatives_Report_CT-002-000_wm.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when an appropriate assessment, as defined in Article 6 of the EU Habitats Directive, was undertaken for the South-West London Waterbodies Special Protection Area.

Mr Robert Goodwill

A habitats regulations screening assessment was prepared in June 2012 which concluded that the impact of construction and operation of HS2 would have a negligible impact on gadwall and shoveler ducks in the Colne Valley Lakes and therefore no likely significant effect on the Southwest London Waterbodies SPA/Ramsar site. The details were reported in the main Environmental Statement published in November 2013.