Tag: Cheryl Gillan

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to pause plans to construct Phase One of HS2 until he has received assurances that they comply with the air quality standards and principles in the document Improving air quality in the UK: Tackling nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in January 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The air quality mitigation measures set out in the Environmental Statement and Supplementary Environmental Statements for the Phase One hybrid Bill, alongside the measures that will be taken forward as part of the HS2 Code of Construction Practice and agreed in the Local Environmental Management Plans, will ensure the construction of Phase one of HS2 is compliant with the principles set out in January 2016 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs document.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether airlines are obliged to comply with the requirements of the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulations No. 1169/2011.

George Eustice

The Food Information for Consumers (FIC) Regulation (1169/2011) applies across the European Economic Area, including catering services that are provided by airlines when the departure takes place in a Member State. The requirements apply to packaged and unpackaged food served on airlines. In both cases information required by the regulations must be provided to the consumer, namely allergen information. Other food labelling rules may apply if departing from a non-EEA state.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consideration has been given to using the information collected through the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme to assess the potential benefits of wider implementation of mechanical clot retrieval treatment and its side effect on post-stroke rehabilitation.

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, how many of the recommendations made by the HS2 Ltd Residents’ Commissioner in her published reports have been adopted in full by HS2 Ltd.

Andrew Jones

HS2 Ltd continues to use all feedback and recommendations made by the Residents’ Commissioner, including those made in published reports, to help improve the quality of its communication and engagement with communities affected by HS2 proposals.

In response to recommendations made by the Residents’ Commissioner HS2 Ltd has, for example, expanded its community engagement teams to provide more localised support and information to affected communities, introduced a mobile unit which will have a wider reach where residents not able to attend HS2 Ltd-run events, and raised awareness of the package of HS2 property compensation and discretionary assistance schemes which are available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many officials in his Department are working on matters relating to High Speed 2; and what the grades of those officials are.

Nick Boles

The Department for Transport (DfT) leads on HS2 policy and delivery. Within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), various officials at different grades have an interest in HS2 from the point of view of the Growth opportunities that arise from the investment.

BIS interests include the potential for rail engineering supply chain development, innovation and technology transfer and growth opportunities arising from the investment along the HS2 route. This will also be a shop window for new technologies that can then drive export growth. HS2 and the National High Speed Rail College will also drive the uptake of apprenticeships and raise engineering skills levels, so Officials in those areas have an interest in HS2. All of these matters also feature in the work of the Rail Supply Group, the rail engineering industry council, which is jointly supported by DfT and BIS officials.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many expressions of interest his Department has received from organisations other than HM Treasury or private investors in funding the construction of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The case for HS2 has been calculated on the basis of the project being fully publicly funded. We have not received any expressions of interest from organisations other than HM Treasury or private investors in funding the construction of High Speed.