Tag: Daniel Zeichner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s press release of 13 January 2016, entitled Transport sector all geared up for winter weather, what plans his Department has to ensure safety of cyclists in the event of bad weather.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We would advise all road users including cyclists to take extra care when cycling in wet or icy conditions. In particular when it is icy, cyclists should to stick to treated roads wherever possible.

The responsibility for the treatment and maintenance of the road network rests with the relevant highway authority. Section 41a of the Transport Act 1980 as amended, places highway authorities “under a duty to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow and ice”.

In this respect, in October last year I wrote to the leaders of all local highway authorities reminding them of their responsibilities regarding preparation for winter and the need for robust contingency plans in place to mitigate against any significant weather we may encounter over the winter period.

The Department for Transport (DfT) also continues to play its part to ensure we stay through the 2015/16 winter season well prepared. This includes continuing to maintain a substantial national emergency salt reserve, first set up by the Coalition government, and having a robust distribution process in place, if for any reason this salt of last resort is needed to be allocated.

The Department has also published a small amount of additional guidance for highway authorities in Local Transport Note 1/12 “Shared Use Routes for Cyclists and Pedestrians”.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many local authorities have applied for funding from the permanent pothole fund since the announcement of that fund in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; and how many applications for such funding his Department expects to be approved in (a) 2015-16 and (b) the 2015-20 Parliament.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport is providing over £6.1 billion funding to local highway authorities in England between 2015 and 2021 for local highways maintenance. This includes repairing roads that might be damaged due to severe winter weather. This funding includes £50 million per annum from 2016 to 2021 for a dedicated Pothole Action Fund as announced in the recent Spending Review.

The Department for Transport is currently working up criteria on how the Pothole Action Fund will operate and an announcement will be made in due course on this. Therefore no applications have yet been submitted nor have any decisions been made on how this funding will be allocated.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that all proposed Local Government Pension Scheme asset pool governance structures have an equal number of scheme member representatives.

Mr Marcus Jones

The governance structures of the new pooling arrangements are matters to be determined locally and submitted as part of the detailed proposals we have asked funds to submit by 19 July.

The pool governance structures should provide funds with the assurance that their investments are being managed appropriately by the pool, in line with their stated investment strategy and in the long term interests of scheme members.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the Access Fund he expects to be spent on cycling in each year to 2020-21.

Mr Robert Goodwill

On 15 February 2016, we announced that the new Access fund would be launched for 2017/18, and would be preceded by a £20m Sustainable Travel Transition Year for 2016/17. I am able to confirm that all bids will need to demonstrate links to cycling and walking to successfully secure funding.

I am not yet able to confirm how much of the Access fund will go towards cycling and walking initiatives, as the formal Access fund has not yet been launched and funding has not yet been allocated.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the future of the Innovate UK Smart funding programme.

Joseph Johnson

Innovate UK is tasked with increasing growth and productivity across the UK through supporting business-led innovation. The number of different programmes it delivers has increased over the years and in some cases have become confusing for businesses, especially for SMEs, to navigate. Consequently, Innovate UK is currently simplifying its support to innovative businesses. Innovate UK intends to publish new Strategy and Delivery plans, which will outline its funding approaches and programmes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses he (a) expected to receive and (b) received to the consultation on BBC Charter Review.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Prior to the consultation opening, no estimate was made of the number of expected responses. Over 192,000 responses were received, with over 140,000 responses submitted in the final 2 weeks of the 12 week consultation period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which bus operators his Department has had discussions with on the Buses Bill; and how many meetings his Department has had with each of those bus operators.

Andrew Jones

Bus operators attended a series of workshops in the Autumn of last year, and since then officials have engaged, on a regular basis, with both large and small bus operators via the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Association of Local Bus Company Managers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons an annual report on the UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy was not published in 2015.

Jane Ellison

The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy (2013-2018) annual progress report, 2015, was delayed to give the Report a stronger ‘one health’ perspective and to better reflect progress across the four nations, which required additional analytical work. We hope to publish the report shortly.

The Department has just commissioned an independent scoping study to inform the evaluation of the current strategy which will inform any future strategy document.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department plans to spend on walking in each year from 2016 to 2021.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department’s spending on walking programmes is stated in the table below.

Programme	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	Total
Walking	£97.0m	£89.8m	£69.3m	£44.5m	£23.3m	£323.9m

The totals shown above include the Department’s Sustainable Transport Transition Year and Access Fund plus spending by local bodies on walking projects using sums from within current Local Growth Fund and Integrated Transport Block allocations. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise Partnerships, the amount supporting walking projects through to 2020/21 is likely to rise.

In addition to the above, from within the record £6 billion allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, this funding can help maintain footways cycleways. Further, from 2018/19 the plan is to change the formula used to allocate local highways maintenance capital funding so that it also takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting, which it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding will be based on footway and cycleway lengths.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39159, what the figures for his Department’s spending on cycling programmes in each year to 2021 are in real terms.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Programme	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	Total
Cycling	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Real term spending	£185.20	£199.56	£115.07	£87.98	£54.41	£642.23

We have applied the GDP deflator rates to the figures that were provided in response to the original PQ 37870. It should be noted that the future years GDP deflator rates are estimates only.

Note that the above totals include sums from within current Local Growth Fund allocations. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise Partnerships, the amount supporting cycling projects through to 2020/21 is likely to rise.

In addition to the totals above, from within the record £6 billion allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, this funding can help maintain footways and cycleways.