Tag: Danny Kinahan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to tackle the blockage of foreign aid to Nepal across the Indian border.

Mr Desmond Swayne

We are deeply concerned about the impact of the border blockages and resulting fuel crisis in Nepal. This has affected all sectors of the economy and has affected the humanitarian relief effort and the supply of reconstruction materials.

The UK has urged all parties to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue. I issued a statement on 13th October expressing concern that much needed humanitarian supplies are yet to reach many people still living in temporary shelter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received of allegations of India blocking foreign aid to Nepal.

Mr Desmond Swayne

We are deeply concerned about the impact of the border blockages and resulting fuel crisis in Nepal. This has affected all sectors of the economy and has affected the humanitarian relief effort and the supply of reconstruction materials.

The UK has urged all parties to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue. I issued a statement on 13th October expressing concern that much needed humanitarian supplies are yet to reach many people still living in temporary shelter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to ensure that discussions on the Stormont House Agreement include tax credits.

Mr Ben Wallace

A range of issues are under discussion in the cross-party talks. These include welfare reform, the Executive’s budget and delivering longer term economic reform. The Government is committed to its long-term economic plan, key elements of which are tackling the deficit, making the costs of welfare sustainable and getting more people into work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the operation of the procurement process in the Highways Agency.

Andrew Jones

Highways England complies with the Public Procurement Regulations. Each procurement exercise is led by a professional Procurement Officer who oversees the process to ensure that best procurement practice is followed.

Highways England is continually looking to improve its procurement processes. For example, when a contract is being renewed, a contract working group (CWG) is established to consider lessons learnt from the previous contract and to look at opportunities to improve.

Highways England is corporately accredited by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) which is an external endorsement of its procurement processes. CIPS Corporate Certification is an independent, comprehensive and procurement-specific assessment and signifies that Highways England has all the procurement governance mechanisms in place for effective and efficient procurement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the influence of major contractors over procurement processes in the Highways Agency.

Andrew Jones

The Secretary of State and Minister for Transport hold frequent discussions with Highways England on all aspects of their performance and delivery of the Road Investment Strategy. Highways England has recently published its Supply Chain Strategy. This sets out its procurement approach and strategies which are being developed with input from highways suppliers and others, to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the Road Investment Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the role of automated cone laying and retrieval on road maintenance worker safety.

Andrew Jones

Highways England and the Department for Transport (DfT) fully support the adoption of innovative techniques such as automated cone laying, where this will realise safety benefits for road maintenance workers. The then Highways Agency tested one machine – ‘Conemaster’ built by Jordan products Ltd., some years ago. On-road trials facilitated by the Highways Agency were successful and this indicated that the technique did offer positive safety benefits. In addition, the Highways Agency subsequently commissioned an independent economic assessment of the benefits of Conemaster in 2011. The final report, produced early 2012, concluded that the cone laying machine also offered positive economic benefits.

Highways England has a client role and it is for its supply chain to design and deliver traffic management solutions and it is for these suppliers to procure such equipment. The DfT has worked to assist Conemaster in its efforts to market its product and a meeting was facilitated with the then Highways Agency’s suppliers to demonstrate the benefits of the product.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to reduce barriers to small and medium sized enterprises supplying new products to the Highways Agency.

Andrew Jones

Highways England has set up an Engagement Council to ensure all highways suppliers, wherever they sit within the supply chain network, can have a voice and show leadership in identifying waste (cost, time and quality) and improvement to deliver better value.

Engagement Council

• Membership extends to all highway suppliers wherever they sit in the supply chain for Highways England contracts
• Prime route for collaboration
• Promotes innovation and improvement

Other ways which Highways England encourages SME involvements in its supply chain are:

• The use of Constructionline – a case study recently published by Constructionline recognises the benefits it brings to removing barriers through our Meet the Buyer events which allow us to directly engage with SMEs. This helps to identify potential tendering opportunities and give advice on the tendering process.
• Contract clauses – A standard contract clause included in our Model Contract documents to encourage the use of SMEs by our Tier 1 suppliers.
• Project Bank Accounts (PBA) – Highways England promotes the use of these on all contracts (unless there is a compelling reason not to do so) benefitting suppliers from a significant acceleration in payment of their monthly invoices.

Current PBA data at August 2015

• 48 PBAs in operation for live schemes.
• PBA total declared contract value of £4.66bn as of August 2015.
• In the first quarter of 2015/16 27% of the overall scheme spend is with SMEs. This data however is only based on those SMEs included in the PBAs and does not take account of spend with SMEs in the extended supply chain which could significantly increase this %.

Highways England is currently developing an SME mentorship scheme alongside key industry associations as well as the larger contractors operating on the network. The scheme will allow SMEs the chance to develop their capability and help to create an environment which removes barriers to market allowing them to operate effectively. Health & Safety, innovation and leadership will be key elements of the scheme.