Tag: Lilian Greenwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions the Vehicle and Certification Agency has had with Volkswagen on the funding of the vehicle retesting programme.

Andrew Jones

On the 10 November the Secretary of State announced an Emissions Testing Programme to look for “defeat devices” and improve our understanding of the real world emissions performance of vehicles used in the UK. This investigation is vital in restoring public confidence. To ensure the independence of the testing, the Department is funding the programme and neither the cars nor the testing facilities will be provided by the vehicle industry themselves.

Ongoing testing of VW Group vehicles outside the Department for Transport Emissions Testing Programme and for which the Vehicle Certification Agency is the approval authority (Skoda), will be funded by the manufacturer on a case by case basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 28 January 2016, Official Report, column 523, on trains running over tracks from the 1930s, which sections of track on which routes carrying Southeastern services date from the 1930s.

Claire Perry

I would like to clarify that, in my contribution to the debate in Parliament on 28 January 2016, column 523, I was making a statement about how certain areas of the network in the South East have not been substantially changed or enhanced in keeping with the modern demands being placed upon them since the 1930’s, though evidently renewals will have happened over time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many former employees of British Rail were entitled to receive Safeguarded Travel benefits on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Claire Perry

This information is not held by the Department. This benefit is managed by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), and they may have this information; they can be contacted at rstl@atoc.org.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are employed as special advisers by his Department; and how many people were employed as special advisers by his Department on 1 January 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The number of special advisers employed by the Department for Transport is published on a regular basis, the most recent information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486829/List_of_Special_Advisers_in_post_at_17_December_2015.pdf .

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the award of the next East Anglia rail franchise.

Claire Perry

The announcement of the award of the East Anglia rail franchise is planned for June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answers of 20 February 2016 to Question 27903 and 3 March 2016 to Question 28905, what the reason is for the apparent discrepancy between the number of overseas visits listed in each answer.

Anna Soubry

Having checked the responses from the previous two requests, it appears that the answer to Question 28905, had inadvertently excluded the visits undertaken by Lord Puttnam in 2014. These visits were to:

Vietnam

Cambodia x2

Laos x2

Burma

Also since receiving the original request, there had been another visit in 2016, so the total recorded went from 12 to 13.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received representations from Virgin Trains or Stagecoach since 1 April 2015 on potential variations to the current Intercity East Coast franchise agreement.

Claire Perry

As with all Franchise Agreements, negotiations take place between the Franchise Operator and the Department, and since 1 April 2015 we regularly meet with Virgin Trains East Coast to discuss progress and potential changes to the Franchise Agreement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 3.1 of his Department’s Single departmental plan 2015 to 2020, published on 19 February 2016, what percentage of the strategic road network had a (a) charging point and (b) rapid charging point for electric vehicles every 20 miles on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Andrew Jones

Highways England is analysing current provision of chargepoints on the strategic road network, and will then address gaps and work towards ensuring motorists have a chargepoint available every 20 miles. Progress to date has been encouraging, with 96% of motorway service areas now having at least one rapid chargepoint.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the potential effect of the latest version of the Fourth Railway Package would be on the ability of his Department to directly award passenger service contracts to public sector operators, as defined by section 25(1) of the Railways Act 1993.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Fourth Railway Package has no impact on this provision of domestic primary legislation, which prohibits the award of passenger rail franchises to public sector operators. The EU legislation would not itself prohibit awards to public service operators if in future the domestic prohibition were removed. Similarly, section 30 of the Railways Act 1993, which puts the franchising authority under a duty to secure the continuity of services – including by directly operating the services – will continue to apply.

The current text of the Fourth Railway Package permits direct awards, including to public sector operators, in a range of circumstances including where they can be justified by the characteristics of the network and potential benefits to passengers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on how many diesel vehicles there were in the UK by (a) Euro 1, (b) Euro 2, (c) Euro 3, (d) Euro 4, (e) Euro 5, (f) Euro 6 emission categories on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many vehicles there were on that date that did not conform to a Euro emissions standard.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing database does not include the Euro Emission Standard. However, it does contain the year of first registration from which the number can be estimated.

The estimated number of diesel cars licensed at the end of December 2015 that were first registered during the period of which each of the Euro standards were in place are as follows:-

Pre Euro 1	11,083
Euro 1	47,336
Euro 2	216,309
Euro 3	2,191,698
Euro 4	3,887,142
Euro 5	4,802,451
Euro 6	474,970

There were 296,788 cars that were imports or older cars for which the date of first registration is unknown.