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, with reference to the Enhancements Delivery Plan Update, published in March 2016, page 138, whether Network Rail carried out an equality impact assessment of the proposal to reduce Access for All funding in Control Period 5 from £135 million to £87.1 million in 2012-13 prices.

Claire Perry

The Department will undertake an impact assessment as part of our analysis and response to the Hendy Report consultation. This response is due to be published over the summer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24854, on railways: repairs and maintenance, for what reasons Network Rail did not publish its updated Delivery Plan in March 2016.

Claire Perry

Network Rail has completed its internal review of its plans for operations, maintenance and renewals (OMR), but before it publishes a revised Delivery Plan it must obtain agreement to any material differences from the Department for Transport. The Department is expecting to shortly receive the Office of Rail and Road’s review of Network Rail’s targets for train performance at route level, after which OMR plans can be considered in the round for agreement. I expect the Delivery Plan to be published on Network Rail’s website in the near future to assist with industry forward planning.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36401, whether the Cabinet Secretary’s involvement in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s review of High Speed 2 was requested or authorised by a Minister; and what the membership is of the small cross-government team referred to in that Answer.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA’s) support to the HS2 Programme is part of the normal assurance process for projects of this size, as mandated by Ministers. The Cabinet Secretary’s involvement is also normal for projects on the scale of HS2.

The IPA’s role on the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio is to provide expertise in infrastructure and the financing, delivery and assurance of major projects, to support more effective management and delivery across government. The cross government assurance involves relevant experts from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, the Department for Transport, HM Treasury and HS2 Ltd.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37536, on Govia Thameslink Railway Reforms Standards, what the predefined contractual change referred to in that Answer is; and what changes have been made to the cancellation and train operating company Minute Delay benchmarks.

Claire Perry

When competing for the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise the Department for Transport gave all bidders certain assumptions to use in relation to the train services to be provided until December 2015 and informed them where it would be a Change to the Franchise Agreement if the actual position was different. As a result of the Change, the benchmarks were reviewed.