Tag: Lilian Greenwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to protect alignments of disused rail lines on publicly-owned land from inappropriate development since May 2010; and whether his Department has established any successor arrangements to BRB (Residuary) Ltd’s former Property Review Group.

Claire Perry

There are various different ways of protecting land for future railway use but local authorities are usually best placed to identify such land. Guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government, ‘Planning Policy Guidance 13: Transport’, states that when preparing development plans and considering planning applications, local authorities should “ … protect sites and routes which could be critical in developing infrastructure to widen transport choices for both passenger and freight movements.”

As part of the abolition of BRB Residuary Ltd in 2013, land identified for potential operational use was transferred to Network Rail.

Condition 7 of Network Rail’s operating licence requires the Office of Rail and Road (‘ORR’) to grant consent for any proposal to dispose of any land in Network Rail’s ownership. ORR has issued a general consent, allowing some forms of disposal to be implemented without prior notice. The process for seeking consent requires Network Rail to carry out a wide consultation covering the rail industry and other interested bodies, including the Department, local authorities, ports and airports etc. Further details of ORR’s land disposal policy may be found at http://orr.gov.uk/what-and-how-we-regulate/regulation-of-network-rail/network-licence/land-disposal-policy

The Department for Transport also has a role in protecting land for future rail use, for example through Safeguarding Directions for major schemes such as HS2 and Crossrail.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department provided for Bikeability in each year from 2007-08 to 2015-16 expressed in 2015-16 prices; and how much his Department plans to provide for that scheme in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21 expressed in 2015-16 prices.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The amount of funding provided by the Department for Transport to support the delivery of Bikeability cycle training in each financial year from 2007/08 to 2015/16 is set-out in the table below:

Financial Year	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
£m	1.11	3.92	5.94	9.50	11.48	10.97	11.71	12.45	11.19
Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices £m	1.30	4.49	6.67	10.35	12.25	11.51	12.05	12.60	11.19

Footnotes: Figures provided in the table cover Bikeability training grant costs only. Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices was calculated using parameters in the Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) data book.

Between 2010/11 and 2015/16 this government provided an average of £11.66m per year in 2015/16 prices, compared to an average of £4.15m per year in the three years previously under Labour.

The projected budget for the delivery of Bikeability in each financial year from 2016/17 to 2019/20 is set-out in the table below:

Financial Year	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
£m	11.40	11.59	11.79	11.99
Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices £m	11.22	11.21	11.19	11.15

Footnotes: Figures provided in the table cover Bikeability training grant costs only. Funding expressed in 2015/16 prices was calculated using parameters in the Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) data book.

Government funding for Bikeability in 2020/21 will be decided at a future Spending Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent by (a) Highways England and (b) the Highways Agency per head of population in each region of England in each year since 2009-10.

Andrew Jones

Figures on Highways Agency spend in each region of England can be obtained from the HM Treasury Country and Regional Analysis (CRA).

Data from 2010/11 to 2014/15 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477115/CRA_2015_Combined_Database_for_Publication.xlsx

Figures for 2009/10 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/382214/CRA_2014_Combined_Database_for_Publication.xlsx

The ONS publishes figures on regional population estimates.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Minute No. 16/20 of Network Rail’s Board minutes of 24 February 2016, who carried out the third pay review of Network Rail’s renewal proposals; and what was the cost of that review was to the public purse.

Claire Perry

An independent peer review of Network Rail’s renewals proposals, as referred to in Network Rail’s Board minutes of 24 February 2016, was conducted by Sotera Risk Solutions. The cost was £4,700 exclusive of Value Added Tax.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s Level Crossing Reform Action Plan, published in December 2014, how many officials of his Department are currently working full-time or equivalent on the level crossing reform programme.

Claire Perry

The level crossing reform programme forms part of the responsibilities of the Head of Railway Safety Policy who is working closely with the Office of Rail and Road to develop proposals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2016 to Question 37816, on level crossings, what his Department’s expenditure on the level crossing reform programme was in the last Parliament; and how much such expenditure is budgeted in the current Parliament.

Claire Perry

Network Rail has closed almost 1,000 level crossings since 2009 and the Department is supporting its on-going risk reduction programme through a dedicated £99 million fund during 2014-19 to secure further improvements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in which reporting periods the performance of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise has (a) met and (b) exceeded its breach performance level for the (i) train operating company minute delay, (ii) cancellation and (iii) short-formation benchmark.

Claire Perry

Since Rail Industry period 7 in financial year 2015/16 (ending mid October 2015), GTR have exceeded the breach level for the Cancellations benchmark. The Secretary of State issued GTR with a Remedial Plan Notice last year requiring them to set out in a Remedial Plan the measures they will take in order to improve their performance and included benchmarks against which GTR are measured for the duration of the Remedial Plan. GTR has not breached the remedial plan cancellations benchmark and are under the breach benchmark for train operating company minute delays and peak short formations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2016 to Question 40374, what the estimated values are of Network Rail’s costs referred to in that Answer by (a) costs incurred with the supplier, (b) installation and (c) operational costs for the (i) Cardiff and (ii) Romford Rail Operating Centre.

Paul Maynard

The Department for Transport does not hold this level of detail on Network Rail’s costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2015 to Question 2215, and with reference to the indicative timetable contained in his Department’s Level Crossing Reform Action Plan, whether he will issue a public consultation on the reform of legislation relating to level crossings in 2015.

Claire Perry

The Department continues to develop its response to the Law Commission’s recommendations on the reform of level crossing legislation.

Initial discussions with stakeholders have raised a number of concerns which the Department will need to consider further.

This is a highly complex area and we must ensure that any amendments to the legislative framework do not adversely impact on the UK’s position of having the best level crossing safety record in Europe.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department allocated to the Winter Weather Repair Fund in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what funding it has allocated to that fund in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17.

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.

This is additional to the funding of over £4.7 billion the Government provided to local highway authorities between 2010 and 2015 for highways maintenance, including £168 million to tackle potholes across the country, as well as £183.5 million we provided in 2014 to help repair roads damaged by the winter floods of 2013/14. Between 2010 to 2015 the maintenance funding was 27% or £1billion higher than in the previous five years.