Tag: Lord Berkeley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-12-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to implement the original text of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 about a European rail network for competitive freight, in the light of the recent decision by the European Court of Justice.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department for Transport, as a member of the Executive Board, and Network Rail, as a member of the Management Board, for Rail Freight Corridor North Sea – Mediterranean, will work with their Corridor partners to implement the extension of the British element of this Corridor to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Felixstowe and Southampton by 2018. In accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 as amended by Regulation (EU) 1316/2013, these extensions will be based on market studies and will take into consideration existing passenger and freight operations on those routes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 10 February (HL5652), what (1) proportion, and (2) volume, of excavated spoil from each of the HS2 Phase 1 construction sites will be transported from them by (a) rail, (b) road, and (c) river.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Excavated material arising from the construction of Phase One of HS2 will be transported along the construction corridor (site haul) where it is reasonably practicable to do so. Where that is not possible, or for movement along longer distances, the material will be transported by public highway, along designated routes. Where reasonably practicable, rail has been considered for the transportation of large quantities of excavated material over long distances. There are currently no plans to move any of the excavated material by river.

The approximate quantities and relative proportion of each of these transportation methods, allocated to broad sections of the proposed route is set out in the table below. These figures reflect the assumptions reported in the Environmental Statement deposited alongside the Phase One Bill and, as such, are a plausible worst case in terms of both total volume of excavated material and proportion transport by highway and rail. The project has made a commitment to maximise the amount of excavated material transported by rail and are working to increase the proportion transport by rail and decrease the proportion transported by highway wherever reasonably practicable.

(All figures are in million tons and movements may include multiple handling)

	Site Haul	Public Highway Haul	Rail Haul
Central London & Metropolitan area	16.9 (56%)	4 (13%)	9.46 (31%)
Buckinghamshire Northants & Warwickshire Country areas	72.4 (80%)	17.9 (20%)	– (0%)
West Midlands Metropolitan area	29.9 (61%)	18.9 (39%)	– (0%)
Total Phase One Routewide	119.2 (70%)	40.8 (24%)	9.46 (6%)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current funding plans for dredging in Portland and Plymouth Harbours in order for them to accept larger cruise ships, and whether any state aids will be involved.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Funding plans for such developments are a matter for the ports concerned. It is also for the ports themselves, in the first instance, to ensure that their funding arrangements are compliant with State Aid rules and that any prospective Aid is notified to the European Commission as and when necessary through the appropriate channels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports of collusion within the police forces and other agencies after the Hillsborough disaster, whether they will introduce legislation to prevent serving members of the police force and the judiciary from belonging to the freemasons.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Any police officer must be able to discharge their duties within the law and is expected to abide by the oath of constable. The Standards of Professional Behaviour, set out in Schedule 2 to the Police (Conduct) Regulations (2012), require police officers to be ‘honest, act with integrity and . . . not compromise or abuse their position’. Police officers must be able to do so, irrespective of membership of any external membership organisations.

The College of Policing introduced a Code of Ethics in July 2014 which applies to all police officers and staff in England and Wales and sets out clear principles and standards of behaviour expected of them. It is for individual forces to determine whether an individual officer’s behaviour or misconduct meets the standards that are set out and where they are not, to investigate and instigate disciplinary proceedings where appropriate.

Following the Chapman Review in 2014, the Government is continuing its programme of reforms to improve police integrity and the police discipline system, including through the Policing and Crime Bill which is currently before parliament to improve the system and its ability to hold officers to account for their actions and behaviour.

In the case of judges it is also essential to the rule of law that they are independent and impartial when exercising their judicial functions. All judicial office holders should recuse themselves in any case where bias or the appearance of bias arises and are counselled against engaging in any activity which might undermine or be reasonably thought to undermine their judicial independence or impartiality. These commitments are enshrined in the judicial oath.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have given the rail industry an exemption that allows that industry a year longer than the aviation industry to comply with the provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in respect of compensation for delays or cancellations to services; and whether they plan to extend that exemption to providers of bus and coach services.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government has decided that the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) should apply in full to all transport services, including mainline passenger rail services, from 1 October 2016.

The 12 month exemption from one of the compensation provisions in the Consumer Rights Act was originally proposed to allow time for train operators to move to a consistent compensation scheme. However, the Government is now of the view that rail customers should not be denied any consumer rights or protections even for a temporary period while the rail industry works to put in place more consistent compensation arrangements between train operators. The Government has therefore withdrawn the draft statutory instrument which was to have been debated by Parliament and which, if approved, would have put this exemption in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what licences and permissions have been granted for the dumping of dredged material in the sea off Lantic Bay, east of Fowey in Cornwall.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) licences the disposal of dredged material at sea under the Marine and Coastal access Act 2009.

Lantic Bay (PL060) is an approved disposal site that has been in use for a number of years. Since vesting the MMO has issued three licences for disposing dredged material at the Lantic Bay disposal site:

• Licence L/2011/00050 to Fowey Harbour Commissioners for the disposal of 45,000 tonnes of sediment per year. The licence was for a period of three years starting on 27^th May 2011 and expired on 26^th May 2014;
• Licence L/2014/00146 to Fowey Harbour Commissioners for the disposal of 80,000 tonnes of sediment per year. This licence commenced on 1^st May 2014 and is valid for 10 years;
• Finally, licence L/2013/00396/4 to the Victoria Wharf Group Ltd for the disposal of 10,000 tonnes of sediment from Corporation Wharf, Plymouth valid from 1^st November 2015 to 28^th February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 3 March (HL6235), what assessment they have made of whether a procurement process where there are only two genuine bidders complies with the EU rules and procedures for public contracts, which state that a minimum of three bids are required, and whether they have sought from the EU a derogation from that rule.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Rail franchising competitions are governed by Regulation 1370/2007 and not the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Therefore, although the Department fully applies the EU treaty principles of transparency, equal treatment and non-discrimination, it is not obliged to follow the processes and procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Where a competition is to be held, Regulation 1370/2007 requires a fair competitive procedure, but does not stipulate the minimum number of bidders that is required to evidence this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 30 March (HL7064), what was the actual number of HS2 trains of both sizes, and for Phases 1 and 2, used in the Rolling Stock Strategy previous to the one currently in the process of completion.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

HS2 Ltd are in the process of completing their Rolling Stock Strategy which will contain greater detail on the fleet sizes expected to be procured. Our current assumption is outlined below.

	Phase 1	Phase 2	Total
Classic Compatible	45	50	95
Captive	16	54	70
Total	61	104	165

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what have been the maintenance costs of Tinsley Viaduct since its construction, and what effect the underlying geological faults and old mine workings have had on the cost of maintenance.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Highways England currently only has readily available the details of maintenance costs for Tinsley Viaduct covering the past 6 years. In this period, maintenance schemes on the viaduct have cost approximately £1 million per year. Highways England are not aware of any effects the underlying geological faults or mine workings have had on maintenance costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether consultants working for HS2 Ltd will be prevented from participating in any tender for main contractor roles in the design and delivery of HS2 in order to avoid any conflict of interest and to ensure a fair tender process.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

HS2 Ltd has a Conflicts of Interest Panel that considers actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. This Panel is chaired by HS2 Ltd’s General Counsel. This Panel is supported by an in-house Compliance team.