Tag: Lord Bradshaw

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-03-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their plans to introduce new electrified railway lines between Manchester and Liverpool in December, whether they have taken into account the availability of electric trains as part of their negotiations to procure rolling stock.

Baroness Kramer

As announced today (27 March) the Department for Transport has granted a Direct Award to Northern for 22 months and is working with them to ensure rolling stock is available for a phased rollout of electric services between Liverpool and Manchester from the December 2014 timetable.

The Department takes account of availability of electric rolling stock in its decisions and the stock for this route will be modern, cascaded stock from other routes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-03-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many legal cases were decided under Sharia law in the United Kingdom in 2012 and 2013.

Lord Faulks

Sharia law has no jurisdiction here and legal cases are not decided under Sharia law in the United Kingdom’s courts and tribunals. The answer to the question is therefore ‘none’.

If people choose to use Sharia for the purposes of dispute resolution or to agree a contract, for example, the enforceability of such arrangements will be entirely dependent on the law of the relevant part of the United Kingdom.

Regardless of religious belief everyone in the United Kingdom is equal before the law of the land.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they will take to facilitate connections between the Cambrian Line and the train services provided from Porthmadog Harbour Station on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland railways in order to support the tourist industry.

Baroness Kramer

The Cambrian Line is part of the Wales and Borders franchise operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The specification and day-to-day management of the franchise is the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 27 March (WA 145), whether the electric stock referred to in her answer will be subject to refurbishment before its transfer to the Northern Rail franchise.

Baroness Kramer

The electric stock referred to in my previous answer will be subject to light refurbishment before transfer to the Northern Rail franchise. This will be specified and managed by Northern and the rolling stock company involved. As the Noble Lord may be aware, the Northern Direct Award is for 22 months – from February 2016 a new franchise competition winner will be running services on this franchise. Therefore the new franchisee will develop their own proposals regarding any further refurbishment or replacement of the electric powered rolling stock.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 27 March (WA 141), what steps they will take to ensure that legal aid resources are spent in the most equitable way and are not concentrated on fewer high-profile defendants.

Lord Newby

In the vast majority of cases, legal aid fees are based solely on factors such as the type of alleged offence, the length of trial and the amount of paperwork involved. They are not increased just because a defendant is “high-profile”. We plan to reduce these fees in 2015, subject to consideration of a number of reviews currently taking place. In addition, a very small number of the longest cases (Very High Cost Cases) are paid based on the work required and the substance of the case. These cases account for approximately 0.1% of criminal cases, but 7.5% of the legal aid spend. The Government is committed to controlling the cost of these cases, and has recently introduced a 30% cut in fees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that library facilities in prisons, including the availability and ordering of books, are fit for purpose.

Lord Faulks

Prison library services are, in the majority of prisons, provided by Public Library Authorities. Prison libraries enable prisoners to receive, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment, a service equivalent to that provided for library users in the community.

We consider them to be fit for purpose.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of road vehicles in Great Britain are fitted with efficient particulate filters; and what assessment they have made of the potential benefit from fitting such devices.

Baroness Kramer

We have no firm information, but our best current estimate is that about seventeen percent of cars currently in use are fitted with wall-flow diesel particulate filters. We have made no estimate of the proportion of lorries, buses, and coaches that are fitted with diesel particulate filters. Reduction in airborne particulate has clear public health benefits. Some 29,000 premature deaths are estimated to occur each year as a result of airborne particulate, and poor air quality has health costs estimated at £15 billion annually for the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether particulate filters fitted to road vehicles are subject to testing to ensure that those devices remain in good working order.

Baroness Kramer

The annual roadworthiness tests include a test for diesel smoke, using an opacimeter, which is intended to detect a diesel particulate filter that has suffered a mechanical failure or which has been removed from a vehicle. The Department has amended the MoT testers’ manual so as to include a visual check to confirm that a diesel particulate filter is present where one was fitted as standard by the vehicle manufacturer. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-for-mot-to-test-for-diesel-particulate-filter

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have as to whether the origin or formulation of the diesel oil used has any bearing on the amount of particulates which are trapped in particulate filters fitted to road vehicles.

Baroness Kramer

The formulation of diesel fuel can have an effect upon the amount of particulate matter formed during combustion. There is evidence, for instance that biodiesel blends produce slightly less particulate matter, in general, than do pure petroleum-based diesel fuels. We would not, however, expect the differences in rates of particulate formation between fuels meeting the statutory requirements of the Motor Fuels (Composition and Content) Regulations, and meeting the EN 590 industry standard to affect the operation of diesel particulate filters.