The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how much sand and gravel is used each year to protect the United Kingdom coastline.
Lord De Mauley
The Environment Agency holds this information locally and it would be disproportionately costly to collate the records to answer this question accurately in the time allowed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the marine aggregate industry.
Lord De Mauley
The UK Marine Policy Statement (MPS) is the framework for preparing Marine Plans and taking decisions affecting the marine environment. The MPS sets out the policy objectives for key activities taking place in the marine environment. This includes an assessment of marine aggregate resources, potential impacts from extraction activities and issues for consideration by decision-makers. Within English waters marine aggregate extraction activities are regulated by the Marine Management Organisation.
Government, regulators, The Crown Estate and the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) have collaborated on an extensive programme of research (over £25 million in ten years) into understanding and minimising the environmental impacts of aggregates dredging. Following the completion of that programme BMAPA and The Crown Estate recently commissioned and published Aggregate Dredging and the Marine Environment – an overview of recent research and current industry practice. The report is available on The Crown Estate website at www.thecrownestate.co.uk
The marine aggregate industry has and continues to engage constructively with Government and regulators in developing marine plans and licensing policy and Marine Conservation Zones.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with representatives of the haulage industry about improving the safety of cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
Baroness Kramer
There have been discussions with representatives of the haulage industry in a number of broader meetings. The meetings included the Commercial Vehicle Road Safety Forum, the Road Haulage Forum and a driver certificates of professional competence (DCPC) stakeholder meeting for the EU review. The subjects discussed included the potential for DCPC, vehicle design and enforcement to improve safety, including of cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
Department for Transport officials have also attended meetings about vehicle construction and to develop a best practice standard for construction logistics. These have been in collaboration with the haulage industry and Transport for London, with the objective of improving road safety for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
The Department runs a Safety Sub Group of the Minister’s Cycling Stakeholder Forum. This includes members from the haulage industry, such as the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association and Minerals Products Association.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential for greater use of Thames to move freight.
Baroness Kramer
Transport for London has assessed the potential use of the Thames and other waterways in their London Freight Plan. The Port of London Authority (PLA), the Mayor of London / Greater London Authority (GLA), Transport for London (TfL) and their partners in the public and private sectors have been working to encourage greater use of the Thames for the movement of freight, including that associatedwith infrastructure products in central Londonsuch as Crossrail, the Tideway Tunnel and Blackfriars Station.
The Department for Transport’s Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme provides grants to assist companies with the costs associated with running inland water freight transport instead of road, where inland waterway is more expensive. Grant support is being provided for a freight service on the Thames between Denton and Silvertown.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken, in co-operation with the franchise holder, to improve the frequency of train services in South-East London.
Baroness Kramer
On 11th June 2014, the Government awarded the Thameslink Southern Great Northern (TSGN) franchise to Govia. The franchise will run for seven years from September 2014. During this period Govia will improve the frequency of train services in the south east of London by introducing 24 trains per hour through the Thameslink core route.
The Government will be refranchising the South Eastern network in 2018 and will conduct a formal public consultation before finalising the specification.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what appointments to public bodies the Department of Transport has made in the last 12 months.
Baroness Kramer
The Secretary of State for Transport made 17 new appointments to public bodies in the 12 months from 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2014, as shown in the table below.
|
Name of Body |
New Appointments |
Date of appointment (s) |
|
Civil Aviation Authority |
2 Non executive directors |
1/9/2013 |
|
British Transport Police Authority |
5 Board members |
1/9/2013 |
|
High Speed 2 Ltd |
1 Chair |
1/1/2014 |
|
Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee |
7 Committee members |
1/4/2014 |
|
Northern Lighthouse Board |
1 Non executive director |
1/6/2013 |
|
London and Continental Railways |
1 Non executive director |
1/5/2014 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what appointments to public bodies the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has made in the last 12 months.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
For the 12 month period ending 31 March 2014 the Department made 126 appointments, including new, reappointments and extensions to OCPA regulated public bodies. The appointments were made as follows:
|
Partner Organisation |
Chair |
Member |
|
Advisory, Conciliation & Arbitration Service (ACAS) |
1 |
5 |
|
Arts Humanities and Research Council |
1 |
3 |
|
Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council |
1 |
3 |
|
Capital for Enterprise |
0 |
1 |
|
Competition Commission |
1 |
35 |
|
Competition Service |
0 |
1 |
|
Construction Industry Training Board |
0 |
1 (employee representative) |
|
Consumer Futures |
0 |
13 |
|
Council for Science & Technology |
1 |
13 |
|
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council |
0 |
6 |
|
Economic & Social Research Council |
1 |
4 |
|
Higher Education Funding Council for England |
1 |
5 |
|
Low Pay Commission |
0 |
3 |
|
Medical Research Council |
0 |
2 |
|
National Environment Research Council |
1 |
3 |
|
Office of Fair Trading |
2 (of which 1 was a short-term extension). |
2 |
|
Science & Technology Facilities Council |
1 |
3 |
|
Student Loans Company |
2 (of which 1 was an interim appointment). |
4 |
|
Technology Strategy Board |
0 |
2 |
|
UK Commission Atomic Energy Authority |
1 |
3 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the logbook loans industry.
Lord Deighton
The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, including logbook lenders, by transferring responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.
The Government is very concerned about evidence of consumer detriment in the logbook loan sector, as highlighted in the FCA’s recent research paper.
The FCA has identified logbook lenders as a higher risk industry, and as such they will be in the first phase of firms to require full authorisation. Logbook loan providers are also required to meet the FCA’s binding rules, and the FCA has said that it “won’t hesitate to take action” if they do not put their customers first.
In addition, the Government has asked the Law Commission to look at how to bring the highly complex legislation underpinning logbook loans up to date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the progress of the Credit Union Expansion Project.
Lord Freud
The DWP Credit Union Expansion Project contract began in May 2013. Around 80 credit unions are currently participating in the project. ABCUL has started delivering the Automated Loan and decision tool to participating credit unions and feedback is that the tool is ensuring loan decisions are faster, consistent and more efficient to deliver. Procurement of an IT banking platform is also being progressed but much remains to be done particularly on achieving sufficient growth for Credit Unions, and DWP continue to support and monitor the project closely
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes local authorities are required to make to their information technology services in order to remain connected to the gov.uk secure network.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
The Public Services Network (PSN) is a new and trusted single network for government. Ninety-eight per cent of local authorities have already transitioned to PSN, with the remainder due to transfer before the end of summer.
The Cabinet Office is supporting local authorities as they transition to PSN by providing guidance, project managers and information assurance specialists.