Tag: Lord Marlesford

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many bat bridges over roads (1) have been completed in each of the last five years, (2) are under construction, and (3) are planned; and what is the (a) location, and (b) actual or budgeted cost of each.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

One Highways England scheme has provided bat crossings as part of its construction during the last five years, and that is the A11 Fiveways to Thetford improvement scheme. Six crossings have been completed at a cost of £354,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to limit the access of charities and other non-governmental bodies to the Police National Computer.

Lord Bates

Access to the Police National Computer is strictly controlled, and decisions about who may have access to it are made by Chief Constables, through the Police Information Access Panel (PIAP). There are no plans at present to change these arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are used (1) to determine the cost-effectiveness of bat bridges before construction is undertaken, and (2) to determine the value of those constructed.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

All elements of road schemes are subject to appraisal in line with Treasury requirements and guidance. They are also subject to value management requirements throughout the project lifecycle.

This does not include any specific measures on the cost-effectiveness of structures, such as bat bridges, as there is no accepted method for such quantatative evaluation. Instead a review is undertaken of the costs, qualitative benefits and other predicted impacts (including environmental) at key stages to ensure benefits are optimised and costs are challenged.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why and when the Middlesbrough Borough Council was given access to the Police National Computer; whether it still has such access; and whether they will consider giving such access to other local authorities if requested to do so.

Lord Bates

Middlesbrough Borough Council does not have, and never have had, direct access to the Police National Computer. If an application is made by a Local Authority, and ACRO (the NPCC Criminal Records Office) is satisfied that they have a lawful and justifiable reason for needing access to PNC data, ACRO will conduct PNC enquiries on behalf of that authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Highways Agency has made of the standard of cleanliness of the junction between the M25 motorway and the A12 trunk road.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), Highways England is responsible for litter clearance on all England’s motorways and a few selected A roads for specific operational reasons. Local authorities are responsible for litter on all local roads, including the vast majority A roads on the strategic road network.

The M25 junction with the A12 trunk road (junction 28), is maintained by both Highways England and Transport for London. Transport for London is responsible for litter clearance of the A12 from junction 28 towards London and Brentwood Borough Council is responsible for Junction 28 towards Brentwood.

A litter inspection of junction 28 was completed by Highways England on 21 April 2016 which identified ‘widespread distributions of litter with minor accumulations’ (Grade C under the EPA Code of Practice). This location was then cleared of litter on 26 April. The junction will continue to be regularly monitored and re-picked as the need arises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have increased the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit for International Development by 16.1 per cent between 2017–18 and 2018–19, as per Table 1A of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Total departmental expenditure limits (TDEL) for the Department for International Development (DFID) are set on the basis of forecast Gross National Income (GNI) growth to enable the Government to meet the commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on official development assistance (ODA). Budgets also take into account assumptions for non-budgetary spend on ODA such as the UK’s share of EU ODA expenditure. As a result, DFID’s total DEL budget will increase by 8.5 per cent between 17/18 and 19/20.

The split between capital and resource DEL is set to help manage pressures such as capital contributions to multilateral development banks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-04-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what academic studies have been conducted into the financial case for bat bridges over roads, and what assessment they have made of the conclusions of those studies.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Highways England are not aware of any studies conducted into the financial case for bat bridges. Work in 2015 undertaken by Leeds University, on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), did look at the effectiveness of bat bridges.

Highways England have reviewed the study and met with Natural England and DEFRA to discuss the conclusions of the report.

While the conclusions of the Leeds University work are based on limited sample size, the authors conclude that the effectiveness of crossing structures increases with their size, connectivity and similarity to natural features. They also conclude that wire bat bridges do not provide effective mitigation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what circumstances the UK would be able to opt out of implementing the agreement contained in the statement of the Heads of State or Government of the EU issued on 7 March to accelerate the implementation of the visa liberalisation roadmap with all member states with a view to lifting the visa requirements of Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016″.”

Lord Bates

The UK Government cannot be obliged by the EU to lift visa requirements. Visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens as referred to in the Statement of 7 March is in respect of the Schengen area only. In accordance with the Schengen Protocol (No.19), the UK does not participate in the Schengen acquis concerning visas. The UK is free to request to participate in some or all of the provisions of the Schengen acquis which it does not already participate in, but is explicitly not obliged to do so. Nor is the UK bound by any Justice and Home Affairs measures in the area of EU visa policy unless the UK explicitly chooses to opt in, in accordance with the UK and Ireland’s JHA Protocol (No 21).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the legal requirements for MOT testing are a devolved matter in Scotland; what assessment they have made of the requirement for new vehicles to be subject to MOT testing after the first three years of use; and which other EU countries follow the present UK practice.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The legal requirements for MOT are not a devolved matter in Scotland. Following the commitment made by the Chancellor in the July 2015 budget statement, the Department for Transport is currently developing a public consultation and impact assessment which will consider options for extending the frequency of the first test for some vehicles. The consultation will take into account the potential benefits to consumers, the government’s safety priorities, as well as the impact a change may have on MOT garage businesses. I anticipate that the consultation will be published in the summer. The other EU countries currently requiring a vehicle to have an initial roadworthiness inspection at 3 years, as per the current GB practice are; Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Bulgaria.