Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what routine responsibilities are required of Amey by Highways England in its maintenance and response contract for the East Midlands.

Andrew Jones

The Maintenance and Response (M&R) Contractor for Area 7. Amey Highways Ltd, will be required to undertake cyclic and reactive maintenance, incident response, severe weather response and traffic management across the East Midlands and Lincolnshire. This includes :

Cyclic and reactive maintenance:

• Schedule and deliver the annual programme of cyclical work to meet requirements in the most efficient and effective way
• Carry out defect repairs to the requirements for each asset type

Incident Response:

• Attend incident, assess and advise Area 7 Control
• Make safe and clear up, including environmental containment
• Act as lead if other parts of the Highways England supply chain is used
• Carry out associated defect repairs
• Act as the on-road incident support function for Area 7
• Be Principal Contractor if other contractors are used

Severe Weather Response:

• Provide severe weather response for winter, flooding and high winds
• Work with Highways England on weather intelligence to be prepared and proactive
• Provide trained driver / operatives to cover the full winter service
• Maintain vehicles and equipment
• Provide fuel used by fleet and management of salt

Traffic Management (TM):

• Provide TM for all M&R cyclical work
• Provide TM for all reactive work, including incidents
• Provide TM for Highways England activities and Support Services, including inspections and technical survey work
• Provide TM for events when requested

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) seafarers, (b) ship operators and (c) ship owners used each Marine Office in the UK in each year since 2009-10.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) maintain statistics regarding the number of surveys and inspections it carries out. However, the MCA does not collate statistics on how many seafarers, ship operators and ship owners visit each Marine Office, as contact is primarily through email and telephone.

Marine Surveyors at Marine Offices carry out oral examinations as part of the final stage of issuing a Certificate of Competency (COC) to seafarers. These examinations take place at either a Marine Office or at a maritime college. The attached table provides a breakdown of this activity by Marine Office by year. This is an indication of how many seafarers visit each location.

Table: Seafarer oral examinations by Marine Office by year

	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Aberdeen	120	146	184	178	168	74	189
Belfast	208	182	209	157	173	310	383
Cardiff	213	328	188	235	239	152	347
Falmouth	87	176	181	169	123	93	202
Glasgow	672	730	763	589	614	758	709
Gr.Yarmouth/Norwich	294	259	256	318	357	356	450
Harwich	20	25	18	37	26	17	160
Hull	118	93	186	233	288	292	230
Leith	8	34	45	44	67	89	96
Liverpool	938	864	868	773	905	835	812
Newcastle/Tyne	1124	1103	1156	897	1122	1045	1238
Orpington	0	7	0	2	2	0	194
Plymouth	173	184	151	140	85	122	271
Southampton	589	634	724	712	637	682	662
Total	4564	4765	4929	4484	4806	4825	5943

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his consultation on drones expected to be published before summer will include options on the classification of drones generally; and whether he has assessed existing weight categories as appropriate.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport (DfT) is currently working with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to develop consistent, EU-wide safety rules for drones.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is developing new rules for all drones that are proportionate to the risk of their specific operation rather than based on weight categories.

The Government will seek to ensure that UK regulation is consistent with this approach. EASA has conducted a consultation and impact assessment on the approach and therefore we do not currently intend to consult further on these measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential costs to the UK freight sector of the UK leaving the EU.

Claire Perry

At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

The outcome of the EU Referendum for particular areas of regulation, including the UK freight sector, would depend on the relationship agreed between the EU and the UK if there is a vote to leave. This would have to be negotiated using the detailed processes set out in the EU Treaty.

The Government has published several information documents, setting out the Government’s views on UK membership of the EU; the process for withdrawing from the EU; and alternatives to EU membership. The documents can be viewed at www.eureferendum.gov.uk.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 14 April 2016 to Questions 32741 and 32742, what grounds are given in the Cabinet Office guidance referred to for undertaking (a) business engagement assessments and (b) impact assessments; and what weight was given to those grounds in the decision not to undertake either such assessment for the (i) programme and (ii) proposals referred to.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The statement below is extracted from the Cabinet Office guidance:-

‘Any proposed change in policy, process or practice by a regulator which does not require a full Impact Assessment, but which creates a significant increase or decrease in the burden of regulator activity on business should trigger an Assessment.’

The proposals contained in the consultation document do not propose a significant change to the point of service delivery of regulated services to the end user, for example vessels in ports around the United Kingdom or globally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library copies of his letter to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield of 4 May 2016 on local government and ethical procurement.

Matthew Hancock

I will place this correspondence in the Library as requested, following the end of the pre-referendum period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of climate change on (a) agriculture, (b) food security and (c) levels of malnutrition in developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID is supporting research organisations to make assessments of the impact of climate change on agriculture, food security and malnutrition. This includes support to the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Programme. One of its recent assessments found that 60% of production of beans in sub-Saharan Africa was at risk from climate change. DFID also supports the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition which has recently made an assessment of the effects of climate change on food systems and nutrition.

DFID is using these assessments to inform our policies and programmes on agriculture. For example DFID’s Agriculture Policy Framework includes action on climate change as one of its priorities for our programmes. An example is our support to the International Fund for Agriculture Development’s Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP). Our support to ASAP is helping 6 million smallholder farmers to cope with the effects of climate change and at the same time increasing their agriculture productivity, incomes and food security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations his Department has received on motor vehicle mileage fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport has received representations from Noble Lords and the Retail Motor Industry along with two Parliamentary Questions on mileage fraud during the past year. Mileage fraud is an offence under the ‘Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008’ and the Fraud Act 2006 and is dealt with by local Trading Standards enforcement. It is now a requirement for vehicle mileage to be recorded on the MOT form. This allows consumers to check previous mileages for a vehicle online at the GOV.UK website. Department for Transport and Business and Innovation and Skills ministers are considering whether there are further practical steps that can be taken to address mileage fraud.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing regulations on drones; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government’s primary responsibility is the safety and security of our citizens. That is why we apply one of the highest regulatory safety standards for commercial aviation in the world.

There are existing regulations in place that require users of drones to maintain direct, unaided visual contact with their vehicle and to not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property. Guidance on tackling the risks of criminal drone use has been provided to constabularies across the UK.

The Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) work with a wide range of industry partners across the aviation sector, (including manufacturers, airports, and airlines), to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircraft remains up-to-date and mitigations effective. Further work is underway to better understand the risk posed by flying drones close to commercial planes to ensure that regulations remain fit for purpose.

Awareness and education on current restrictions are vitally important. The Civil Aviation Authority is undertaking activities to raise awareness of the basic safety requirements, including an ongoing ‘Dronecode’ safety awareness campaign, issuing safety leaflets at the point of sale, publishing an animated video on their website, and running ‘small UAS’ Risk and Hazard workshops with industry as part of the Mid Air Collision Programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to provide employment and social enterprise opportunities for (a) the homeless and (b) those at risk of homelessness in (i) the West Midlands and (ii) Birmingham, Northfield constituency.

Mr Marcus Jones

The government is committed to preventing and reducing homelessness. We have increased central government funding for homelessness programmes to £139 million over the Spending Review period. We have also maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding for local government, totalling £315 million by 2019/20. One person without a home is one too many, and we are clear that more needs to be done to ensure that support is available for some of the most vulnerable in society.

We recognise that employment and social enterprise opportunities are key factors to help people avoid homelessness and secure a sustainable place to live and build personal resilience. That is why we have invested £15 million to improve outcomes for young people through the Fair Chance Fund. This funding is turning around the lives of around 1,900 18 to 25 year olds with complex and overlapping needs, by supporting them into accommodation, education, training and employment. Young people are being supported by seven projects across the country including in Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Walsall and Wyre Forest and the majority of projects are funded by social investment. We will build our learning on this to our £10 million Social Impact Bond for people with complex and multiple needs. In addition we have funded a £40 million Platform for Life programme, providing affordable shared accommodation for homeless young people, so that they have a stable platform for work.

Moreover, we are actively working across government and through our local partners to help vulnerable people find a job and get into training. STRIVE, a joint pilot project with BEIS, DCLG and DWP, is helping homeless people into jobs by improving their basic English, maths and IT skills and is being delivered by Crisis and St Mungo’s. We are continuing to drive cross government action through the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness which is making sure that homelessness is an integral part of every department’s planning and that policies are joined up.