Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2016 to Question 46376, how many projects managed by each Government Department the Infrastructure Projects Authority currently oversees; what the current status is of each project; and whether each such project is (a) ahead, on, or behind schedule and (b) under, on or over budget.

Ben Gummer

Under transparency policy, we release the data annually (6 months in arrears) through the IPA Annual Report. The most recent report can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/535243/ipa_annual_report_on_major_projects_2015_2016.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Highways England on the appointment of a programme management partner; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The government is tripling the capital investment in the Strategic Road Network. Highways England have been given responsibility for delivery of the Road Investment Strategy and operation of the network.

A four year term contract was tendered competitively by Highways England to a consortium consisting of CH2M Hill, Mace and PwC (CMP) in early July 2015 to help provide additional support to improve their capability and available resources to deliver an increasingly demanding and complex programme.

This has no impact on the role, responsibilities and requirements of Highways England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions, on what dates and by what medium he has had with Volkswagen about the reliability of carbon dioxide emissions data for its vehicles; and what response he has received from Volkswagen in those discussions.

Andrew Jones

The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen (VW) Group extremely seriously. As we investigate what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again, the priority of course remains to protect the public. We expect VW to take every step necessary to protect its UK customers, but it is right that the Government carry out their own thorough and independent investigation.

A written statement was made today (10 November) informing the House of the latest developments on the Department for Transport’s vehicle emissions testing programme, following the revelations that VW had fitted defeat devices to some of its vehicles.

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is working to confirm that this issue is not industry wide. They have tested two VW group vehicles known to contain a defeat device and will rerun laboratory tests on popular cars sold in the UK to compare real world driving emissions against laboratory performance. This will include measuring CO₂ .

The Secretary of State spoke to Dr Herbert Deiss of VW on 4 November to discuss CO₂ emissions, seeking information on those vehicles affected in the UK and the extent of the discrepancy. VW have stated that they are working hard to clarify the situation and are liaising with relevant approval authorities.

The Secretary of State has written jointly with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to VW seeking clarification on several issues. Separately, officials from the Department for Transport, and its Agencies have held a number of discussions with VW regarding the recall of affected vehicles.

The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of on road emissions in relation to type approval requirements, but officials are aware of the findings in published reports suggesting significant differences.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice and information his Department has distributed to UK nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt since 28 October 2015 on staying in that resort; and if he will place copies of such documents in the Library.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

On 4 November 2015, we amended our Travel Advice to advise against all but essential travel by air to Sharm el-Sheikh. We have not changed our Travel Advice for the resort itself. The FCO’s Travel Advice, available at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, provides objective information and advice to help individuals make better-informed decisions about their travel, and the Egypt page has been regularly updated to reflect developing events since the crash of the Russian airliner on 31 October.

We have worked closely with airlines and tour operators, and deployed consular officials to the airport and resort to assist British nationals. As part of their work, these officials have distributed extracts from our Travel Advice for Egypt, statements from the Department for Transport, and contact details for the embassy and airlines. They have also distributed short “Frequently Asked Questions” documents at the airport and resort. As much of this information is already on www.gov.uk, we do not plan to place copies of these documents in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when legislative provision will be made for the (a) establishment of the role of metro mayor for the West Midlands Combined Authority, (b) cancellation of the Police and Crime Commissioner election in the West Midlands and (c) establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

James Wharton

As stated in the devolution deal agreement which my rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 17 November 2015, we intend the first election for a West Midlands metro mayor to be held in May 2017, subject to the passage of the necessary legislation through Parliament.

As that agreement also explains, there will be local consideration of the appropriate relationship between the functions of a mayor and the police and crime commissioner role; at this stage there has been no decision to transfer police and crime commissioner functions to an elected Mayor for the West Midlands and there are no plans to cancel the 2016 police and crime commissioner election in the West Midlands.

As to the establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority, we are currently considering the governance review and scheme for a combined authority which the West Midlands councils published in October 2015, before undertaking any statutory consultation on establishing that Authority, as required by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and test staff representatives in order to seek a resolution of the industrial disputes at that Agency.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) regrets the current industrial action, which is focussed on a modernised employment contract, and the effect it is having on its customers. DVSA has kept dialogue open with the Public and Commercial Services and Prospect unions. Senior DVSA managers have made themselves available for talks, but the unions set unacceptable preconditions to talks, so they could not take place.

DVSA is seeking to come to an agreement on acceptable conditions for talks, seeking the help of Acas on 2 December to do this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which departments have members on the cross-departmental Maritime Business Services working group; and how often he expects that group to meet.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth met for the first time on 30 November 2015. The government departments which attended that meeting were the Department for Transport, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. Those Government departments with interests in future cross cutting discussions will be invited to further meetings.

The current expectation is that this group will meet twice in 2016 with a review at the end of the year to determine future needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s (a) budget and (b) spend for maritime surveillance was in each of the last five years; and what the (i) names and (ii) lengths of contract are of companies engaged in UK maritime security.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Her Majesty’s Coastguard monitors shipping off the United Kingdom coast for the purposes of ship safety and pollution prevention. That monitoring uses ships’ Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) where those are fitted under international requirements. Ships are monitored by RADAR in the Dover Strait and the Sunk area in the approaches to the Thames Estuary. Pollution is monitored through the European Union’s SafeSeaNet satellite arrangements. There are no specific contracts in place with companies or organisations for the commercial provision of maritime surveillance information.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has a comprehensive set of maritime security measures in place which port facilities in the UK and ships on the UK Ship Register are required to implement for countering the threat from terrorism. Responsibility for delivering these measures rests with the port and ship owners. As such DfT does not have any contracts with UK maritime security companies for the provision of security services at ports or on board ships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the working group conducting the Post Implementation Review of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 will make recommendations on the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage for seafarers employed on (a) UK and (b) non-UK registered vessels.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Although the working group had considered looking at National Minimum Wage (NMW) enforcement it was quickly recognised by all members of the group that due to international law this is a very complex area and that it would be more beneficial to discuss in a separate forum. It has been agreed in principle to convene a cross government and social partners working group to look at the application of national minimum wage in regard to seafarers. As the Department responsible for NMW legislation, this would be led by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

The working group has reviewed the existing guidance produced by BIS for seafarers and it is expected that revised guidance, taking into account recommendations of the group, will be published in Spring 2016. The Nautilus Telegraph will also publicise the revised guidance. This is a respected publication produced by the officer’s union Nautilus International but widely read by all seafarer ranks.

I also understand from officials at RMT that they have recently had positive discussions with my Right Honourable Friend, the Minister of State for Skills and Equalities on the application of NMW to seafarers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effects of the demolition of structures in the South Hebron Hills on 2 February 2016 on (a) future compliance with UN resolutions and (b) the peace process; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK position on demolitions is clear: demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that the destruction of any real or personal property in Occupied Territory is not justified unless it is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.