Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) his Department and (b) Highways England are improving their assessments of user satisfaction in relation to the strategic road network.

Andrew Jones

The Department appointed Transport Focus (TF) as the road user watchdog and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as the Highways Monitor on the formation of Highways England on 1 April 2015. In addition to reporting from TF and ORR, officials regularly meet with Highways England to discuss all aspects of their performance, including customer satisfaction.

TF is developing a new Strategic Roads User Survey to measure satisfaction among those using Highways England’s network with input from the Department. It is intended to pilot this throughout 2016 and then launch the new survey during 2017. This will run in parallel with Highways England’s existing National Road User Satisfaction Survey until that ceases in March 2018.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent changes there have been to Vehicle Certification Agency emissions testing; and what recent discussions he has had with Volkswagen on progress on fixing all defeat devices.

Andrew Jones

The Vehicle Certification Agency’s (VCA) emissions testing is conducted to the requirements set out in the relevant type approval legislation. The Government has been pressing for action at an EU-level to improve emissions tests and we have already secured a tough new Real Driving Emissions test. From next year, vehicles will have to meet emissions limits in real driving conditions across a wide range of typical operating conditions.

The Secretary of State has met with the Chief Executive of Volkswagen UK to press that the technical fixes are completed as quickly as possible for UK consumers. The VCA is working closely with the VW group and other approval authorities to evaluate the proposed technical solutions. They are carrying out tests to ensure that after the fix is applied the vehicles meet all the legal requirements including emissions, and that other vehicle characteristics are unchanged, including fuel consumption and engine noise.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help provide (a) compensation from VW Group for drivers and (b) partial or full reimbursement for retesting cars under the Vehicle Emissions Testing Programme.

Andrew Jones

We continue to press Volkswagen on the issue of compensation for UK consumers. The Secretary of State summoned the Managing Director of VW UK to a further meeting this week to discuss the issue.

We undertook the Vehicle Emissions Testing Programme to check for further test cycle manipulation strategies as used by the Volkswagen Group. To ensure the independence of this important programme neither the vehicles nor the testing facilities were provided by the vehicle industry, and the department funded the testing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many members of staff in (a) his Department and (b) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have been seconded from the private sector to work on the implementation of the recommendations of the (i) Maritime Growth Study and (ii) UK Ship Register Advisory Panel.

Mr Robert Goodwill

No members of staff have been seconded from the private sector to work on the implementation of these recommendations at this stage. Both the Department and the MCA engage closely and regularly with industry partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received on improving road-side facilities for hauliers on the strategic road network.

Andrew Jones

Since the beginning of the year Transport Ministers and DfT officials have received five letters from MPs and six letters from the public calling specifically for an improvement in roadside facilities for hauliers. I have asked officials to see what can be done to work with the industry to improve the provision and quality of roadside facilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2016 to Question 39812, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who have benefited from the UK Aid strategy to date.

Mr Nick Hurd

In the first year of the commitment made in the UK Aid strategy, the Department for International Development have helped 11.3 million people get access to clean water and sanitation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received from the heritage and archaeological communities on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on those communities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Prime Minister has been clear that the negotiation for Britain’s future relationship with Europe will need to begin under a new Prime Minister, and we have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements. In the meantime, Departments continue working to deliver the Government agenda.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the DVLA on waiting times for HGV driving licence renewal; what the (a) rate of renewals, (b) number of new applications, (c) total number of renewals outstanding, (d) average waiting time from application to renewal and (e) number of staff processing renewals was for HGV driving licence renewals; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The table below shows the average waiting time for straightforward vocational licence renewals and the time taken to process the transaction from the day it is received at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The figures are the latest available and are for the period September 2015 to August 2016 and include applications and renewals of HGV and PSV (bus driving) entitlements.

a) Rate of renewals:

11,675 on average per month

b) Number of new applications:

5,126 on average per month

c) Total number of renewal outstanding:

Approximately 8,000 on 5 September 2016

d) Average waiting time from application to renewal:

The average waiting time from application to renewal is 1.5 working days. September 2015 – August 2016, 99% of straightforward applications were processed within three days of receipt. Applications that are more complex or where there is a medical condition involved take longer to investigate before a licensing decision can be made.

e) Number of staff processing HGV driving licence renewals:

120 staff members work on all types of vocational transactions. This includes both HGV and bus driving licence renewals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms his Department has for measuring the effectiveness of the National Stroke Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat

The National Stroke Strategy remains valid and implementation of it continues. There are, therefore, no current plans to renew the national stroke strategy. Action is being taken to ensure the progress made on stroke continues. This includes;

– publication of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy in 2013, which includes many stroke specific strategic ambitions;

– a CVD expert forum, hosted by NHS England, to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy; and

– NHS England’s National Clinical Director for stroke working with the Strategic Clinical Networks, Urgent and Emergency Care Networks, clinical commissioning groups, Sustainability and Transformation Plans, voluntary agencies and individual providers to support better commissioning and provision of stroke care.

More generally, the NHS Five Year Forward View recognises that quality of care, including stroke care, can be variable and that patients’ needs are changing and new treatment options are emerging. The Five Year Forward View sets out high level objectives to address these issues.

There has been no formal evaluation of the National Stroke Strategy. However there is a continuous evaluation of the quality of stroke care via the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP). This measures most of the key indicators defined as important in the strategy and findings are available on the SSNAP website:

https://www.strokeaudit.org/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on a US neo-Nazi music band entering the UK to perform concerts.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Home Office has received representations from the Scottish Government, two MPs and a petition organised by Hope Not Hate. We have also received correspondence from members of the public.