Tag: Richard Burden

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the retesting of Volkswagen vehicles being carried out by the Vehicle Certification Agency includes testing for carbon dioxide emissions.

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 steps he is taking to ensure consistent and comprehensive communications by travel insurance companies with UK nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office encourages British nationals to take out comprehensive travel insurance before all foreign travel and to consider carefully the type of insurance they need for their trip. In doing so we work closely with key industry partners such as the Association of British Insurers, who supported ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign activity on travel insurance in May, July and August this year. We also provide information and advice about travel insurance on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/foreign-travel-insurance. During our response to recent events in Sharm el Sheikh we worked closely with the airlines and tour operators to ensure consistency of approach to the package offered for those delayed in-country and to minimise the impact on travellers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars the DVLA clamped in each month of each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones

The table below shows the information requested.

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
January	9,023	8,370	5,131	5,197	5,696	8,890
February	10,892	10,550	4,947	5,391	5,115	8,741
March	12,722	9,517	5,356	5,450	5,333	8,630
April	8,978	8,911	4,636	5,802	5,214	8,228
May	8,887	8,265	5,065	5,450	5,549	8,511
June	8,790	8,217	4,339	4,968	5,530	9,957
July	8,970	7,365	5,257	4,238	5,634	10,554
August	8,883	7,947	4,644	2,079	5,384	8,050
September	8,562	7,472	4,525	3,918	5,530	9,444
October	9,435	5,533	4,275	4,576	5,806	9,778
November	9,873	2,828	4,349	4,791	5,756
December	7,587	4,507	1,870	4,283	6,740
Total	112,602	89,482	54,394	56,143	67,287	90,783

By way of context, the equivalent total figure for 2009 is 123,695 cars.

These vehicles would have been clamped by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s national wheelclamping contractors or by local authorities and police forces with devolved powers to clamp and impound unlicensed vehicles.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what amount of taxation was levied on air travel in each of the last five years per (a) passenger and (b) tonne of cargo carried.

Damian Hinds

The information is not held in the form requested. However, information relating to total passengers and APD paid over the last five years are published in the Air Passenger Duty Tax and Duty bulletin at the following address: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the dates were of all meetings between July and November 2015 of the Cabinet Sub-committee on airports.

Mr Oliver Letwin

In line with previous answers on this topic, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, and which Ministers have attended, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) discussions he has had with the Cooperative Bank and (b) what representations he has received on its decision to close bank accounts belonging to groups campaigning on matters relating to Israel and Palestine; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations and have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the recommendations for increasing the training and employment of UK seafarers in the Maritime Futures report by Professor Helen Sampson of Cardiff University, published in January 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill

A number of recommendations made within the Maritime Futures report were put forward in the call for evidence for the Department’s Maritime Growth Study and the Department has taken forward a number of those.

The Department provides support for the training of officers and ratings through the £15m Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. A company or group which elects for the Tonnage Tax is required, each year, to recruit one new officer trainee for every fifteen officer posts in its fleet. Following a proposal from the UK Chamber of Shipping, RMT and Nautilus to allow companies to recruit and train three able seafarer ratings in place of one trainee officer, a pilot to allow ratings to be counted against the training commitment started on 1^st October 2015.

Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Government’s drive to give people of all ages the skills employers need to grow and compete. Maritime is a key part of this with the Maritime Trailblazer which is employer led and has one approved standard for deck ratings and a further three in development for maritime mechanic, maritime caterer and onboard services.

The UK government’s position on island cabotage remains unchanged but this is kept under constant review. At present those providing such services remain significant employers of UK seafarers.

UK seafarers working for UK companies on a UK flagged vessel are not entitled to an exemption to national insurance payments. They may, however, benefit from the Seafarers Earning Reductions tax relief for income tax.

An ‘in personum’ approach to the application of national minimum wage is preferred as it ensures that those who are entitled to it will benefit. International law prevents the UK from interfering in the ‘internal market’ of a vessel, this includes wages, and is applicable to those vessels visiting or operating out of UK ports. HMRC is responsible for NMW enforcement and the government takes non-compliance of the legislation very seriously.

The Carter Report was commissioned under a previous administration and was already considered at the time of the drafting of the Equality Act 2011 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) 2012 regulations.

The Maritime Growth Study, chaired by Lord Mountevans, was published on 7 September 2015 and contained a number of recommendations for government and industry on skills, including to help maintain the UK’s future supply of seafarers. The Government formally respond to the Study in December 2015 accepting all the recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Syrian opposition to encourage their participation in the Geneva peace talks; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are in regular contact with the Syrian opposition. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Riad Hijab, Chair of the Syrian Higher Negotiations Commission (HNC) on 29 January, expressing his support for the HNC and highlighting the importance of their participation in negotiations. Our Special Envoy for Syria and his team are currently in Geneva alongside other international partners, supporting the opposition and engaging with the UN.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 24915, which potential employment protections would protect seafarers from nationality-based pay discrimination.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Both the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (with the section pertaining to seafarers currently under review by BIS) offer protection from nationality-based pay discrimination.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25769, on aviation: emergencies, whether he has received recent reports of further developments relating to the unplanned emergency landing of American Airlines flight AA109 at Heathrow.

Mr Robert Goodwill

I received no further reports relating to the flight in question.