Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his future policies of the Sharm el Sheikh air crash in October 2015; and what recent reports he has received on the reasons for that crash.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The formal accident investigation into the loss of the Metrojet flight over Sinai on 31 October 2015 has not formally reached any conclusions as to the cause of the crash. But the Russian authorities announced, in November 2015, their conclusion that the aircraft was brought down by an explosive device, and the Government have been proceeding on that basis.

The incident highlights the importance for airports, airlines and countries to increase vigilance and make sure that sound security measures are in place. The Government is working to ensure this happens, but does not discuss the details of security arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) prosecuted for shining laser pens at (i) road transport, (ii) train, (c) air transport drivers in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made for shining laser pens at road transport, train, or air transport drivers. The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of arrests broken down by offence group and police force area. These data cannot be broken down to identify those arrested for misuse of a laser pen.

The Ministry of Justice holds data relating to prosecutions. Data held centrally at the Ministry of Justice cannot be broken down to the level of detail requested. It is not possible to identify if a defendant was proceeded against for the misuse of a laser pen.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 1.236 of Budget 2016, how much additional funding will be provided for investment in roads; and to which schemes that funding will be disbursed.

Andrew Jones

Budget 2016 marked the launch of work on preparing the next Road Investment Strategy. This includes determining how much funding will be made available for the period 2020/21-2024/25 and which investment proposals to take forward. The Department for Transport has published “Road Investment Strategy post 2020: planning ahead” to inform all interested parties so that they can play their part in the preparation of the next Road Investment Strategy. It is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508505/road-investment-strategy-post-2020-planning-ahead.pdf

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contracts (a) have been agreed and (b) are still to be awarded by Highways England for (i) routine highway services and (ii) specialist goods and services.

Andrew Jones

For routine highways services and specialist goods and services, Highways England has awarded several contracts that cover the whole of England. One recently awarded contract was in the Area 7, for the East Midlands and Lincolnshire:

• Maintenance and Response Contract- this was awarded to Amey Highways Ltd on 14th March 2016 and is now in mobilisation.
• Design Contract – this was awarded to Kier Highways on 10th March.

Contracts still to be awarded include:

• Construction Works Framework – Award is scheduled for early May 2016.

• Salt Saturators – Award is programmed for 15th April 2016.
• Salt supply – Highways England intend to use the ESPO framework which is currently being tendered for the supply of salt. ESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation and Highways England are scheduled to award a task order for the supply of salt in mid May 2016
• Structural Inspections – award is scheduled for early June 2016.
• Technical Surveys and Testing – this is the non-OJEU process and Highways England has published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the Official Journal for the European Union detailing how firms are to register. Responses are currently being assessed and then assessed firms will be invited to tender for specific pieces of work.
• Weather forecasting – this is currently out to tender, with the award date scheduled for mid-June 2016

The Asset Led Delivery Model that is being adopted in Area 7 will also be rolled out in Areas 1 and 2 covering the South West of England and in Areas 13 covering Cumbria and Lancashire. These contracts will not be awarded until 2017.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the marine offices in (a) Brixham, (b) Leith and (c) Newlyn were closed; and how many Maritime and Coastguard Agency staff were (i) made redundant or (ii) transferred to other marine offices as a result of those closures.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Brixham Marine Office, which was collocated with the Maritime and Rescue Coordination Centre, closed on 31 October 2014 when rescue coordination activity from there stopped. There were no redundancies and two members of staff relocated to other sites.

Leith Marine Office closed on 13 May 2015. There were no redundancies and one member of staff relocated to another site.

Newlyn Marine Office closed on 31 April 2015. There were no redundancies and one member of staff relocated to another site.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on the number and severity of incidents involving vehicles transporting nuclear material on the strategic road network.

Andrea Leadsom

Details of safety events involving the transport of nuclear material both by rail and on the strategic road network can be found in the following report:

Events reported to Nuclear Safety Regulator 2001-2015:

http://news.onr.org.uk/2016/02/events-reported-to-nuclear-safety-regulator-2001-15/

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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.