Tag: Richard Burden

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what reports he has received of an emergency landing by American Airlines Flight AA 109 to Heathrow as a result of crew and passenger illnesses; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

As this event occurred in a US registered aircraft and appears to have occurred in international airspace the airline would report it to the American authorities and any investigation would be the responsibility of the US Federal Aviation Administration in the US. When the aircraft returned to Heathrow Airport the UK emergency services attended the scene, and stand ready to assist the US authorities in their enquiries should they request it. We await further developments with interest.

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 11 January 2016 to Question 21012 on roads: floods, what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) the extent of damage caused by the winter floods, (b) the estimated cost of such damage, (c) the timetable for repairs and (d) relevant projects which have been identified as national priorities.

Andrew Jones

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2016, UIN 23151 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=23151).

The Government is determined to help hard working families and local businesses in flood affected areas as quickly as possible. The Department for Transport continues to work closely with all affected highway authorities as they finalise their assessments to local highway infrastructure prior to final assessment and consideration of what further support and assistance may be provided.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of drivers potentially affected by the extension of the radius from 50km to 100km from base within which vehicles are exempt from regulations limiting drivers’ hours.

Andrew Jones

The Department considers that the number of drivers potentially affected by the extension of the radius from 50km to 100km covering one directly applicable exemption and three national derogations from the EU drivers’ hours rules is likely to be relatively small.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many organisations were affected by his Department’s pilot of anti-sock puppet rules; how many exemptions were made under that pilot scheme; and what estimate he has made of the savings to the public purse that arose from that pilot scheme.

Mr Marcus Jones

The guidelines ensure that government grants are only spent on the good causes and programmes spelt out in the underlying grant agreement, and prevent taxpayers’ money being diverted to unproductive lobbying. The savings are thus delivered by ensuring all such public money is properly spent on the intended purposes, rather than seeking to reduce the absolute level of government grants as a consequence of stopping taxpayer-funded lobbying.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the latest estimated costs or final costs are for each of the road projects referred to in the Government’s announcement entitled Major Roads Investment in the South West, published on 1 December 2014.

Andrew Jones

The latest cost estimates for road projects in the South West of England included in the Government’s Roads Investment Strategy (RIS) for 2015-20 are below:

M49 Avonmouth Junction	£37.3m – £53.6m
A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Dualling	£104.6m – £142.2m
A358 Taunton to Southfields	£351m – £517m
M5 Junction 23	less than £25m*
A30 Chiverton Cross to Carland Cross	£100m – £250m*
A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down	£864m – £1321m
A417 Missing Link	£250m – £500m *
A30 Temple to Higher Carblake	scheme cost £56.5m. Highways England contribution = £46.5m.

* cost as provided in RIS Investment Plan

Updated range estimates have been prepared for some schemes since the cost categories provided in the RIS in December 2014. As schemes are developed further, they will all have their estimates updated.

I note in particular that historic attempts to improve the A303 were shelved by the previous Labour Government; we are determined to finally deliver the connectivity the south west deserves.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the most recent cost estimate is for each of the road projects listed in the Government’s announcement, Major roads investment in the North West, published on 1 December 2014, that have not yet been completed; and what the final costs were of any of those projects that have been completed.

Andrew Jones

For schemes that are Open for Traffic, the actual out-turn costs have been provided. Schemes that are in development or construction show the latest approved estimate.

Scheme Name	Announced	Estimated Cost (£m)	Source of Estimate
M60 J8 to M62J20:Smart Motorway	2010	228	Under construction
A556 Knutsford to Bowdon	2010	191.9	Under construction
M6 J16 to J19	2013	223.3	Under construction

For the remaining schemes outlined in the 1 December 2014 announcement, the current costs are the cost category as quoted in the RIS Investment Plan, which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381496/roads-investment-strategy-summary-of-schemes.pdf

There is currently no cost information for the Strategic Studies as they are in the very early stages of investigating options.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of constructing a river crossing at Ipswich; and whether he plans that that cost will be wholly funded by his Department.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Suffolk County Council estimates a total cost of £96.6 million for the construction of the Wet Dock project at Ipswich. The Government will provide £77.5 million for the scheme which represents 80% of the estimated scheme cost, with Suffolk County Council taking responsibility for meeting the remaining 20% and any increases in costs beyond that.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether an impact assessment has been undertaken of the proposal in Question 35 of his Department’s consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.

Alistair Burt

In relation to the Department’s recent consultation on extending charging to overseas visitors using the National Health Service in England, a lack of available data means that it has not been possible to estimate the cost to industry of the proposal to remove the exemption from charge category for overseas visitors working on United Kingdom-registered ships. However, the proposal was included in the Impact Assessment and is thought to be small overall.

We are currently analysing responses to the consultation.

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