Tag: Richard Burden

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which road projects his Department plans to finance from the (a) £49 million previously announced to repair roads following Storms Desmond and Eva and (b) £130 million set out in paragraph 1.239 of the Budget 2016; and how much he plans to allocate to each such project.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport is allocating £180 million to help assist local highway authorities affected by the storms this winter season. This includes a further £130 million as announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget 2016.

It will be for each local highway authority to decide on how this funding will be spent in in Cumbria, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Greater Manchester and Durham in repairing damaged local highway infrastructure.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) seafarer welfare and (b) compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention Regulation 4.1 on medical care onboard ship and ashore of the proposal in Question 35 of the Department of Health consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England.

Mr Robert Goodwill

UK regulations implementing Regulation 4.1. of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) make the shipowner responsible for meeting the cost of medical care for seafarers working on their ships, in order to ensure that such care is provided at no cost to the seafarer. Since the Department of Health’s proposal does not affect seafarers’ access to medical care at the point of need, no seafarers should be affected by the proposal, and there should be no impact on the welfare of seafarers. I am satisfied that the proposal in Question 35 of the Department of Health consultation is not contrary to the requirements of the Convention.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his consultation on drones expected to be published before summer will include options on the classification of drones generally; and whether he has assessed existing weight categories as appropriate.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport (DfT) is currently working with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to develop consistent, EU-wide safety rules for drones.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is developing new rules for all drones that are proportionate to the risk of their specific operation rather than based on weight categories.

The Government will seek to ensure that UK regulation is consistent with this approach. EASA has conducted a consultation and impact assessment on the approach and therefore we do not currently intend to consult further on these measures.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential costs to the UK freight sector of the UK leaving the EU.

Claire Perry

At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

The outcome of the EU Referendum for particular areas of regulation, including the UK freight sector, would depend on the relationship agreed between the EU and the UK if there is a vote to leave. This would have to be negotiated using the detailed processes set out in the EU Treaty.

The Government has published several information documents, setting out the Government’s views on UK membership of the EU; the process for withdrawing from the EU; and alternatives to EU membership. The documents can be viewed at www.eureferendum.gov.uk.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 14 April 2016 to Questions 32741 and 32742, what grounds are given in the Cabinet Office guidance referred to for undertaking (a) business engagement assessments and (b) impact assessments; and what weight was given to those grounds in the decision not to undertake either such assessment for the (i) programme and (ii) proposals referred to.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The statement below is extracted from the Cabinet Office guidance:-

‘Any proposed change in policy, process or practice by a regulator which does not require a full Impact Assessment, but which creates a significant increase or decrease in the burden of regulator activity on business should trigger an Assessment.’

The proposals contained in the consultation document do not propose a significant change to the point of service delivery of regulated services to the end user, for example vessels in ports around the United Kingdom or globally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library copies of his letter to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield of 4 May 2016 on local government and ethical procurement.

Matthew Hancock

I will place this correspondence in the Library as requested, following the end of the pre-referendum period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of climate change on (a) agriculture, (b) food security and (c) levels of malnutrition in developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID is supporting research organisations to make assessments of the impact of climate change on agriculture, food security and malnutrition. This includes support to the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Programme. One of its recent assessments found that 60% of production of beans in sub-Saharan Africa was at risk from climate change. DFID also supports the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition which has recently made an assessment of the effects of climate change on food systems and nutrition.

DFID is using these assessments to inform our policies and programmes on agriculture. For example DFID’s Agriculture Policy Framework includes action on climate change as one of its priorities for our programmes. An example is our support to the International Fund for Agriculture Development’s Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP). Our support to ASAP is helping 6 million smallholder farmers to cope with the effects of climate change and at the same time increasing their agriculture productivity, incomes and food security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations his Department has received on motor vehicle mileage fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport has received representations from Noble Lords and the Retail Motor Industry along with two Parliamentary Questions on mileage fraud during the past year. Mileage fraud is an offence under the ‘Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008’ and the Fraud Act 2006 and is dealt with by local Trading Standards enforcement. It is now a requirement for vehicle mileage to be recorded on the MOT form. This allows consumers to check previous mileages for a vehicle online at the GOV.UK website. Department for Transport and Business and Innovation and Skills ministers are considering whether there are further practical steps that can be taken to address mileage fraud.