Tag: Richard Burden

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.

“

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.

“

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 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 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) merchant ships, (b) fishing vessels, (c) Port State Control and (d) other vessel surveys were conducted by Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors based at the Marine Office in (i) Brixham, (ii) Leith, (iii) Newlyn, (iv) Tyne, (v) Plymouth, (vi) Beverley, (vii) Orpington, (viii) Harwich and (ix) Norwich in each year since 2009-10.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The table below shows the number of vessel surveys and inspections undertaken by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year since

2009-10:

i)

Brixham*

ii)	Leith
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	43	44	54	48	42	25	11
Fishing Vessels	22	12	8	5	1	3	–
PSC	30	35	41	29	21	26	14
Other	31	41	63	57	46	23	5

iii)

Newlyn*

iv)	Tyne
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	181	173	173	141	163	164	104
Fishing Vessels	60	125	114	94	87	91	98
PSC	68	204	127	146	154	144	102
Other	26	20	45	37	53	46	40

v)	Plymouth*
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	243	215	223	217	205	195	148
Fishing Vessels	318	462	421	265	176	105	157
PSC	31	35	15	11	16	12	9
Other	89	112	75	60	42	40	53

vi)	Beverley/Hull
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	221	170	141	127	126	120	108
Fishing Vessels	135	171	126	182	139	141	130
PSC	227	237	254	211	299	230	146
Other	127	119	118	105	102	90	75

vii)	Orpington
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	567	504	551	628	555	564	529
Fishing Vessels	–	–	2	5	6	1	–
PSC	206	202	172	170	149	79	63
Other	86	76	56	62	52	50	35

viii)	Harwich
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	101	118	86	82	79	86	80
Fishing Vessels	52	90	39	–	5	–	2
PSC	98	111	126	79	59	78	52
Other	42	29	21	16	6	15	16

ix)	Norwich**
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	–	–	–	–	76	96	93
Fishing Vessels	–	–	–	–	22	88	96
PSC	–	–	–	–	40	36	20
Other	–	–	–	–	98	141	122

ix)	Great Yarmouth**
Surveys:	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Merchant Ships	99	95	111	97	14	–	–
Fishing Vessels	59	81	77	68	22	–	–
PSC	74	56	60	58	41	–	–
Other	105	115	99	126	31	–	–

* Newlyn and Brixham were sub-offices of Plymouth Marine Office; all work related to vessels was coordinated through Plymouth.

** Work coordinated from the Marine Office located at Great Yarmouth office moved to Norwich Marine Office on 16 May 2013.

“

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that all police officers are aware of restrictions around the use of drones in public areas and where permits are necessary.

Mr John Hayes

The Aircraft Accident investigation Bureau investigation into the collision will be made public. However, the separate, ongoing criminal investigation, and any decision to release the results of the investigation, is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police, as the investigatory authority.

Guidance has been circulated to Police Forces to assist them when dealing with incidents involving misuse. A decision on whether to investigate and prosecute is made on an assessment of threat, risk and harm.