The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK seafarer (a) officers and (b) ratings employed in the offshore supply vessel sector have been made redundant in each month since June 2015.
Mr Robert Goodwill
We do not hold this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) average waiting time for a practical driving test and (b) number of staffing opportunities at test centres not yet filled was in each region of England in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency recruitment strategy.
Andrew Jones
The average waiting time for a car driving test for the 2015/16 financial year was 8.4 weeks. The average waiting time for a car test measured at the time of writing (24 May) was 11.5 weeks.
The following table explains the current driving examiner recruitment position:
|
New Recruits 2015/16 |
Planned Recruits 2016/17 |
completed training since 1 Apr 2016 |
currently undergoing training |
training start confirmed |
offer made – undergoing pre- employment check |
Ongoing recruitment (latest advert) |
|
|
Scotland & N England |
28 |
58 |
2 |
8 |
16 |
9 |
32 |
|
Central England & N Wales |
64 |
67 |
7 |
4 |
24 |
3 |
49 |
|
Southern England & S Wales |
59 |
58 |
9 |
8 |
30 |
2 |
45 |
|
London & S E England |
42 |
104 |
8 |
8 |
13 |
7 |
52 |
|
193 |
287 |
26 |
28 |
83 |
21 |
178 |
During 2015 DVSA carried out a review of the end to end process of driving examiner resourcing – from forecasting demand for driving tests to understand where and how many driving examiners are needed, through the attraction and selection stages of recruitment to offer of appointment and training. The overall assessment was that there was significant scope for improvement at all stages in the process. The recommendations of the review are being implemented and include:
The overarching objectives are to shorten the time from a driving examiner vacancy being identified to it being filled. DVSA also wants to improve the diversity and capabilities of the new starters it appoints.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has (a) received and (b) made to his French counterpart on the effect on road freight of recent strike action in France.
Andrew Jones
Transport Ministers and the Department for Transport had received no written representations on this subject, as of 31st May 2016. The effect on road freight of the recent strike action has not been specifically raised by UK Transport Ministers with French counterparts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary on diplomatic efforts to promote an agreement for reducing shipping emissions through the International Maritime Organisation.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Department for Transport officials continue to work closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other departments to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in ongoing discussions in the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee regarding a global solution to tackling emissions from international shipping.
With greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping expected to grow as others sectors act to reduce theirs, the UK Government is clear that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) must take further steps to cut emissions and improve energy efficiency.
Negotiations in the IMO on how the global shipping sector further reduce emissions and contribute to the goal in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts towards 1.5°C, are at an early, technical stage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help define the fair share contribution for the global shipping sector as part of the International Maritime Organisation’s work on tackling climate change.
Mr John Hayes
With greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping expected to grow as others sectors act to reduce theirs, the UK Government is clear that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) should take further steps to reduce emissions and improve the energy efficiency of ships, in line with the long term goal set out in the Paris Agreement of keeping the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees.
At the 69th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, there was broad support from Member States and industry for proposals to define international shipping’s fair share of global greenhouse gas emissions. The UK strongly supports the establishing of a Working Group at the 70th session of the Committee (MEPC70) to discuss how the Organization should take this work forward and will play an active part in this group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that nurseries have sufficient funding to afford access to early years teachers.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government is investing over £1 billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two, three and four year old entitlements. We are currently consulting on proposals for an early years national funding formula to ensure this funding is fairly allocated, and I would encourage the Honourable Member and his constituents to submit their views.
The Early Years Foundation Stage sets staffing and qualification requirements for early years providers and allows settings to operate without an Early Years Teacher. However, the Government wants to see more trained graduates in the workforce, and we are supporting this by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has suspended, or plans to suspend, funding to the Palestinian territories.
Rory Stewart
The Secretary of State is conducting a full examination of DFID’s programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to ensure that UK taxpayer’s money is spent in the right places and in the right way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of global shipping tonnage was registered in the UK in each of the last five years.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The proportion of global shipping gross tonnage (GT) registered in the UK in each of the last five years is shown below:
|
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 to July 2015 |
|
|
World Fleet (million GT) |
959.2 |
1036 |
1094 |
1134 |
1175 |
1193.0 |
|
UK Fleet (million GT) |
17.5 |
17.9 |
17.6 |
15.1 |
13.8 |
14.2 |
|
UK % of World Fleet |
1.8% |
1.7% |
1.6% |
1.3% |
1.2% |
1.2% |
These figures are for ships over 100GT. Figures for the size of the world fleet are not recorded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and come from Clarksons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of global shipping tonnage that will be registered in the UK in 2020.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department has not produced estimates of the future size of the UK Ship Register (UKSR). The Government is committed to supporting the UK maritime sector and improving the UKSR. The Maritime Growth Study, published on 7 September 2015, contained a number of recommendations relating to the ship register.
The Government will respond formally to the report by the end of 2015, but is taking immediate action in response to some recommendations. This includes the establishment of a Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth and taking steps to support the improved operation of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) such as appointing a commercial director to lead the UKSR separately from the Agency’s regulatory functions and a business case exploring the costs and benefits of options for more significant reform of the MCA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the minutes of all meetings of the Special Cabinet Economic Affairs (Airports) Sub-Committee; and if he will make it his policy to publish the minutes of future such meetings.
Mr Oliver Letwin
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.