Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the work on the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston can be funded by the private sector without taxpayer funding; and what are the sources of funding for continuing work on (1) preparing for tunnelling main bores from Old Oak Common towards Euston, and (2) installing boring machines for above main bores.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in Network North, the Government remains committed to delivering HS2 between Birmingham and Euston in central London as planned. The Government’s ambition remains to make best use of funding from alternative sources to enable the delivery of HS2 to Euston and the creation of a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’. Government continues to define and develop a range of development models and financing mechanisms to best meet the objectives of the ‘Euston Quarter’ while delivering value for money for the taxpayer. This includes consideration of options for using alternative funding to cover the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in identifying a UK satellite-based augmentation system to replace the functionality of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service; and whether the analysis of the potential benefits of such a system, commissioned from PA Consulting over a year ago, has been completed and, if so, whether they will place a copy of that work in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 18 October 2023 the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) published a Government Policy Framework for Greater Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Resilience. The Framework includes a commitment to develop a proposal for a UK Precise Point Positioning Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) to replace the UK’s use of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, monitor Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and enable GNSS-dependent high accuracy positioning for autonomous and precision uses. The work to develop this proposal is currently under way. The specific analysis delivered by PA Consulting referred to in the question is an interim and partial piece of research, contributing as one input to policy development work, which is being taken forward on a cross-Government basis, coordinated by DSIT. It will be superseded by more complete analysis of the business case for Government action in this space and therefore the report will not be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 15 December 2023 (HL801), what are the sources of the “in vehicle” and “walk” times quoted; what is their assessment of the breakdown of times by vehicle and walking between Old Oak Common and Euston on HS2, and between Euston and Bond Street on the Underground; and whether they are able to model the journey times from Old Oak Common to Tottenham Court Road.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The estimated ‘in vehicle’ and ‘walk’ times quoted are outputs from the Station Choice Model which forms part of the Planet Framework Model used to assess the impacts of HS2.
The breakdown of in-vehicle time for passengers travelling to Bond Street via HS2 to Euston is as follows: 6 minutes between Old Oak Common and Euston on HS2 and 6.6 minutes on the London Underground. It is not possible to further breakdown the walk time in the journey without commissioning further work.
While journey times to Tottenham Court Road could be modelled, the Department does not currently hold estimates of these journey times developed on a consistent basis and would need to commission these separately.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the recommendations from the HM Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service and HM Inspector of Constabulary report Joint Inspection of the Investigation and Prosecution of Fatal Road Traffic Incidents, published in February 2015, have been taken up.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Six of the 15 recommendations in the Joint Inspection of the Investigation and Prosecution of Fatal Road Traffic Incidents report were addressed to the police or to the College of Policing and are therefore operational in nature. It is the responsibility of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to ensure individual Chief Constables act on HMICFRS’ findings.
Nine of the recommendations were addressed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which falls under the remit of the Attorney General’s Office. The CPS carefully considers each and every recommendation made by the Inspectorate when it reports, implementing them as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, as currently drafted, will bind the Crown, and if not, why.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government is implementing the Law Commission’s recommendations in relation to the Crown.
The recommendation sets out that the Crown should remain exempt from statutory enfranchisement rights, provided it gives an undertaking to act by analogy with the new enfranchisement regime, except in certain special circumstances.
The effect will be that most leaseholders of the Crown will have the same opportunity to exercise enfranchisement rights as any other leaseholder.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government by which legal process they expect consent for the East West Rail route section between Bedford and Cambridge to be obtained, and what is the current timescale for obtaining that consent and starting construction.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
East West Rail Company is expected to make an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to obtain planning consent for the preferred East West Rail route alignment. The DCO application will follow public consultation in 2024. Timing for construction commencing is subject to the DCO application being successful.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 11 December (HL579), what percentage of lamp columns on each major motorway are out of light, how often lamp columns on motorways are inspected for such issues, and within what period of time they expect defective lamp columns on each motorway to be repaired.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways does not centrally hold aggregated information on the lamp columns out of light for the whole of the motorway network.
National Highways inspect lamp columns on motorways every 28 days. Where defects are identified, the nature and priority of the fault(s) will determine the timescales in which they are repaired, with most simple faults being repaired within 14 days.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce transport barriers to work and apprenticeships to help young people aged 16 to 24.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is taking action to ensure young people can access work, education and apprenticeship opportunities, regardless of where they live. We have consistently invested in public transport to help make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
In 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver Railcard, extending the 50 per cent discount available to children for rail travel to their entire period of compulsory education and training. For students aged 18 and above, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel. In October, we announced that the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London would be extended until the end of 2024. Through the Plan for Drivers, we have also announced measures to help tackle the cost of driving.
We are committed to meeting the obligations of the Public Sector Equality Duty, including giving due consideration to the needs of different age cohorts.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase transport choices to further and higher education for young people aged 16 to 24.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is taking action to ensure young people can access work, education and apprenticeship opportunities, regardless of where they live. We have consistently invested in public transport to help make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
In 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver Railcard, extending the 50 per cent discount available to children for rail travel to their entire period of compulsory education and training. For students aged 18 and above, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel. In October, we announced that the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London would be extended until the end of 2024. Through the Plan for Drivers, we have also announced measures to help tackle the cost of driving.
We are committed to meeting the obligations of the Public Sector Equality Duty, including giving due consideration to the needs of different age cohorts.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have commissioned into the economic impact of transport poverty for young people aged 16 to 24.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is taking action to ensure young people can access work, education and apprenticeship opportunities, regardless of where they live. We have consistently invested in public transport to help make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
In 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver Railcard, extending the 50 per cent discount available to children for rail travel to their entire period of compulsory education and training. For students aged 18 and above, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel. In October, we announced that the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London would be extended until the end of 2024. Through the Plan for Drivers, we have also announced measures to help tackle the cost of driving.
We are committed to meeting the obligations of the Public Sector Equality Duty, including giving due consideration to the needs of different age cohorts.