Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what legal process they plan to follow to cancel the HS2 Phase 2B West (Crewe to Manchester) and whether there are any plans for petitioners to be compensated for legal costs incurred.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government is currently considering the next steps for the High-Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill, including for outstanding petitioners. When decisions have been reached, we will set out these steps to the House in the usual way.
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 Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 September (HL9964), whether they intend to place in the Library of the House a copy of the full business case submitted by the Council of the Isles of Scilly in connection with that Council’s bid for levelling up funding for new vessels.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will not be in a position to place a copy of the Full Business Case submitted by the Council of the Isles of Scilly concerning funding for new vessels in the Library of the House. The Full Business Case is submitted to the department in confidence, and since it contains sensitive commercial information, it cannot be placed in the library.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement that the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group has withdrawn support for the Council of the Isles of Scilly's business case for Levelling Up funding, whether they will ensure that any subsequent application for funding for new vessels or infrastructure is subject to a condition that that Council complies with rules on competitive tendering and local government procurement.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Levelling Up Fund grant to the Council of the Isles of Scilly is dependent upon obtaining an approved compliant full business case for replacement vessels and harbour works. The council has begun a soft market testing exercise to seek other interested parties who may be interested in the project. Any business case or potential future SPV arrangement would need to comply with public procurement rules and would be developed with specialist legal advice.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what reassurances they have had from the Council of the Isles of Scilly that their plans to establish a special purpose vehicle to manage the proposed £48 million grant from the Levelling Up Fund for the procurement of lifeline shipping services comply with local government procurement rules.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Levelling Up Fund grant to the Council of the Isles of Scilly is dependent upon obtaining an approved compliant full business case for replacement vessels and harbour works. The council has begun a soft market testing exercise to seek other interested parties who may be interested in the project. Any business case or potential future SPV arrangement would need to comply with public procurement rules and would be developed with specialist legal advice.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what factors they will take into account in accepting a recommendation from the Council of the Isles of Scilly to accept a bid for new vessels paid for by the Levelling Up Fund, in the absence of a competitive tendering process.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Council for the Isles of Scilly are required to obtain an approved Full Business Case to secure a levelling up fund grant in line with their bid to purchase vessels and harbour works that complies with the Treasury Green Book and the levelling up criteria.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 7 September that the UK will re-join the EU's Horizon and Copernicus programmes, whether they will include the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) to facilitate early improvements in the reliability and air safety of small airports.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is separate to the Horizon and Copernicus Programmes. The DfT is working with other departments to understand the case for a UK Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). As well as replacing the functionality of EGNOS, this system could offer benefits across transport and multiple Critical National Infrastructure sectors. To support this, the DfT is assessing the requirements following loss of access to EGNOS. The DfT is funding a UK SBAS testbed project to demonstrate the capabilities of such a system. This will inform the DfT’s consideration on next steps for this work.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government in which locations on the HS2 route reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has been (1) specified, or (2) used, in building (a) already completed, or (b) under way.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Survey work is underway. The Government is bringing together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place. This work is being coordinated by the Office for Government Property.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government on how many plots and over what area HS2 Phase One property owners are in dispute with regard to the HS2 Ltd estimated value for severance and injurious affection; and what is the estimated liabilities to settle those disputes.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not hold the requested information. Collecting and providing this information would require HS2 Ltd to interrogate every plot of land and advance purchase payment across thousands of files, which could not be done within a reasonable cost and timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government on how many plots and over what area HS2 Phase One property owners have received the 90 per cent payment of the HS2 Ltd estimated value; and what is total cost of those 90 per cent payments.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not hold the requested information. Collecting and providing this information would require HS2 Ltd to interrogate every plot of land and advance purchase payment across thousands of files, which could not be done within a reasonable cost and timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government on how many plots and over what area HS2 Phase One property owners have received full and final settlement; and what is the total cost of those full and final settlements.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not hold the requested information. Collecting and providing this information would require HS2 Ltd to interrogate every plot of land and advance purchase payment across thousands of files, which could not be done within a reasonable cost and timeframe.