Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the sufficiency of the frequency of sailings of ferry services between Northern Ireland and the UK mainland; and how often such services are reviewed in consultation with the Confederation of British Industry in Northern Ireland and other relevant bodies.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Ferry services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain are provided commercially by the relevant ferry operators. We would expect those operators to respond to market demand engaging as appropriate with relevant stakeholders and bodies.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what priority they place on the maintenance of a regular air link between Northern Ireland and London; and how frequently they consult on that issue with (1) British Airways, and (2) Aer Lingus.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government recognises that air connectivity between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is of the utmost importance given its geographical circumstances. There were over 1.5 million passenger journeys between Belfast Airports and Gatwick and Heathrow Airports in 2016. We expect this demand to continue, given that Northern Ireland is a competitive destination in its own right.
The Government does not frequently consult with British Airways or Aer Lingus about flights between Northern Ireland and London. We believe that air passengers are best served by a commercial airline market which is able to operate in a competitive environment. This allows airlines to determine the routes that they operate, and from which airports, based on their assessment of routes’ viability.
The Government is considering the issue of regional connectivity across the UK as part of developing its future aviation strategy.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to esure that there are adequate air transport connections between major cities in the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises that regional air connectivity across the UK is very important and airports support regional economies, create skilled employment opportunities and enable business and leisure travel. However, the UK aviation market operates in a competitive, commercial environment; it is therefore for airlines to determine which routes they operate.
The Government provides financial support through Public Service Obligations (PSO) in a limited number of cases to ensure that all regions of the UK maintain air connectivity to the capital, which include:
The Government is also committed to developing a new Aviation Strategy and we will be setting out our proposed approach in due course.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the decision to extend capacity at Heathrow Airport, they are considering a review of internal air routes in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government will take all necessary steps to ensure that Heathrow’s operator will meet the pledges it made to add more domestic air routes across the UK by 2030, strengthening links to existing regions as well as developing connections to new ones.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many electronic body scanners have been placed at airports of the United Kingdom and at what cost.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
On 1 February 2015 security scanners were in place at 17 airports with a further 2 airports expected to deploy security scanners in the coming months.
The cost of security scanners falls to the airports. The Department for Transport does not hold information on the cost.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the possible sale of Aer Lingus, what plans they have to protect and maintain regular and frequent air links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
Airlines, as the airports they serve, operate in a competitive market. Northern Ireland is well-connected by air to London with over 17,000 flights per year between the two Belfast airports and Derry Airport and the five main London airports, carrying over two million passengers. The airports also maintain good connections with other UK airports – Belfast International Airport has connections to eleven domestic destinations, Belfast City Airport to nineteen and Derry airport to three.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to place electronic body scanners at all airports of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
The further deployment of security scanners was advised in the ministerial statement of 21 November 2013.
Work is underway with those airports which already deploy security scanners to consider the case for increasing their deployment of security scanners. The Department for Transport keeps all aviation security measures under continual review to ensure that the measures are sustainable, proportionate and practicable and any wider deployment of security scanners would be considered on a risk assessed basis. UK airports comply with EU and UK regulations for the screening of passengers and there are a number of screening methods and equipment options in use.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 30 June (WA 210), when they expect to publish the results of the pilot scheme by the Driver and VehicleLicensing Agency on the application process for licences for all vocational drivers with insulin-treated diabetes.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
The pilot showed that around 2,000 customers each year may benefit from their driving licence application being processed 35% quicker. Although the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is not publishing the outcome of the pilot, changes in how applications are processed have been introduced this week.
The DVLA will continue to explore opportunities to speed up the application process when these initial changes are established.
Asked by: Lord Eames (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the time taken to issue new licences to diabetics who are required annually to renew their class C1 driving licences and undertake a medical examination; and whether they have any plans to expedite the process for such drivers to renew their licences.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
No formal assessment has been made on the impact of the time taken to issue a category C1 (small lorries) licence to drivers with diabetes.
However, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been working with key stakeholders and has recently reviewed the application process for all vocational drivers with insulin treated diabetes. As a result, a pilot exercise is currently being carried out where certain aspects of the application process have been streamlined.
Further opportunities to speed up the application process will be explored following the conclusion of the pilot exercise.