Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many offshore helicopter transport flights were cancelled as a result of weather warnings issued in connection with Storm Babet.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Safety is of primary importance in aviation. Helicopter operators throughout the UK are responsible for their own operations, and for ensuring they remain aware of weather and storm warnings.
Contracts between offshore helicopter operators and duty holders are commercial contracts between the parties, and the Department has no role in them.
Helicopter flights are private operations and the Department does not hold data on helicopter flight cancellations.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the operation of offshore helicopter transport services during Storm Babet.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Safety is of primary importance in aviation. Helicopter operators throughout the UK are responsible for their own operations, and for ensuring they remain aware of weather and storm warnings.
The Secretary of State has not held meetings with the Civil Aviation Authority on the operation of offshore helicopter transport services during Storm Babet.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual helicopter flying hours were in the offshore oil and gas sector in each year from 2018 to 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Neither the Department for Transport (DfT) nor the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) hold this information. As North Sea helicopter movements are non-scheduled, operators do not provide flight data to the CAA. Only the operators themselves will hold this data.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2023 to Question 133973 on Shipping: Liberia, what powers a Substantially Interested State has to make recommendations to the Flag State under the Casualty Investigation Code.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Casualty Investigation Code does not directly provide a mechanism for a substantially interested State to make a formal recommendation to the marine safety investigating State. However, a substantially interested State is able to influence the investigation through cooperation; it must be given the opportunity to comment upon the final report; and its comments must be taken into consideration by the marine safety investigating State before the final report is published and a response provided.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2023 to Question 133973 on Shipping: Liberia, if he will publish the Liberian Registry’s notification to the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We will deposit the notification in the House library.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to investigate the suspected fatality of a worker employed on the Liberian registered Valaris vessel on 22 January 2023 en route to Dundee; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
On 26 January 2023, the Liberian Registry notified the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) that at about 1900 hours on 22 January a UK national had been discovered as missing from the Liberian flagged Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Valaris 121, which was under tow to Dundee and was some 98 miles east of Aberdeen at the time. The Liberian Registry has commenced an investigation in accordance with the International Maritime Organisation’s Casualty Investigation Code. The MAIB has registered the UK as a Substantially Interested State in the Liberian investigation and has offered support.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the (a) viability and (b) potential merits of the proposal from the Tees Valley Combined authority for a new crossing over the River Tees.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
My officials have been working with National Highways and TVCA in progressing the scheme development and to understand its wider potential merits, to allow me to make a balanced decisions against other priorities for roads funding. I understand that TVCA officials have appreciated the unique level of direct support National Highways and DfT have been providing to the TVCA team and that a final report is due by March 2023.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons his Department has not put a request from Tees Valley Combined Authority for a new crossing over the River Tees on its priority list.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Growth Plan sets out infrastructure projects which will be accelerated, aiming to get the majority into construction or under contract by the end of 2023. The scale of development work required for a project of the scale of the Tees Crossing means that is it not in that scope, but may be included in future schemes
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ban pavement parking in England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department consulted on measures to address pavement parking and received over 15,000 responses. Ministers are carefully considering the options in the light of the consultation findings. We will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to enable home charging points for electric vehicles for people who park in the street and do not have driveways or garages.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Government has committed £2.5 billion since 2020 to support the transition to zero emission vehicles, with funding to offset their higher upfront cost and to accelerate the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure.
Government is supporting those without access to off street parking through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). To date, more than 135 local authorities have applied to the scheme and this year, £20 million is available to ensure more local authorities and residents can benefit. In 2022/23, we will launch our new Local EV Infrastructure Fund (LEVI). This will facilitate the rollout of larger-scale chargepoint infrastructure projects across England for local areas. Details will be announced in due course.
In addition, Government’s forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK.