Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many commercial helicopter flights to offshore oil and gas installations on the UK Continental Shelf were cancelled due to storms (a) Dudley, (b) Eunice and (c) Franklin.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
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 know how many flights they cancelled or postponed because of the three storms.
Flight operations in the North Sea are frequently subject to extreme weather conditions. Therefore, operators will have numerous standard operation procedures determining when they fly and when they don’t.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making dashboard cameras mandatory for all vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The use of dashcam footage is important in tackling unsafe driving behaviour. The police accept and assess footage captured by witnesses using dashcams and sent to them in relation to a number of road traffic offences, such as using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.
The natural proliferation of dashcams has helped support enforcement; the Government has no plans to make dashcams mandatory.
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 3 December 2021 to Question 84353, on Shipping: Exhaust Emissions, whether it is his policy to make collective bargaining agreements a standard condition of employment for seafarers working in green shipping corridors from UK ports.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
A Trade Union must be recognised by the employer for it to enter into collective bargaining with that employer.
The recognition of Trade Unions is regulated by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and it not the intention of the government to change those requirements specifically for vessels operating on green corridors.
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 3 December 2021 to Question 84354, on Shipping: Exhaust Emissions, if he will list the members of the Clean Maritime Council that attended the meeting on 16 September; and where that meeting was held.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Clean Maritime Council meeting on Thursday 16 September took place at the UK Chamber of Shipping headquarters in London. This was held as a hybrid meeting, meaning that members attended both virtually and in person. The member organisations at this meeting were: British Ports Association, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Department for Transport, ENGIE, European Defence Fund, ING Bank, Innovate UK, Lloyd’s Register, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Maritime Enterprise Working Group, Maritime UK, Maritime London, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Red Funnel, UK Chamber of Shipping, UK Major Ports Group, United Nations High-Level Climate Champion, University College London, University of Strathclyde, Wightlink and the Workboat Association.
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 3 December 2021 to Question 84351, on Shipping: Exhaust Emissions, if he will ensure that representatives of maritime trade unions are consulted during the delivery of the aims in those declarations; and if he will outline the departmental structures that he plans to use to deliver those aims.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Trade Unions were consulted in the development of the Department’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan which sets the overarching framework for decarbonising the sector.
The ‘Declaration on Zero Emission Shipping by 2050’ and the ‘Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors’ represent the beginning of a multi-year process to decarbonise the international maritime sector and develop green shipping corridors.
We are now moving to develop these initiatives and delivery structures, including engaging with other States, industry, and stakeholders.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to offer incentives to support individuals and organisations to purchase hydrogen vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government offers grants to offset the higher upfront cost of zero emission cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes and taxis and is also supporting the development of hydrogen vehicles, particularly larger vehicles like HGVs and buses.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the first green shipping corridors from UK ports in response to the Government’s status as a signatory to the Clydebank Declaration announced at COP26.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Clydebank Declaration represents the beginning of a multi-year process to develop green shipping corridors. As such, launching the Declaration is the first step on that voyage in establishing at least six corridors by middle of this decade, across all signatory States.
We are now moving, with other States and the industry, to exploring, designing and then delivering a corridor or corridors in the UK.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors, what process his Department will use to identify (a) ports and (b) operators on (i) international and (ii) domestic shipping routes for participation in green shipping corridors.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Clydebank Declaration represents the beginning of a multi-year process to develop green shipping corridors. As such, launching the Declaration is the first step on that voyage in establishing at least six corridors by middle of this decade, across all signatory States.
We are now moving, with other States and the industry, to exploring, designing and then delivering a corridor or corridors in the UK.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of declarations signed by the Government at COP26 on seafarer (a) employment and (b) training in the shipping industry.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The ‘Declaration on Zero Emission Shipping by 2050’ and the ‘Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors’ are both state-led initiatives and signatories are responsible for developing their respective domestic policies to support delivery.
The UK delivery will be guided by the Maritime 2050 Strategy, the Clean Maritime Plan, the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, and the Net Zero Strategy
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had at the International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee on zero emission shipping.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) met between the 22 and 26 of November for its 77th Session. The United Kingdom submitted a proposal referring to scientific evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicating the steps required to keep to the Paris Agreement temperature goals. The proposal by the United Kingdom supported the adoption of a resolution recognising the importance of international shipping reaching zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050.
Unfortunately, this resolution, supported by many like-minded ambitious Member States, did not gain sufficient support. Although the United Kingdom would have preferred to send a stronger message in a resolution, the Government is pleased that the MEPC initiated the review of the initial IMO strategy on reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from ships and recognised the need to strengthen the ambition in the strategy during this revision.