Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with National Highways on the timeliness of responses to planning applications for which it is a statutory consultee.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
National Highways have been working with the applicant and with the transport consultant to address questions on this development. The applicant has not yet provided National Highways with the information that they need to enable them to make a recommendation and I will write to my Hon Friend when they do so.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost of HS2 was in January (a) 2013 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
A cost estimate for the full HS2 programme was set out in the Outline Business Case published in 2013 and has since been updated regularly to take account of scope changes, improved cost projections and inflation. The last cost estimate for each phase of the programme was published in the six-monthly report to Parliament in October 2022, with the next report due to be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2023 to Question 122413 on Motor Vehicles: Registration, what the dedicated resource is that his Department has assigned to help Ukrainian refugees who need to register their vehicle; whether the dedicated resource can be used to help obtain certificates of conformity; and how the dedicated resource can be accessed.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Additional dedicated Department for Transport (DfT) personnel have been assigned to support Ukrainians who wish to register their vehicle, and the DfT has recently published detailed guidance to clearly outline the process. The dedicated resource can be accessed by contacting DVLA, DVSA or VCA as appropriate depending on the nature of the enquiry and as outlined in the guidance. As a Certificate of Conformity is issued by the manufacturer, a vehicle owner must make this request direct to the manufacturer. If a Ukrainian has a question regarding certificates they can contact the VCA for assistance.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to allow Ukrainian refugees to use their Ukrainian-registered cars in the UK without the need to register those cars with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency within six months of arrival; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Foreign registered vehicles brought temporarily into the UK are exempt from UK registration and licensing requirements for up to six months in any 12-month period. After this period and to comply with road safety legislation, any foreign vehicle must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The Government recognises the unique circumstances that many Ukrainians have encountered when fleeing their home country and in response His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is reviewing import duty relief applications. I have assigned dedicated resource across my Department to support those that need to register their vehicle.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2023 to Question 113160 on Large Goods Vehicles: Dorset, whether it is the policy of Highways England to retain the lorry park at Brocks Pine; and what representations have been received by Highways England on retaining the lorry park.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
National Highways (which has replaced Highways England) has no role in the operation of the facility, and it is not a NH site or on NH land.
National Highways has not called for the closure or relocation of the ‘lorry park’ facility within Avon Heath Country Park.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects Highways England will give a substantive response as a statutory consultee to the planning application submitted by WHWhite Limited to Dorset Council in November 2021 for a surf lagoon on land adjacent to the A31 at St Leonards; and for what reason the response has been delayed.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
National Highways has been working with the applicant and their transport consultants for some time to resolve questions with this development. National Highways requested further information on 8 December 2022, which is still outstanding, as well as clarification of a number of other points.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the number of lorries that used the lorry park at Brocks Pine off the A31 at St Leonards, Dorset, in each of the last 12 months for which information is available; and whether Highways England have been requested to close or relocate that facility.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The government does not regularly collect this information. As part of the National Survey of Lorry Parking, published in September 2022, the utilisation level for Brocks Pine, A31, Ringwood, Hampshire was at 50% (8 HGVs and a total capacity of 16). This is a one-off snapshot (one Thursday night in March 2022) taken from the overnight audits completed. No further information is held.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications have been made to the rapid charging fund; how much of that fund has been allocated; and whether he is taking steps to distribute that fund by December 2023.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) is not yet open. The timing and process for the delivery of this funding is currently being planned and will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November to Question 90730, if he will (a) publish and (b) place in the Library a copy of all responses by highway authorities to Question 5 in the last 12 months.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Most local authorities the Department allocates funding to as part of the highways maintenance incentive element funding process are in Band 3, based on their self-assessment response. Funding for authorities in receipt of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) no longer receive a separate incentive element and so are not included in the table.
The Department encourages all authorities that receive capital grant funding for highways maintenance to continually monitor those processes advised within the questionnaire to ensure best practice in highways maintenance continues to be carried out.
A breakdown of responses from the self-assessment in February 2022, from local highway authorities in England eligible for the highways maintenance incentive element, can be found in the table below:
Local Authority | Question 5: Is your local authority undertaking lifecycle planning as part of its highway infrastructure asset management? |
Bedford | Band 3 |
Blackburn with Darwen | Band 3 |
Blackpool | Band 3 |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | Band 2 |
Bracknell Forest | Band 2 |
Brighton and Hove | Band 2 |
Buckinghamshire | Band 3 |
Central Bedfordshire | Band 3 |
Cheshire East | Band 3 |
Cheshire West and Chester | Band 3 |
Cornwall | Band 3 |
County Durham | Band 3 |
Cumbria | Band 2 |
Derby | Band 3 |
Derbyshire | Band 3 |
Devon | Band 3 |
Dorset | Band 2 |
East Riding of Yorkshire | Band 3 |
East Sussex | Band 3 |
Essex | Band 3 |
Gateshead | Band 3 |
Gloucestershire | Band 3 |
Hampshire | Band 3 |
Herefordshire, County of | Band 3 |
Hertfordshire | Band 3 |
Kent | Band 3 |
Kingston Upon Hull, City of | Band 3 |
Lancashire | Band 3 |
Leicester | Band 3 |
Leicestershire | Band 2 |
Lincolnshire | Band 3 |
Medway | Band 3 |
Milton Keynes | Band 3 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | Band 3 |
Norfolk | Band 3 |
North East Lincolnshire | Band 2 |
North Lincolnshire | Band 3 |
North Northamptonshire | Band 3 |
North Somerset | Band 3 |
North Tyneside | Band 3 |
North Yorkshire | Band 3 |
Northumberland | Band 3 |
Nottingham | Band 3 |
Nottinghamshire | Band 3 |
Oxfordshire | Band 3 |
Plymouth | Band 2 |
Portsmouth | Band 3 |
Reading | Band 3 |
Rutland | Band 3 |
Shropshire | Band 3 |
Slough | Band 2 |
Somerset | Band 2 |
South Tyneside | Band 3 |
Southampton | Band 3 |
Southend-on-Sea | Band 3 |
Staffordshire | Band 3 |
Stoke-on-Trent | Band 3 |
Suffolk | Band 3 |
Sunderland | Band 3 |
Surrey | Band 3 |
Swindon | Band 3 |
Telford and Wrekin | Band 3 |
Thurrock | Band 3 |
Torbay | Band 3 |
Warrington | Band 3 |
Warwickshire | Band 3 |
West Berkshire | Band 3 |
West Northamptonshire | Band 3 |
West Sussex | Band 2 |
Wiltshire | Band 3 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | Band 2 |
Wokingham | Band 2 |
Worcestershire | Band 3 |
York | Band 3 |
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2022 to Question 73788 on Roads: Repairs and Maintenance, which highway authorities in England do not adopt a risk-based whole-life asset management approach to their highways maintenance programme; and if he will make it his policy that funds awarded for highway maintenance are conditional upon the adoption of such an approach.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Transport (DfT) allocates to local highways authorities is through a formula based on road length, number of bridges and number of streetlights.
£125 million (11%) of the highways maintenance funding is allocated via an incentive-based element conditional on local authority self-assessment of their highways maintenance practices. Question 5 specifically interrogates the extent to which each respondent is undertaking lifecycle planning as part of its highway infrastructure asset management.