Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the reopening of Reston station.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The promotion of railway infrastructure projects in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government but the new timetable that Network Rail is developing for the East Coast Main Line will make provision for stops at the proposed new stations at Reston and East Linton.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of driving tests that have not taken place as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) estimates that over 400,000 driving tests, have not been conducted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This data is based on the DVSA’s original forecast of driving test demand that covers March 2020 up to the present day.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimates his Department has made of how many drivers in (a) the Scottish Borders, (b) Scotland, and (c) the UK will benefit from the MOT extension due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The MOT data held by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency relates to vehicles, not to the number of drivers who use those vehicles. This data is not disaggregated based on country or region but represents the GB vehicle fleet as a whole.
In April 2020 there are 2,950,295 vehicles due for either a repeat MOT or due for first MOT. In May 2020 there are 3,002,339 vehicles due for repeat or first MOT. In June 2020 there are 2,979,869 vehicles due for repeat or first MOT.
Based on the duration of social distancing measures determined by the Government, the number of vehicles able to benefit from the exclusion to MOT testing will vary. If the legislation allowing the exclusions is no longer required, it may be revoked.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support hauliers to maintain supply and distribution networks during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has made available £330bn of support through loans and guarantees to support UK businesses. Changes were made on 3 April to ensure that more businesses, particularly those that are SMEs, like many road haulage companies, can benefit from them. Additionally, the job retention scheme which has now been launched will help further by enabling businesses to claim up to £2,500 a month towards staff wages.
The Government is working with the road haulage industry to identify barriers to accessing the available government support measures.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many plug-in car grants have been (a) issued and at (b) at what financial value in (i) the Scottish Borders, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department holds data on plug-in car grants, however this database does not provide the geographic breakdown requested.
Up to the end of September 2019, the number of plug-in car grant eligible models registered for the first time and their estimated total financial value are outlined below:
Area of registration | (a) Number of registrations for eligible models | (b) Estimated Financial value1 |
(i) Scottish Borders Unitary Authority | 205 | £0.8 million |
(ii) Scotland | 10,561 | £40 million |
(iii) UK | 202,048 | £756 million |
1 Estimated from vehicle registration data by applying amount of available grant for eligible models at the time of registration. This estimate does not mean that every vehicle registered received the grant or that other vehicles did not receive the grant before the end of September 2019 but had not registered the vehicle yet.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to progress the feasibility study for the extension of the Borders Railway to Carlisle.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Scottish Government is building the evidence base through their Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) process, due to report in early 2021. DfT officials and Transport Scotland are discussing the scope of complementary DfT-funded feasibility work on the cross-border benefits and challenges of the options. This work will be commissioned and carried out during 2020 so as to inform and enhance the output of the STPR process.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to make an assessment of the feasibility of extending the Borders railway to Carlisle.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Work on this is ongoing. On 1 July 2019, Ministers of the UK and Scottish Governments and the Leaders of the five councils of the Borderlands Partnership signed the ‘Heads of Terms’ for the £394.5 million Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal. This includes up to £10 million joint funding with Scottish Government to assess the feasibility of extending the Borders Railway from Tweedbank to Carlisle.
The full Heads of Terms document sets out further details of the projects being proposed and is available on the GOV.UK website at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/816873/Borderlands_Growth_Deal_-_Heads_of_Terms_2019.pdf
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase road safety for horse riders.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognises that horse riders and carriage drivers are vulnerable road users. Accordingly, the Highway Code covers horse riders and the need for drivers to exercise special care in relation to them.
As part of the current Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) Safety Review, The Highway Code will be reviewed to help keep cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders safe on the roads.
The full scope of review has yet to be determined but, in accordance with normal practice, it will be conducted in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including those representing equestrians.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) geographic and (b) track miles of train tracks have been electrified in each year since 1997.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The information requested is provided in the table below, covering England and Wales:
Calendar year in which electrification infrastructure completed and testing completed to make ready for passenger use (Note 1) | Approximate total route miles in the year (Note 2) | Secretary of State for Transport |
1997 | 0 |
|
1998 | 0 |
|
1999 | 0 |
|
2000 | 0 |
|
2001 | 0 |
|
2002 | 0 |
|
2003 | 10 | Alistair Darling |
2004 | 0 |
|
2005 | 0 |
|
2006 | 0 |
|
2007 | 0 |
|
2008 | 0 |
|
2009 | 0 |
|
2010 | 0 |
|
2011 | 0 |
|
2012 | 0 |
|
2013 | 18 | Sir Patrick McLoughlin |
2014 | 0 |
|
2015 | 32 | Sir Patrick McLoughlin |
2016 | 0 |
|
2017 | 42 | Chris Grayling |
2018 | 107 | Chris Grayling |
2019 | 49 | Chris Grayling |
TOTAL | 258 |
|
Note 1 – this date is not necessarily the date when the infrastructure is first used in timetabled passenger service.
Note 2 – the route mileage figures are approximate. The figures are for the ‘traditional’ / existing railway only, so exclude the 67 miles of HS1 completed before 2010.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage the creation of international connections to and from Scotland from other UK airports.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Government is supportive of all airports including those in Scotland, in creating new international connections. The Government believes that air passengers are best served by a commercial airline market which is able to operate in a competitive environment. It is solely a matter for airlines to determine which airports they operate based on their own assessment of costs and passenger demand.