Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the proposed timetable for changes to the East Coast Main Line service will be finalised.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The public consultation on the proposed major timetable change on the East Coast Main Line, which proposed significant improvements to LNER services, received over 9000 responses and invaluable feedback and insight from local communities. In order to address thoroughly all the concerns raised, the major timetable upgrade is now targeted for 2023 at the earliest. The feedback received through the consultation has now been reviewed and work is continuing towards a plan for the implementation of revised proposals for a new, reliable timetable on the East Coast Main Line; one that more closely aligns with stakeholder feedback, ensures passengers experience the benefits of the £1.2billion invested in the East Coast upgrade and is appropriate for the rail industry’s financial position following the spending review. The Department will be able to share the outcome of that work once it completes later this year.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) name of each consultancy contracted, (c) specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
Answered by Karl McCartney
DVSA’s Annual Report and Accounts available at gov.uk set out the amount spent on consultancy.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) name of each consultancy contracted, (c) specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
Answered by Karl McCartney
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) spend on external consultants can be found in the DVLA’s Annual Reports and Accounts available at gov.uk. All Government departments, their agencies and arm’s length bodies must follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in awarding contracts and are required to publish all spend against individual suppliers above £10,000. Details of all Government contracts awarded from 2016 and above £10,000 (£25,000 in the wider public sector) are published on GOV.UK under Contracts Finder and can be found here. Each award notice provides information on the name of the supplier, the value of the contract, its purpose, and information on the type of awarding procedure used.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Office of Rail and Road has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) name of each consultancy contracted, (c) specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Office of Rail and Road is a non-Ministerial government department and spend on external consultancy is a matter for them.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) name of each consultancy contracted, (c) specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Spend on externally contracted consultancy services by the MCA can be found in their Annual Reports and Accounts on GOV.UK.
Details of all Government contracts awarded from 2016 above £10,000 and £25,000 in the wider public sector are published on Contracts Finder. Each award notice provides information on the name of the supplier, value of the contract, its purpose and information on the type of awarding procedure used. Government departments, their individual agencies and Arms Length Bodies are required to publish all spend against individual suppliers above £25,000 on GOV.UK.
All Government Departments and their individual ALBs and agencies are required to follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in awarding contracts.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) name of each consultancy contracted and (c) specific matters on which they were consulted.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department’s published figures in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts includes the total consultancy expenditure figures covering the core Department and its Executive Agencies. These numbers are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-annual-reports-and-accounts.
The table below also provides the total spend on consultants for DVSA, covering financial years 2018-19 to 2020-21, as these figures for those years are not included in the total Departmental consultancy expenditure available online:
Financial Year | Expenditure (£m) |
2018-19 | 0.1 |
2019-20 | 0.6 |
2020-21 | 0.5 |
Details of all Government contracts awarded from 2016 above £10,000 and £25,000 in the wider public sector are published on Contracts Finder. Each award notice provides information on the name of the supplier, value of the contract, its purpose and information on the type of awarding procedure used. Government departments, their individual agencies and Arms Length Bodies are required to publish all spend against individual suppliers above £25,000 on GOV.UK.
All Government Departments and their individual ALBs and agencies are required to follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in awarding contracts.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the upgrading of the A1 following publication of the Union Connectivity Review.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Union Connectivity Review (UCR) was published on 26 November 2021. The UK Government is grateful to Sir Peter Hendy for his work and is considering his recommendations carefully, to identify the solutions that work best for the people of the UK.
Baroness Vere discussed the UCR recommendations with Graeme Dey MSP, the former Scottish Government Transport Minister, and discussions continue at official level. Baroness Vere has invited the Scottish Government Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth MSP, to discuss the UCR recommendations.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has with the Scottish Government on the East Coast Main Line following the publication of the Union Connectivity Review.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Union Connectivity Review (UCR) was published on 26 November 2021. The UK Government is grateful to Sir Peter Hendy for his work and is considering his recommendations carefully, to identify the solutions that work best for the people of the UK.
Baroness Vere discussed the UCR recommendations with Graeme Dey MSP, the former Scottish Government Transport Minister, and discussions continue at official level. Baroness Vere has invited the Scottish Government Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth MSP, to discuss the UCR recommendations.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether proposed changes to the Harbour Act 1964 to tackle ferry operators paying below the minimum wage will also apply to (a) those operating in the oil and gas or renewable sectors in the North Sea and (b) other maritime operators.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department for Transport, working with other government departments, is working through the process to introduce legislation to ensure that any ferry operator frequently accessing a UK port pays an equivalent to the national minimum wage (NMW) while in our waters.
It is our intent to ensure that all seafarers working on ferries operating internationally out of the UK are paid at least the equivalent of the minimum wage for their time spent in the UK territorial waters and to further strengthen that protection with bilateral agreements with our neighbours to provide ‘minimum wage corridors’ between the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.
As part of this process, we will be launching a public consultation which will seek views on which operators should be within scope of the regulation.
The National Minimum Wage (Offshore Employment) Order 2020 extended the provisions of the UK national minimum wage to all seafarers working in the oil and gas industry where that work was undertaken in support of UK activity and within the UK Continental Shelf. The National Minimum Wage Act 1999 does not make explicit reference to the Exclusive Economic Zone and therefore cannot be applied to those working in the offshore renewables sector where that work is beyond the limits of the UK territorial waters.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the availability, by (a) green and (b) blue hydrogen, of hydrogen fuel sites capable of providing for hydrogen buses.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As of December 2021, there are fourteen publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK that provide hydrogen suitable for use by vehicles. The information on suitability of access for all buses and the availability of green or blue hydrogen is not currently available.