Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that British aviation supply companies will be able to qualify for work certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Grayling
The UK is seeking continued participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) system in order to facilitate the continued frictionless trade in aerospace goods between the UK and EU. The UK, with the second largest aerospace sector in the world, supplies vital components to aerospace exporters within the EU. It is not in the interests of the UK or the EU to disrupt the ‘just in time’ supply chains of our integrated aerospace sector.
The Commission has proposed a regulation which, when agreed, would provide an extension of the validity of certain safety certificates issued to or by UK based organisations. In addition, The Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations which were laid in draft on 26 November 2018 provide that certificates issued by EASA or an EU Member State shall remain valid for a period of up to 2 years.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that certificates provided by the Civil Aviation Authority to British companies will be valid within the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Grayling
The UK is seeking continued participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) system in order to facilitate the continued frictionless trade in aerospace goods between the UK and EU. The UK, with the second largest aerospace sector in the world, supplies vital components to aerospace exporters within the EU. It is not in the interests of the UK or the EU to disrupt the ‘just in time’ supply chains of our integrated aerospace sector.
The Commission has proposed a regulation which, when agreed, would provide an extension of the validity of certain safety certificates issued to or by UK based organisations. In addition, The Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations which were laid in draft on 26 November 2018 provide that certificates issued by EASA or an EU Member State shall remain valid for a period of up to 2 years.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Midlands Connect on its proposed expressway from Leicestershire to Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The A46 corridor connects together Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire. This is one of the corridors identified by Midlands Connect - the sub national transport body for the Midlands - as of key strategic importance.
With funding from the Department, Midlands Connect is currently conducting a detailed study into the potential for development of the A46, which it believes could play an important role in improving pan-regional connectivity and relieving congestion on motorways in the West Midlands. The Department is monitoring this study closely.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of reducing noise emissions from motorways by reducing speed limits; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Noise is a Key Performance Indicator for Highways England. They are working to reduce people’s exposure to road noise by considering measures such as barriers, road resurfacing and insulation at locations with the highest noise levels and delivering these through major projects, maintenance work and their designated environment fund. Reducing speed limits is not one of the measures.
While reducing speed limits on motorways can reduce noise for those nearby, it can also have unintended consequences. Some traffic may be diverted to less suitable roads in more built-up areas, where loud noise could be experienced by more people. Even at lower speeds, noise effects can be greater off the motorway network, as roads tend to be closer to homes.
Highways England’s approach reduces the noise which people experience near some of the busiest motorways while retaining existing speed limits on these important arterial routes, speed limits that reflect drivers’ experience and expectations for longer-distance journeys.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the DVLA on testing blood glucose levels using flash and continuous glucose monitoring technology for the purposes of assessing fitness to drive; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is currently amending the Assessing Fitness to Drive guidance on the use of new monitoring technologies for people with diabetes. The revised guidance is due to be published in February. This will allow the testing of interstitial fluid for driving licensing purposes for people with diabetes who drive cars or motorcycles. Drivers of goods vehicles and buses must continue to monitor blood glucose levels.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the viability of private business proposals to build the Windsor link; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
In March this year we launched a call for ideas for market-led proposals to enhance the railway that are financially credible without government support. The department has now considered and responded confidentially to all proposals, amongst which included a Windsor link. We are now working with promoters whose proposals fell within the scope of this call for ideas to progress their schemes.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the cost benefit ratio of (a) HS2 and (b) the Missing Link solution in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The last business case for HS2 was published in 2017 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-two-economic-case
It showed that the full network has a benefit to cost ratio of 2.3. This means that for every £1 invested, HS2 will generate more than £2 in economic benefits, constituting high value for money.
The A417 “Missing Link” route options were brought to public consultation in February – March 2018. The two routes taken to consultation had a Value for Money range from low to poor, and Benefit Cost Ratios of 1.04 and 0.68. Highways England are currently undertaking further development of the scheme detail and assessment of the routes’ VfM.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent from the public purse on the High Speed 2 project to date.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Expenditure on delivery of HS2 from 2009/10 until 2016/17 was £2.3bn. This consists of expenditure by both HS2 Ltd on delivering the programme and by the Department for Transport on land and property.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the number of DVSA testers available to test commercial vehicles; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) priority is to help people keep their vehicles safe to drive. It is working hard to ensure there is sufficient testing resources across the network to meet demand.
The DVSA has set up a specialist team to address the concerns of authorised testing facilities (ATF), and is holding a series of local events across the country from January to April 2018 to work with ATFs to improve the efficiency of testing.
The DVSA is in the process of making employment offers to an additional 26 new entrant staff to join the agency by April 2018, and plans to launch a further recruitment campaign in early February to ensure it has the right people with the right skills in the right areas.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the reliability and punctuality of train services in the South West.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government will continue the current record level of funding, with around £48 billion to be spent on the network in the period from 2019 to 2024, which will support more maintenance and a huge uplift in renewals to increase reliability and punctuality for passengers.
We are also delivering the biggest rail modernisation programme for over a century, and the Department, working alongside Network Rail and other industry partners, are committed to investing and enhancing the railway so that we have a modern, reliable and punctual railway fit for the future.
In relation to services in the Great Western franchise area specifically, new Intercity Express Trains are already replacing older High Speed Trains and 2 January saw the introduction of electric trains to Didcot, which will enable additional diesel trains to move to the West and South West of England.