Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his (a) US and European counterparts and the (b)(i) UK and (ii) international aerospace industry on establishing globally consistent plans for the resumption of flying.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The aviation sector is important to the UK economy and the government recognises the challenging times it is facing as a result of COVID-19. The Department for Transport has kept an open dialogue with the aviation sector including with the aerospace industry, through regular structured engagement at both ministerial and official level.
Additionally, the International Aviation Taskforce’s industry Expert Steering Group has been established to bring together all interested parties to co-produce solutions where possible through a cross-sector representative membership, including aerospace industry body ADS, airports, airlines and international representatives to ensure that the work of the UK is in sync with wider global efforts in the aviation sector.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the environmental effect of aeroplanes circling Heathrow airport while awaiting a landing slot.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We recognise that aircraft maintaining a holding pattern before landing at Heathrow wastes fuel, creates delays for airlines and their customers, and can increase aviation’s environmental impact.
A key objective of the UK’s plan for airspace modernisation is therefore to minimise the amount of airborne holding before landing at our major airports, which will help to reduce carbon emissions and noise impacts.
It may also be of interest to my hon. Friend the Member for Fylde, that following a request for urgent action from the Secretary of State for Transport, on 27 March the UK’s Airport Slot Coordinator, Airport Coordination Limited, announced it would grant alleviation to airlines from the 80:20 slot usage rules until October 2020. This will avoid ‘ghost planes’, and protect both airlines and the environment. The letters from the Secretary of State are publicly available to my hon. Friend the Member for Fylde.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce delays and (b) improve the experience of people requiring a medical review when renewing their driving licence.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) makes around 745,000 medical licensing decisions each year and aims to complete 90 per cent of these within 90 working days. The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition involved and whether information is needed from medical professionals.
The DVLA has recruited additional staff to process medical applications and notifications. This includes increasing the number of doctors and introducing nurse caseworkers to deal with specific conditions. The DVLA is also working with third parties, for example, GPs, consultants and opticians, to reduce the time taken to receive the information it requires to make licensing decisions.
The DVLA also provides an online service for customers to notify a medical condition or renew a driving licence previously issued following a medical condition. The DVLA continually reviews its processes and has a dedicated team responsible for the improvement of its medical driver licensing services and communications.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made in implementing the audio-visual requirements for public transport, as set out in the Bus Services Act 2017, across Lancashire.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In Summer 2018 the Government consulted publicly on plans to use powers in the Bus Services Act 2017 to make Regulations requiring the provision of audible and visible information onboard local bus services across Great Britain.
We continue to analyse responses to the consultation and expect to announce our next steps regarding the making of Regulations and publication of guidance later in the year.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total funding provided to Lancashire County Council for pothole repairs in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport is allocating £6.6 billion between 2015/16 and 2020/21 to local highway authorities for local highway maintenance funding, including for the repair of potholes or to stop them forming.
From this, it has allocated Lancashire County Council the following funding over the last three years:
Year | Funding Stream | £ M |
2017//18 | Highways Maintenance Block (including incentive element) | 22.487 |
2017/18 | Pothole Action Fund | 2.913 |
2018/19 | Highways Maintenance Block (including incentive element) | 22.465 |
2018/19 | Pothole Action Fund | 1.227 |
2018/19* | Budget £420 million | 10.229 |
2019/20 | Highways Maintenance Block (including incentive element) | 22.434 |
2019/20 | Pothole Action Fund | 0.621 |
Total |
| 82.376 |
*In the Budget, the Chancellor provided local highway authorities in England an additional £420m for highway maintenance.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy published in July 2018, what progress he has made towards the target of making the UK’s transport network fully inclusive by 2030; what his policy is on the inclusion of people with dementia on the UK's transport network; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Good progress continues to be made in delivering the commitments set out in the Inclusive Transport Strategy. A monitoring and evaluation framework was published on 19 December setting out how the Government will measure the impact that the Strategy is having on the lives of disabled people including those with non-visible disabilities such as dementia and the progress that is being made towards its 2030 goal. The Department will also report annually to Parliament on the delivery of the Inclusive Transport Strategy, with the first such report due in the summer.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost to the public purse of Network Rail compensation payments to service providers following disruption to the rail infrastructure network in 2018.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Network Rail publishes information on compensation paid to train operators on the transparency pages of its website. This data is recorded by financial year. Information on total schedule 4 and 8 payments (track access contracts, which cover planned disruptions and unplanned disruptions to services on the rail infrastructure network) for the latest financial year 17/18 can be viewed on Network Rails website:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/transparency-and-ethics/transparency/datasets/
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of compensation payments made by Network Rail to Northern Rail as a result of disruption to the infrastructure network in 2018.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Compensation payments made by Network Rail to Northern Rail as a result of disruption to the infrastructure network in 2018 are governed by the contractual agreements between Network Rail and the operator and are therefore a matter for them and not the Department.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Northern Rail on recent timetable problems.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Secretary of State recently appointed Richard George to work with the rail industry on performance improvements to the existing timetable. Richard George has a wealth of industry experience including as Director of Transport for the London Olympics in 2012.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to hold Northern Rail to account for its level of service performance.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department, through the Rail North Partnership which is jointly managed with Transport for the North, constantly monitors Northern’s contractual compliance relating to service performance and will hold them to account for any non-compliance through the existing mechanisms within the Franchise