Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made by the rural roads working group established by the hon. Member for Northampton North; and what steps are being taken to improve road safety in rural areas to reduce fatal accidents.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Rural Roads Working Group was announced as part of the Road Safety Statement 2019 – ‘A Lifetime of Road Safety’. The work to establish the group was well underway but then paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scope of the group is new being reassessed to ensure it addresses relevant matters in a post-COVID landscape.
The Department’s Safer Roads Fund continues to improve road safety in rural areas. Some of the initial schemes that were funded in 2017/18 have now completed and the final allocation of £35.3m was paid to Local Authorities in March 2021.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people who are waiting for driving licences from the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency receive those licences in a timely manner in the event of planned strike action by staff at that agency.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The quickest and easiest way to apply for or renew a driving licence is online, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online services are working as normal.
Paper driving licence applications must be dealt with in person and are taking longer to process as the DVLA has a reduced number of staff on-site to comply with social distancing requirements and ensure staff safety. Drivers with a medical condition may experience delays because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from medical professionals before a licence can be issued to ensure drivers can meet the required medical standards.
Drivers who have submitted an application to renew their driving licence may be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, provided they meet certain criteria.
Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the HS2 Environmental Statement was last updated; and what guidance has been given to contractors to encourage the use of 100 per cent renewable diesel in place of fossil diesel.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
An Environmental Statement is prepared by HS2 Ltd to support each hybrid Bill deposit. Statements were prepared in 2013 and 2017 for Phase One and Phase 2a respectively, to summarise the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment process. Beyond the point of Royal Assent environmental surveys continue to be undertaken and are used to inform further decisions, requirements and additional mitigations where appropriate.
In respect of low carbon fuels, HS2 Ltd sets the toughest standards for both site plant and vehicle engine standards as described in Information Paper E31 and the project closely monitors compliance with these standards held here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/672406/E31_-_Air_Quality_v1.5.pdf and here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/960731/E14_Air_Quality_v1.3.pdf
HS2 Ltd has set a challenging target to reduce carbon during the construction of Phase 1 by 50% and has asked its contractors to develop plans to improve the quality of their supply chain vehicle fleets as these are renewed over the life of their contract, and issued advice to them regarding the suitability and adoption of new vehicle engine types, fuels and related standards, where there is a business case for their adoption.
HS2 Ltd and the supply chain remain focused on developing and implementing practical ways to improve impacts on air quality, and alternative fuels are one area of consideration. The HS2 Ltd Air Quality team support project delivery partners by making informed choices based on evidenced market offerings, with a view to ensuring that HS2 Ltd takes an industry lead on this subject.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to circumstances where a property was shown as amber for noise levels during the Hybrid Bill Committee stage, and HS2 undertook to provide mitigation to secure that classification, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of HS2 not providing that mitigation with the result that the same property enters the red category for noise disruption.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
HS2 Ltd’s civils contractors are updating the predicted noise effects of the scheme, originally published in the Environmental Statement that accompanied the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill, as part of their design process. This is in order to demonstrate that noise from the operational railway, and from altered roads, has been reduced ‘as far as reasonably practicable,’ in accordance with the HS2 Environmental Minimum Requirements (EMRs). Contractors demonstrate that their mitigation proposals comply with the EMRs using the methodology and tests set out in HS2 Planning Forum Note 14: Operational Noise from the Railway and Altered Roads. HS2 Planning Forum Note 14 provides a framework for considering EMR compliance in situations where there has been a change in the forecast noise levels compared to the Environmental Statement. It is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/833184/PFN_14_Operational_Noise.pdf
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people in South Northamptonshire constituency are awaiting reimbursement of legal costs by HS2.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
HS2 Ltd has made forty-eight payments to date on cases in this constituency relating to compulsory purchase. HS2 Ltd has also completed thirty-four statutory blight and discretionary scheme payments.
HS2 Ltd has identified thirty-eight payments on cases in the constituency that are yet to be completed, all relating to compulsory purchase.
Of this thirty-eight: thirty-three are in negotiation (twenty-five permanent possession and eight temporary occupation), three marked as in dispute (all temporary occupation) and two currently rejected (both permanent possession).
Many of these will have legal fees associated with them. Legal fees are paid at particular points in a claim when substantive evidence is provided.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what noise modelling process HS2 has used to assess the level of noise resulting from the building and operation of HS2 for Radstone in South Northamptonshire constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
HS2 Ltd’s construction contractors are predicting noise from the construction of HS2 in accordance with the methodologies set out in BS 5228-1:2009+A1:2014 “Code of practice for noise and vibration control on construction and open sites. Noise”. Noise and vibration assessments are shared with relevant local authorities through applications for prior consent for work on construction sites according to Section 61 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974.
To predict noise from the operational railway, HS2 Ltd’s contractor EKFB is using the prediction model originally developed for HS1. Input assumptions have been varied to reflect relevant differences, such as the higher speeds of HS2. The hybrid Bill process intensively scrutinised how the HS1 noise model should be applied to HS2, and which input assumptions should be used. Using the model, EKFB is developing a design that is compliant with the HS2 Environmental Minimum Requirements, using the methodology and tests set out in HS2 Planning Forum Note 14: Operational Noise from the Railway and Altered Roads, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/833184/PFN_14_Operational_Noise.pdf
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many compulsory purchases of properties affected by HS2 there have been in South Northamptonshire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
With respect to General Vesting Declarations, Notice To Treat/Notice Of Entry and Schedule 16 (temporary occupation) in South Northamptonshire, we have the following information: