Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish a report to Parliament on the Government's objectives for walking and cycling as set out in the statutory 2017 Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department for Transport (DfT) plans to publish the road safety statistics for England in September. As it would be useful to include this data in its progress report, and given the prorogation of Parliament, DfT is planning to publish the progress report over the autumn.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the safety of train passengers when train guards are removed.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Whilst decisions on staffing are for individual operators, the Government has been clear that it wants to see more staff on our railway, not fewer, and it is not aware of any plans by franchised operators to remove guards from train services.
With respect to the mode of train operation and guards, the ORR, the independent rail regulator, and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) have found that Driver Controlled Operation (DCO), where the train driver has responsibility for opening and closing the doors and dispatching the train from a station but a guard / second crew member continues to be rostered on the train, is safe.
An RSSB report also concluded that the introduction of DCO according to the standard safety management requirements that all rail companies routinely meet does not increase any other passenger safety risks and furthermore that cancelling a DCO train in the absence of its guard / second crew member is more risky than running it with only its driver.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of staffing reductions on levels of reported crime on trains.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department works with the British Transport Police (BTP) to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour on the railways in Great Britain. Under their franchise agreements, Train Operating Companies are required to work with the BTP to manage and reduce railway crime. British Transport Police officer numbers have remained relatively stable on the network over the last five years and are currently (2017/18) nearly 3,100 by comparison to just over 2,900 in 2009/10.
With growing passenger numbers, the Department has been clear that it wants to see more train operating company customer-facing staff on the railways, not fewer.
The BTP keeps records of crime reported on the railways. Crime figures should be considered in the context of rising passenger numbers, with crimes per million passenger journeys remaining relatively low and having decreased overall between 2014 and 2017.
With regard to factors influencing the levels of report crime on trains, the BTP has run a number of successful initiatives in recent years to encourage more reporting of crimes, which is likely to be a factor in the numbers of crimes reported. For example, BTP has a popular dedicated crime reporting text service - ‘61016’ – which allows people to report offences to the police easily and discreetly.
The levels of crime that are seen on the railway broadly mirror those seen across society as a whole, as recorded by the territorial police forces.
A recent report by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) concluded that driver controlled train operation by comparison with conductor operation does not increase passenger safety risks.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of (a) the trials led by HyDeploy to convert the UK’s domestic gas grid to hydrogen and (b) how those trials can be used to support the development and implementation of the use of hydrogen in transport.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HyDeploy is funded under Ofgem’s Gas Network Innovation Competition and is being delivered by the HyDeploy consortium, led by Cadent and Northern Gas Networks. Officials are following the progress of the project closely and will review the project when it finishes in 2020. More broadly, the Government is exploring hydrogen’s potential to deliver against its clean growth goals across the energy system and the wider economy. Specifically, in the case of transport, the approach has been to support the market in its early stages, by funding the deployment of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles with the appropriate hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the UK bioethanol industry of the introduction of a zero tariff regime for imported ethanol in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal; and what representations he has received from that industry on a zero tariff regime.
Answered by Chris Grayling
The Government continues to work towards a Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. If the UK leaves without a deal in place, an independent tariff regime will be set striking a balance between protecting consumers and businesses from possible price rises and avoiding the exposure of sensitive industries to competition. The Government has considered carefully the evidence available in developing a future tariff regime. Once a final decision has been taken, we will bring forward legislation to the House and communicate this in an appropriate way for a market sensitive announcement.
The Department is in regular contact with representatives from the UK bioethanol industry on a range of topics, including on the implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the publication of the Government’s response to the consultation entitled E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling, published by her Department on 20 July 2018.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department's consultation, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, included a call for evidence inviting stakeholders to contribute ideas on whether and how E10 could be introduced in a way which maximises the benefits of that fuel and ensures consumers are protected.
The Department is carefully considering the responses submitted, including proposals for a mandate or scrappage scheme, and will respond to the call for evidence in due course. The information gathered in the call for evidence will help the Department to ensure that decision making on this important policy area is robust. Any legislative proposals on the mandatory introduction of E10 would be subject to a full consultation with an accompanying impact assessment.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the consultation, E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling, published by his Department on 20 July 2018, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of combining a mandated introduction of E10 fuels with a scrappage scheme for incompatible vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department's consultation, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, included a call for evidence inviting stakeholders to contribute ideas on whether and how E10 could be introduced in a way which maximises the benefits of that fuel and ensures consumers are protected.
The Department is carefully considering the responses submitted, including proposals for a mandate or scrappage scheme, and will respond to the call for evidence in due course. The information gathered in the call for evidence will help the Department to ensure that decision making on this important policy area is robust. Any legislative proposals on the mandatory introduction of E10 would be subject to a full consultation with an accompanying impact assessment.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the his Department's consultation, E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling, published on 20 July 2018, for what reason that consultation did not consider the mandatory introduction of E10 fuels.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department's consultation, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, included a call for evidence inviting stakeholders to contribute ideas on whether and how E10 could be introduced in a way which maximises the benefits of that fuel and ensures consumers are protected.
The Department is carefully considering the responses submitted, including proposals for a mandate or scrappage scheme, and will respond to the call for evidence in due course. The information gathered in the call for evidence will help the Department to ensure that decision making on this important policy area is robust. Any legislative proposals on the mandatory introduction of E10 would be subject to a full consultation with an accompanying impact assessment.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that London North Eastern Railway fulfils the commitment made by Virgin Trains East Coast to operate a direct train service between Middlesbrough and London King's Cross; and when the planned start date is for that service.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department is working with Network Rail to deliver infrastructure enhancements on the East Coast Main Line planned to be delivered in the early 2020s, and with London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to introduce into service a new fleet of trains through the Intercity Express Programme planned to be fully introduced in 2020. It remains our intention to deliver additional services to Middlesbrough when capacity is available to do so.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the strength of the steel industry of the commitment by Heathrow Airport Limited to follow public sector procurement rules on steel purchasing as part of its expansion programme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government welcomes Heathrow Airport Limited’s (HAL) commitment to follow public sector procurement rules for its purchases of steel. It is one of a number of commitments HAL has already made to British industry, including the development of supply chain hubs across the country and that 95 per cent of the procurement spend will be with the UK supply chain. The Government has not made an assessment of the effect that this commitment will have on the strength of the UK steel industry. HAL’s own assessment is that expansion at Heathrow will require tens of thousands of tonnes of steel, securing hundreds of jobs across the industry.