Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of bi-lateral international road haulage permits that would be available to UK hauliers in the event of a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The UK’s overall aim in the negotiations with the EU is to maintain and develop the existing liberalised access for commercial haulage. The current liberalised access arrangements for commercial hauliers bring in billions of pounds for both the UK and the EU. Agreeing a deal which maintains and develops these arrangements is in the interests of both parties and we are absolutely confident of doing so. The Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill is designed to ensure Government has in place the necessary framework and powers to deliver a permit scheme should it be required as part of an agreement with the EU.
The permitting system operated by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) is an international arrangement entirely separate to the EU and will not be part of our negotiations. The ECMT permits currently allocated to the UK are little used and we have no intention of relying on them after we leave the EU.
At present, the UK currently receives ECMT permits covering up to 1,224 vehicles at any time. These are allocated to operators and can be switched between different vehicles within a fleet. In 2018 only 21 ECMT permits have been issued to UK hauliers. This is because direct haulage between the UK and non-EU/EFTA ECMT countries is relatively limited, and there are also separate bilateral arrangements between the UK and non-EU/EFTA ECMT countries that can be used.
The ECMT has issued permits which allow the use of up to 44,370 vehicles for the other 42 countries within the ECMT at any time for 2018. The ECMT scheme covers all other EU countries, with the exception of Cyprus who are not members of the scheme. This number can vary depending on the type of vehicle used and whether countries have taken their full entitlement of ECMT permits. Of this total, 21,090 are currently issued to EU Member States, excluding the UK.
Road haulage between the UK and EFTA States currently operates without permits under EU regulations and agreements. The access arrangements available for the UK operators for trade with the EFTA States after the UK has left the EU will be a matter for negotiation.
The UK also has a number of bilateral haulage agreements with non-EU countries. The UK has issued around 1,400 permits to UK hauliers under these bilateral agreements since the start of 2017. While some of these arrangements require permits, several do not and any permitting requirement is subject to the nature of the arrangement reached.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of bi-lateral international road haulage permits that would be available to UK hauliers in the event of no deal being reached with the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The UK’s overall aim in the negotiations with the EU is to maintain and develop the existing liberalised access for commercial haulage. The current liberalised access arrangements for commercial hauliers bring in billions of pounds for both the UK and the EU. Agreeing a deal which maintains and develops these arrangements is in the interests of both parties and we are absolutely confident of doing so. The Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill is designed to ensure Government has in place the necessary framework and powers to deliver a permit scheme should it be required as part of an agreement with the EU.
The permitting system operated by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) is an international arrangement entirely separate to the EU and will not be part of our negotiations. The ECMT permits currently allocated to the UK are little used and we have no intention of relying on them after we leave the EU.
At present, the UK currently receives ECMT permits covering up to 1,224 vehicles at any time. These are allocated to operators and can be switched between different vehicles within a fleet. In 2018 only 21 ECMT permits have been issued to UK hauliers. This is because direct haulage between the UK and non-EU/EFTA ECMT countries is relatively limited, and there are also separate bilateral arrangements between the UK and non-EU/EFTA ECMT countries that can be used.
The ECMT has issued permits which allow the use of up to 44,370 vehicles for the other 42 countries within the ECMT at any time for 2018. The ECMT scheme covers all other EU countries, with the exception of Cyprus who are not members of the scheme. This number can vary depending on the type of vehicle used and whether countries have taken their full entitlement of ECMT permits. Of this total, 21,090 are currently issued to EU Member States, excluding the UK.
Road haulage between the UK and EFTA States currently operates without permits under EU regulations and agreements. The access arrangements available for the UK operators for trade with the EFTA States after the UK has left the EU will be a matter for negotiation.
The UK also has a number of bilateral haulage agreements with non-EU countries. The UK has issued around 1,400 permits to UK hauliers under these bilateral agreements since the start of 2017. While some of these arrangements require permits, several do not and any permitting requirement is subject to the nature of the arrangement reached.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the £25.07 billion cost of Phase 2b of High Speed 2 will be apportioned between (a) the West Midlands and (b) Leeds.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Spending Review 2015 set a long term funding envelope of £28.55bn for Phase Two, of which £25.07bn is currently allocated to Phase 2b.
HS2 Ltd is expected to manage all elements of the Phase 2b scope from within the overall funding provision. As such, there are no separately designated budgets for different locations within the Phase 2b allocation.
The scope of Phase 2b is set out in the Phase 2b Route Decision Document, which was presented to Parliament in July 2017.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the £25.07 billion cost of Phase 2b of High Speed 2 will be apportioned between (a) Crewe and (b) Manchester.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Spending Review 2015 set a long term funding envelope of £28.55bn for Phase Two, of which £25.07bn is currently allocated to Phase 2b.
HS2 Ltd is expected to manage all elements of the Phase 2b scope from within the overall funding provision. As such, there are no separately designated budgets for different locations within the Phase 2b allocation.
The scope of Phase 2b is set out in the Phase 2b Route Decision Document, which was presented to Parliament in July 2017.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether HS2 Ltd has introduced an alternative dispute resolution scheme for compensation for landowners.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
An Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process is offered by HS2 Ltd in appropriate cases to property owners where statutory compensation cannot be agreed through negotiation. Cases have been subject to this process since June 2016 and guidance has been issued to individual applicants on the detailed ADR process.
HS2 Ltd intend to publish guidance on ADR by 31 March 2018.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many homeowners on Phase 2b of High Speed Two have had their home purchased under the voluntary purchase scheme.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
142 applications have been accepted to the Phase 2b Rural Support Zone scheme which offers successful applicants a choice of either the Voluntary Purchase Scheme (the sale of their property to the Government for the full un-blighted value) or the Cash Offer (10% of the properties un-blighted value with a minimum payment of £30k and a maximum payment of £100k). Decisions have been reached by applicants in 55 cases. 37 applicants have chosen the Cash Offer of which 11 payments have been made and 18 applicants have chosen the Voluntary Purchase scheme of which 4 properties have been purchased. The remaining 87 successful applicants have yet to decide which scheme to take.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many homeowners affected by Phase 2b of High Speed Two have received compensation under the Cash Offer scheme.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
142 applications have been accepted to the Phase 2b Rural Support Zone scheme which offers successful applicants a choice of either the Voluntary Purchase Scheme (the sale of their property to the Government for the full un-blighted value) or the Cash Offer (10% of the properties un-blighted value with a minimum payment of £30k and a maximum payment of £100k). Decisions have been reached by applicants in 55 cases. 37 applicants have chosen the Cash Offer of which 11 payments have been made and 18 applicants have chosen the Voluntary Purchase scheme of which 4 properties have been purchased. The remaining 87 successful applicants have yet to decide which scheme to take.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the introduction of the urban compensation scheme for Phase 1 of High Speed Two.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
A scheme to provide compensation for those suffering from severe and prolonged disturbance from the construction of HS2 is in development. More details about this scheme will be provided in due course but will be well in advance of the start of major construction works, anticipated to be mid - 2019.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the members of the HS2 community and stakeholder engagement panel are.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The HS2 Community and Stakeholder Engagement Panel is chaired by the CEO of HS2 Ltd and includes the following members of HS2 Ltd staff:
The Chief of Staff, Head of Consultation and Engagement (Phase 2b) and Governance Manager attend as non-members.
The independent HS2 Residents’ Commissioner and Construction Commissioner attend as required.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what opportunities hon. Members with constituencies on the route of HS2 will have to feed into the review of compensation schemes that is currently being carried out by his Department.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Government keeps the suite of HS2 property compensation schemes under review. Now that the schemes have been extended to the three phases of the project, it is important we continue to learn how they operate in practice and impact on affected residents and businesses. I can confirm that I will write to all line of route MPs by the end of November to outline the scope of the review, inviting them to set out any issues they consider should be taken into account as part of the review.