Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of staff in her Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions her Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport requires staff who are working in a hybrid pattern to attend the workplace for at least 60% of their working time. This is monitored by line management and must take account of leave patterns, visits to other work sites and other legitimate absences. The core department operates an attendance record system which provides sufficient data for line management to monitor attendance and take appropriate action. Line managers are responsible for tracking individual attendance within their area and taking action. Due to the operation of the system and the number of reasons staff could legitimately be out of the office, this does not provide definitive central data on how many staff are meeting the required level of attendance, with that managed at local level.
If a member of staff fails to meet the required level of attendance without good reason, their manager may suspend the facility of home working or require that they attend the workplace on agreed days. Failure to attend the workplace when instructed to do so is a disciplinary matter which may result in formal action up to and including dismissal.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of staff in her Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The figures below cover a range of working patterns that differ from the standard full-time schedule. This includes part-time hours, term-time, compressed working patterns, job shares and other agreed variations.
Department | Proportion of staff with flexible working arrangements | How many of those work compressed hours | Total staff |
Department for Transport | 20.1% (702 staff) | 11.0% (385 staff) | 3485 |
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency | 30.8% (1881 staff) | Data not held* | 6099 |
Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency | 20% (1019 staff) | 5% (235 staff) | 5059 |
Maritime and Coastguard Agency | 11.1% (139 staff) | 2.5% (31 staff) | 1251 |
Vehicle Certification Agency | 21.6% (52 staff) | 6.6% (16 staff) | 241 |
Active Travel England | 23.9% (22 staff) | 5.4% (5 staff) | 92 |
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Mike Kane
There is no requirement for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend a Department for Transport workplace, including the executive agencies (Active Travel England, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency). A desk booking application is available for staff attending the DfT offices in Birmingham, Hastings, Leeds, London and Swansea, as well as some of the workplaces operated by agencies and Arms Length Bodies, but employees are not required to use them. Touch-down desks and other working spaces are available for staff who attend these locations without booking a desk.
The Arms Length Bodies sponsored by DfT do not employ civil servants and DfT places no requirement on their staff to book desks to attend workplaces.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to promote safe use of motorways.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.
The Government’s THINK! Campaign addresses priority road safety issues driving the highest fatalities, including speeding, drink driving, wearing seatbelts and using mobile phones.
Turning to our motorways, safety is a key consideration for National Highways across all its activity, with a target in the second Road Investment Strategy of reducing those killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network by 50% compared to the 2005-2009 baseline average. The Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity of Highways Monitor, hold National Highways to account for delivery against this performance indicator and work collectively to ensure appropriate action plans are in place to maximise safety on the network.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money has been allocated to be spent on motorway upgrades in the South West for financial year (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26; and if she will publish a list of all scheduled motorway upgrades for this period.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department does not routinely publish a schedule of works to the level of granularity requested. However, National Highways do publish on an annual basis a breakdown of delivery and investment in its Delivery Plan Update and Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 9280 on Department for Transport: Buildings, how many desks were occupied in her Department’s headquarter office in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available; and how many staff assigned to that workplace attended the office in person on average in the same period.
Answered by Mike Kane
For the 4-week period from 7 October 2024 to 1 November 2024 a total of 21,710 desks were occupied in our London office against a maximum available desk capacity of 25,220.
In that same 4-week period 3,201 different Department for Transport staff attended our London office. It is not possible to determine how many staff assigned to our London building attended.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 9281 on Department for Transport: Ministers' Private Offices, if she will publish the invoices for the work done.
Answered by Mike Kane
The information is not held by the Department for Transport in the form requested as the costs were included in consolidated invoices covering a range of building charges.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants are assigned to work in each of her Department's offices; and how many desks are available in each office.
Answered by Mike Kane
The information requested is provided in the table below.
Location | Civil Servants | Desks |
7&8 Wellington Place, Leeds | 350 | 167 |
Baskerville House, Birmingham | 281 | 316 |
Berkley House, Bristol | 192 | Not recorded |
Contact Centre, Swansea | 1054 | 1137 |
Eastgate Office Centre, Bristol | 141 | 147 |
Ellipse, Swansea | 400 | 212 |
Great Minster House, London | 2,733 | 1,234 |
Morriston, Swansea | 4,961 | 4,400 |
One Priory Square, Hastings | 116 | 52 |
Quarry House, Leeds | 110 | 70 |
Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh | 9 | 6 |
Scottish Provident Building, Belfast | 2 | 2 |
Spring Place, Southampton | 429 | 443 |
The Colmore Building, Birmingham | 301 | 151 |
The Ellipse, Swansea | 116 | 48 |
The Lightbox and Tyneside House, Newcastle | 256 | Not recorded |
Ty William Morgan, Cardiff | 2 | 2 |
Tyneside House, Newcastle | 15 | 14 |
Unity Square, Nottingham | 277 | 180 |
VCA Midlands Centre, Nuneaton | 93 | 98 |
West Offices, York | 69 | 54 |
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of desks were occupied in each of her Department’s offices in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available; and how many staff attended each office in person in the same period.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Department for Transport is a federated organisation comprising a central department and 5 executive agencies. The information, where recorded, is contained in the attached document. Data is not recorded for Active Travel England, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in her Department since the dissolution of the last Parliament; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Mike Kane
Since 5 July 2024 the Department has spent £2,490 on furniture and £1,095 on redecoration of Ministerial offices.