Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date his policy to stop tree felling on Network Rail land came into force.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Network Rail agreed to suspend all tree felling for the duration of the current nesting season, except where it is safety critical, on 11th May 2018. This followed my announcement on 10th May, that I would commission an independent review into Network Rail’s approach to vegetation management in England and Wales.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, under what conditions trees on Network Rail land can still be felled.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Network Rail published its own position statement on the 11th May 2018, outlining the conditions where tree felling may continue, in accordance with Network Rail’s statutory responsibility to ensure the safe operation of the railways. This guidance states that all tree felling activity in England and Wales must cease, except where the work is safety critical.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any tree-felling has taken place on Network Rail land since the implementation of the ban on tree felling.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Since the suspension came into force on the 11th May, Network Rail has removed trees in accordance with its updated published position statement on vegetation management. This states that only safety critical tree felling can be performed on Network Rail land during the current nesting season.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing language translation services during UK driving tests for asylum seekers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
A full consultation was undertaken between 5 February 2013 and 2 April 2013 to look at whether voiceover and interpreter facilities should be withdrawn for driving test candidates whose first language was not English.
Following the outcome of the consultation, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency withdrew the facility for driving test candidates to use voiceovers during theory tests and interpreters during theory and practical tests on 7 April 2014.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing language translation services for non-English speaking candidates during UK driving tests.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency withdrew the facility for driving test candidates to use voiceovers during theory tests and interpreters during theory and practical tests on 7 April 2014. The merits or otherwise of providing translation services for non-English speaking candidates during driving tests was previously considered during a consultation on this issue in 2013.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of job roles advertised within his Department in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 excluded the box under the Ban the Box initiative.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Transport facilitates all its recruitment through the Civil Service Jobs recruitment platform and has done so since March 2013. This platform does not ask for applicants to enter any criminal record history or declarations at the point of applying. The Department therefore has been aligned with the aims of the Ban the Box initiative from this time.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport,what his Department's implementation plan is for banning the box on job applications.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Transport facilitates all its recruitment through the Civil Service Jobs recruitment platform and has done so since March 2013. This platform does not ask for applicants to enter any criminal record history or declarations at the point of applying. The Department therefore has been aligned with the aims of the Ban the Box initiative from this time.
It is only if an individual is successful in being selected for a role, that information on an individual’s criminal record is requested from the Government Recruitment Service on our behalf in order to conduct the required pre-employment checking.
If an individual does have a criminal record, they are not automatically discounted from being employed by the department and it is for the relevant HR Departments to make a decision as to whether the nature of the offence would prevent the individual from being able to carry out the job role as well as the level of risk.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding each local authority in Wales has applied for through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme for electric car charging points.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To date, no Local Authorities in Wales have applied to the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of electric charging points per 20 miles of (a) motorway and (b) A road in Wales.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of electric vehicle chargepoints per 20 miles of motorway and A roads in Wales.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many electric charging points there are per 100 miles of strategic road network in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of electric vehicle chargepoints per 100 miles of the strategic road network in England and Wales.