Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the criteria for Government funding to ensure that one electric charging point at every 20 miles on the strategic road network are planned to apply in Wales.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Roads funding in the UK is a devolved matter. Government funding for electric charging points on the strategic road network, through the Road Investment Strategy, applies in England only.
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 Barnett consequentials for the devolved administrations of projects to install electric charging points at every 20 miles on the strategic road network in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Highways England’s target in the Road Investment Strategy (2015 – 2020), to ensure there is a chargepoint every 20 miles along 95% of the strategic road network, only applies to England. The Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive receive Barnett consequentials on this funding in the usual way.
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 effect of diesel trains on air quality at railway stations.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
We expect the new diesel rolling stock which is starting to come on stream, being required to meet the latest emissions standards, will help reduce air pollution by replacing the oldest diesel trains built decades ago. However, the Government is committed to further improving air quality and is taking action across a range of transport modes. With respect to rail, in September 2017, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) commissioned a study of air quality in Kings Cross, Euston and Edinburgh Waverley stations. The study will start in early 2018 and is expected to be completed in 2019. In addition, Network Rail, in partnership with the University of Birmingham, are undertaking air quality monitoring at Birmingham New Street Station. This work is expected to be completed shortly.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what cost-benefit analysis his Department carries out prior to making a decision on whether to electrify rail lines.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Transport undertakes Cost-Benefit Analysis, using the guidance set out in WebTAG (available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transport-analysis-guidance-webtag), to inform enhancement decisions.
This analysis considers the impacts of alternative options to deliver a stated objective, and attempts to quantify them where possible. These impacts include the infrastructure costs of the scheme and the ongoing financial impacts for railway services, as well as the social impacts of the scheme for train users and other affected parties (such as road users and local residents). Wider economic impacts (such as making it easier for people to access more productive jobs) are also considered, where appropriate.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which areas of the UK coastline have no lifeboat coverage within a one hour journey time.
Answered by John Hayes
Lifeboat provision in the UK is delivered by independent charitable organisations who declare their lifeboats available to Her Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG). It is the responsibility of those organisations to decide on the specific operational capacity it considers appropriate based on factors such as coastal activity and the availability and suitability of other declared rescue assets covering that area.
Search and rescue (SAR) response in the United Kingdom relies on a matrix of resources including SAR helicopters, lifeboats, community-based Coastguard Rescue Teams, commercial shipping, fishing and other vessels in the vicinity of an incident, and potentially other emergency services. In coordinating a response to any incident, HMCG will consider the range of resources available to them, on an incident by-incident basis, before tasking the most appropriate asset.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which of his Department's online services are only available in the Welsh language on request.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is committed to ensuring that the needs of Welsh language speakers are recognised and met in accordance with the requirements of the Welsh Language Schemes.
The information requested is as follows:
DfT (c) – The Department for Transport’s online service for the Blue Badge Scheme is provided in Welsh on request.
MCA - In line with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Welsh Language Scheme, MCA do not provide any online services in the Welsh language.
VCA – The Vehicle Certification Agency has two publically available services online. These are:
Import of vehicles into the UK though the Mutual recognition scheme
Individuals wishing to import a vehicle are directed to the GOV UK website. The requisite forms are available in English; a version in Welsh would only be available on request.
Fuel Consumption and CO2 information
VCA manages a live online database containing information on new and used cars available for sale in the UK. However, VCA also provides an annual CDROM containing all of this information along with supportive text. The text and search options are available in both English and Welsh.
Lastly, VCA also manage a van fuel database, again containing fuel consumption and other emissions data. This is largely data driven information so is available in English but outputs could be provided in Welsh on request.
DVSA – The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has no online services that are only available in the Welsh language on request.
DVLA - All but one of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s online services are available in the Welsh language. The only exception is the ‘Fitness to Drive’ service which is currently undergoing beta testing. There are plans to deliver this service in the Welsh language when it completes its testing and is delivered as a live facility.