Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants working in his Department are based outside of Greater London, and at which locations; and what plans he has for the further relocation of civil servants in his Department to outside of Greater London.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Across the Department for Transport Group (the core Department and its four Executive Agencies) 79% of staff are based outside of London.
The core Department has 427 staff (of a total workforce of 3,457) outside of London in the following locations:
The Department’s Executive Agencies have 12,064 staff (of a total workforce of 12,433) outside London.
DVSA has over 100 locations outside of London with its largest bases in Bristol, Swansea, Nottingham, Tyneside, Leeds, Birmingham and Staffordshire.
VCA is predominantly based in Bristol and Nuneaton.
MCA has 38 locations outside of London with its largest bases in Southampton and Portsmouth.
DVLA is predominantly (over 6,000 staff) based in Swansea.
The core Department is exploring options for expanding its presence in the regions and nations of the UK as part of the Government’s commitment to move 22,000 civil service roles out of London by 2030. We will announce our plans once finalised.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2021 to Question 133858 on City Deals: Sheffield City Region, what proportion of the City Deal allocation he plans to make available in the next financial year.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The next multi-year Spending Review will consider Sheffield City Region’s remaining indicative City Deal funding. The first £600 million funding round of the new £4 billion Levelling Up Fund will be launched later this year and will be open to all local areas.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to reduce the backlog of driving tests due to covid-19 public health restrictions.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has several measures in place to increase the number of driving tests available, once it is safe for tests to resume. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to carry out tests (warrant card holders) to do so, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays).
A recruitment campaign is underway to increase the overall number of driving examiners available for testing and the DVSA continues to assess further options for increasing testing capacity and reducing the backlog as quickly as possible. Ensuring a COVID-secure service is maintained for its staff and candidates remains a priority.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the remaining £50 million awarded to the Sheffield City Region as part of its City Deal has been approved.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The remaining funding of £50 million from the City Deal for the Sheffield City Region was agreed on an indicative basis up until 2024/25 and will be considered through the next multi-year Spending Review. The recent Spending Review in November last year focussed on supporting the Government’s response to Covid-19 and funding for the next financial year.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the National Bus Strategy.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Bus Strategy, England’s first-ever long-term bus strategy, will be launched in the coming months to ensure buses are prioritised into the future.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefits of the eastern leg of Phase 2b of High Speed Two on the economies of (a) the north of England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the Sheffield City Region.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The High Speed Two (HS2) Phase Two business case, published in July 2017, sets out the benefits of the phase 2b route from the West Midlands to Leeds (Eastern Leg), including an assessment of the value for money of the route. On the Eastern leg, the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) will consider how to sequence its delivery to ensure benefits are realised sooner and to ensure it is integrated with plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and other rail investment projects, to get the best out of the significant investment in rail.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the economic effect of delays to the eastern leg of Phase 2b of High Speed Two.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The last economic assessment of Phase 2b was in the 2017 Phase 2 Business Case. The IRP and future business cases will lay out the economic benefits of Phase 2b/ Eastern leg including the impacts of delays to the scheme.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of delays to High Speed Two on Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department for Transport and Transport for the North are continuing to make good progress in developing a revised Strategic Outline Case for Northern Powerhouse Rail, which is due to be submitted in 2021 as planned. The Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and the North will consider the scoping and sequencing of HS2 alongside other major rail investment, including NPR, to ensure transformational rail improvements are delivered as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) UK transport infrastructure and (b) the logistics sector of the UK and EU not agreeing a deal on their future relationship by the end of the transition period.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is undertaking a range of preparations, led by the Border and Protocol Delivery Group in the Cabinet Office, to mitigate risks relating to new border arrangements; arrangements that will apply whether or not a trade agreement is agreed with the EU.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with train operating companies on refunding rail tickets purchased before the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown was imposed.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Off-Peak, Anytime and season tickets are already refundable in accordance with the National Rail Conditions of Travel.
In October we agreed with the rail industry that, where a passenger with an Advance ticket is prevented from travelling due to COVID-19 restrictions, change of journey administration fees will be waived and, if they purchased their ticket directly from a train operator, they will be able to apply for a Rail Travel Voucher. Independent rail retailers can use their discretion to offer a credit note if they have the ability to do so, or a fee-free change of journey.