Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of an hourly direct train between London and Shrewsbury on house prices in (a) Shrewsbury and (b) Shropshire.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government recognises the potential value of enhanced rail connectivity for the people and economy of Shrewsbury and Shropshire.
We have received a Strategic Outline Business Case for improvements to the railway between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury and will continue to work with the scheme’s promoters to consider whether schemes such as this or wider aspirations for an hourly direct Shrewsbury to London train service, would represent good value for public money, are affordable, and aligned to the Government’s strategic priorities.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of upgrading the A5 as part of the Union Connectivity Review to help improve links between Shrewsbury, Shropshire and Wales.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Government thanks Sir Peter Hendy for his independent Union Connectivity Review. We are considering his recommendations carefully and will publish our response as soon as possible.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether officials in his Department have plans to hold meetings in the near future with the leadership of Shropshire Council to discuss the progress of the building of the North West Relief Road in Shrewsbury.
Answered by Karl McCartney
DfT officials are happy to meet with officials in Shropshire Council to discuss progress with the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the time it will take to consider an Outline Business Case for track upgrades on the Shrewsbury to Birmingham railway line.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I expect to receive a Strategic Outline Business Case for the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line Speed scheme from Midlands Connect soon. All business cases are subject to the Government’s Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline processes which ensure projects are affordable, represent value for money and support our strategic priorities.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of requiring (a) P&O Ferries and (b) other UK ferry operators to pay the national minimum wage to their UK employees.
Answered by Robert Courts
Legislation will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows that intends to ensure that seafarers working on vessels that regularly use UK ports are paid at least at least an equivalent rate to the National Minimum Wage, irrespective of the nationality of the seafarer or flag of the vessel.
We have published a public consultation on this which sets out full details of the proposals, seeking views on the scope of services this should apply to, the compliance process and have published this alongside a supporting impact assessment. We want to sure that potential impacts of the proposed Bill have been considered prior to introduction and have therefore published the impact assessment on which we welcome input from stakeholders.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support ferries as a strategic link with (a) the UK's trading partners as part of the Global Britain policy and (b) Northern Ireland to support the Union; whether the Government instructed the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to increase and intensify inspections of P&O Ferries' ships after the termination of 800 employees by that company and at what cost to the public purse; whether the MCA applied appropriate UK standards with respect to inspections of P&O Ferries' ships that were detained, specifically the European Causeway and the Pride of Kent; what effect MCA inspections had on ferry availability to the public and the transport industry; and what effect MCA inspections had on waiting times for those ferries.
Answered by Robert Courts
Maritime 2050 sets out the government and industry's joint vision for the future of the UK’s maritime sector. In delivering this vision, we will support the sector to fulfil its role in helping the UK to build back better and to level up across regions. The ferry industry has a key part to play in this.
The safety of the travelling public is our top priority. Owing to the unprecedented actions of P&O Ferries and considering the significant number of UK travelling public who use these services, the Secretary of State instructed the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to carry out Port State Control inspections on the affected ferries, particularly owing to the large numbers of new crew that would be on board.
Three of the ships inspected, out of the seven looked at so far, were detained. The costs involved in respect of the detained vessels is recovered from the operator (at £147/hour). Port State Control inspections which do not result in the vessel being detained are not cost recoverable. All the affected vessels have been subject to Port State Control inspections as per the requirements of Paris Memorandum of Understanding to which the UK is signatory. This provides the processes and procedures that should be followed to ensure compliance with all international requirements concerning safety and seafarers working and living conditions.
The MCA’s role, as the Port State in this case, is to ensure that the vessels are meeting the necessary requirements in relation to safety and seafarers working and living conditions. P&O Ferries notified the MCA when their vessels were ready for inspection. Three of those vessels did not meet the requirements and were stopped from operating owing to safety concerns and this must take precedence over the availability of ferries. Following MCA inspections, P&O Ferries were responsible for deciding when their vessels would commence service.