Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of safety measures used on the road network to protect road maintenance workers.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport and Highways England are working closely with the Highways Maintenance Term Association and the wider construction sector on safety initiatives to ensure the safety and protection of operatives working on the highway network in England.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the influence of major contractors over procurement processes in the Highways Agency.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Secretary of State and Minister for Transport hold frequent discussions with Highways England on all aspects of their performance and delivery of the Road Investment Strategy. Highways England has recently published its Supply Chain Strategy. This sets out its procurement approach and strategies which are being developed with input from highways suppliers and others, to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the Road Investment Strategy.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to reduce barriers to small and medium sized enterprises supplying new products to the Highways Agency.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Highways England has set up an Engagement Council to ensure all highways suppliers, wherever they sit within the supply chain network, can have a voice and show leadership in identifying waste (cost, time and quality) and improvement to deliver better value.
Engagement Council
Other ways which Highways England encourages SME involvements in its supply chain are:
Current PBA data at August 2015
Highways England is currently developing an SME mentorship scheme alongside key industry associations as well as the larger contractors operating on the network. The scheme will allow SMEs the chance to develop their capability and help to create an environment which removes barriers to market allowing them to operate effectively. Health & Safety, innovation and leadership will be key elements of the scheme.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the operation of the procurement process in the Highways Agency.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Highways England complies with the Public Procurement Regulations. Each procurement exercise is led by a professional Procurement Officer who oversees the process to ensure that best procurement practice is followed.
Highways England is continually looking to improve its procurement processes. For example, when a contract is being renewed, a contract working group (CWG) is established to consider lessons learnt from the previous contract and to look at opportunities to improve.
Highways England is corporately accredited by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) which is an external endorsement of its procurement processes. CIPS Corporate Certification is an independent, comprehensive and procurement-specific assessment and signifies that Highways England has all the procurement governance mechanisms in place for effective and efficient procurement.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on (a) Belfast City and (b) Belfast International Airport of a new runway at (i) Heathrow and (ii) Gatwick Airport.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
To ensure our long term connectivity needs can be met, the previous Government established the independent Airports Commission to identify and recommend to Government options for maintaining this country’s status as an international hub for aviation. Three options for expansion were shortlisted by the Commission for further examination.
The Airports Commission has discussed and consulted on how airports outside the South East might be affected by expansion at the shortlisted expansion options. The relevant documents can be found on the Airports Commission website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission
The Commission’s final report was published on 01 July 2015. The Government will not be commenting on the any of the Airports Commission’s recommendations until it has had time to examine all the evidence.