Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to review the air traffic movement cap at Heathrow.
Answered by Mike Kane
Any proposal for change to the existing planning cap on air traffic movements at Heathrow airport would need to form part of a relevant planning application.
There is currently no live Development Consent Order application from Heathrow Airport.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to review the policy paper entitled Airports National Policy Statement, published on 5 June 2018.
Answered by Mike Kane
As required by the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State will review the Airports National Policy Statement when she considers it appropriate to do so.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of expanding Heathrow Airport on the economy.
Answered by Mike Kane
There is currently no live Development Consent Order application from Heathrow Airport.
The Government would carefully consider any planning application in line with the relevant planning processes.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to provide additional funding to improve public transport networks to Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Mike Kane
DfT expects airports, including Heathrow, to work closely with local stakeholders and Government to develop and update their masterplans and surface access strategies every five years.
Improvements to surface access to airports are generally funded by the airports themselves.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people impacted by increased noise pollution from proposed expansion at Heathrow.
Answered by Mike Kane
There is currently no live Development Consent Order from Heathrow Airport.
The Government would carefully consider any application for expansion at Heathrow Airport in line with the relevant planning processes.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with local authorities on powers to enforce parking restrictions for disabled bays.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is for each local authority to decide on the parking restrictions they wish to set in their areas and to decide if any parking restriction, over and above the concessions conferred by the Blue Badge scheme, should also be exempted for Blue Badge holders. If someone misuses a Blue Badge, it is a criminal offence with a fine of up to £1000 and can be enforced by a local authority. If people park in a bay without a badge a local authority can issue a parking ticket.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on Transport for London’s finances.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport last met the Mayor of London on 29 November 2022. In addition I met yesterday (12 July) with Deputy Mayor Seb Dance and senior TfL officials to discuss their plans to put TfL onto a sustainable financial footing.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the local authority areas that have reported the highest incidents of Blue Badge theft in the last year.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Department for Transport publishes annual statistics in relation to the Blue Badge scheme in England. The latest available data shows that in the year ending March 2022, 6,183 badges were reported to be lost or stolen in England. Of these, 76% were reported to be lost, and 24% (1,497 badges) were stolen. Published statistics are not broken down by local authority.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of Blue Badges reported stolen in England in the last year.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Department for Transport publishes annual statistics in relation to the Blue Badge scheme in England. The latest available data shows that in the year ending March 2022, 6,183 badges were reported to be lost or stolen in England. Of these, 76% were reported to be lost, and 24% (1,497 badges) were stolen. Published statistics are not broken down by local authority.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the economic impact of the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone on businesses (a) in London and (b) the South East.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL, and it is their responsibility to manage and oversee the transport network. This includes decisions with regards to road schemes.
It is for the Mayor to assess the economic impact of his proposed expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), including on businesses in London and the South East.
TfL has produced the London-wide ULEZ Integrated Impact Assessment (ULEZ Scheme IIA) report, which includes an economic impact assessment.