Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents in the Firth of Forth required a response from coastguard services in the last three years; and what the time was from callout to arrival for each incident.
Answered by John Hayes
The number of incidents that required a response coordinated by Her Majesty’s Coastguard in the Firth of Forth in each of the last three years was 4 in 2014, 26 in 2015 and 27 in 2016.
The details of the times from callout to arrival for each of these incidents is show below:
Year | Incident date | Time taken from the creation of the incident to the on-scene time (hh:mm:ss) |
2014 | 23/05/2014 | 00:38:00 |
26/06/2014 | 00:44:52 | |
20/09/2014 | 00:27:22 | |
12/10/2014 | 00:32:54 | |
2015 | 03/07/2015 | 00:32:11 |
05/07/2015 | 00:32:23 | |
06/07/2015 | 00:27:15 | |
15/07/2015 | 00:30:26 | |
22/07/2015 | 00:22:08 | |
06/08/2015 | 00:09:45 | |
14/08/2015 | 00:48:45 | |
16/08/2015 | 00:26:08 | |
21/08/2015 | 00:45:00 | |
22/08/2015 | 00:22:38 | |
23/08/2015 | 00:06:47 | |
26/08/2015 | 00:28:33 | |
29/08/2015 | 00:14:03 | |
29/08/2015 | 00:04:42 | |
05/09/2015 | 00:15:09 | |
15/09/2015 | 00:34:34 | |
19/09/2015 | 00:16:58 | |
30/09/2015 | 01:20:26 | |
06/10/2015 | 00:29:42 | |
20/10/2015 | 00:36:45 | |
01/11/2015 | 00:19:52 | |
07/11/2015 | 00:58:57 | |
12/11/2015 | 00:22:18 | |
12/11/2015 | 00:54:23 | |
13/11/2015 | 00:44:06 | |
19/12/2015 | 00:21:13 | |
2016 | 15/01/2016 | 00:29:36 |
25/01/2016 | 00:55:26 | |
09/02/2016 | 00:36:00 | |
03/03/2016 | 00:21:06 | |
15/03/2016 | 00:23:00 | |
28/03/2016 | 00:01:35 | |
24/04/2016 | 00:08:22 | |
30/04/2016 | 00:17:21 | |
30/04/2016 | 00:21:43 | |
09/05/2016 | 00:26:30 | |
24/05/2016 | 00:03:01 | |
28/05/2016 | 00:14:30 | |
02/06/2016 | 01:40:33 | |
04/06/2016 | 00:31:56 | |
07/06/2016 | 00:21:19 | |
18/06/2016 | 00:41:55 | |
20/06/2016 | 00:26:59 | |
07/07/2016 | 00:25:16 | |
19/07/2016 | 01:04:18 | |
01/08/2016 | 00:57:33 | |
01/08/2016 | 00:29:00 | |
06/08/2016 | 00:21:16 | |
13/08/2016 | 00:27:44 | |
27/08/2016 | 00:25:33 | |
11/10/2016 | 00:18:58 | |
20/10/2016 | 00:09:30 | |
31/12/2016 | 00:43:01 |
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many public engagements for which a media calling notice was issued were attended by a departmental Minister in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department does not record such information in a central log and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many motor vehicles in each vehicle excise duty class are registered to Scottish addresses by registration (a) before and (b) after 1 April 2017.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The vehicle database changes on a daily basis. The most recent figures show a total of 3,123,773 motor vehicles were registered to Scottish addresses.
Out of the vehicle excise duty (VED) classes, 20 are exempt from payment of VED. Further information on vehicle excise duty rates can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-of-vehicle-tax-v149.
The following table shows the number of motor vehicles registered in Scotland for use on the public road in the vehicle excise duty classes listed.
Tax Class | Vehicles First Registered *(a) | Vehicles First Registered *(b) | Total |
Agricultural Machine | 50,487 | 388 | 50,875 |
Alternative Fuel Car | 14,570 | 223 | 14,793 |
Ambulance | 1,257 | 6 | 1,263 |
Powered Bicycle | 122,472 | 931 | 123,403 |
Bus | 13,467 | 94 | 13,561 |
Crown Vehicle | 1,259 | 4 | 1,263 |
Diesel Car | 913,973 | 3,037 | 917,010 |
Disabled | 109,835 | 2,556 | 112,391 |
Disabled Passenger Vehicle | 718 | 1 | 719 |
Electric Motorcycle | 105 | 0 | 105 |
Electric Vehicle | 2,875 | 68 | 2,943 |
EURO 4 Light Goods Vehicle | 8,396 | 1 | 8,397 |
Fire Engine | 839 | 2 | 841 |
Fire Service | 712 | 3 | 715 |
General Haulage | 117 | 0 | 117 |
Gritting Machine | 486 | 0 | 486 |
HGV | 33,106 | 407 | 33,513 |
HGV Combined Transport | 52 | 0 | 52 |
Historic Vehicle | 30,592 | 53 | 30,645 |
Lifeboat Haulage | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Light Goods Vehicle | 251,007 | 1,834 | 252,841 |
Lighthouse Authority | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Limited Use | 4,642 | 11 | 4,653 |
Mine Rescue | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Mowing Machine | 1,403 | 36 | 1,439 |
NHS Vehicle | 1,148 | 9 | 1,157 |
Petrol Car | 1,334,611 | 5,171 | 1,339,782 |
Police | 1,982 | 2 | 1,984 |
Private HGV | 4,961 | 33 | 4,994 |
Private Light Goods | 182,858 | 308 | 183,166 |
Recovery Vehicle | 1,287 | 2 | 1,289 |
Reduced Pollution Bus | 210 | 0 | 210 |
Reduced Pollution HGV | 925 | 0 | 925 |
Reduced Pollution Special Types | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Reduced Pollution Trailer HGV | 36 | 0 | 36 |
Small Island Vehicles | 648 | 1 | 649 |
Snow Plough | 104 | 0 | 104 |
Special Types | 416 | 16 | 432 |
Special Vehicle | 14,143 | 272 | 14,415 |
Special Vehicle Trailer Duty | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Steam | 30 | 0 | 30 |
Trailer HGV | 896 | 6 | 902 |
Powered Tricycle | 1,636 | 2 | 1,638 |
Grand Total | 3,108,196 | 15,477 | 3,123,773 |
* (a) up to 31 March 2017
* (b) on or after 1 April 2017
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to remove or reduce the fee incurred when paying vehicle excise duty via credit card.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The fee charged when paying vehicle excise duty (VED) by credit card is to meet the costs of processing credit card payments. The fee is provided for in the Road Vehicles (Payment of Duty by Credit Card) (Prescribed Fee) Regulations 2005. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) must comply with HM Treasury’s “Managing Public Money” guidance and recover costs from those who use its services.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regularly reviews all the fees and charges it makes for the services it provides, including the fee incurred when paying vehicle excise duty (VED) using a credit card. Paying VED using a debit card is free of charge. Customers can also pay for VED by cash, cheque or debit card at a Post Office® and direct debit is now offered as an additional way for people to pay their VED.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which coastguard stations cover the Firth of Forth.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The operational concepts and procedures that underpin HM Coastguards National Network mean that the Coastguard Centres within it no longer have fixed geographic boundaries. The network enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast. Workload managed on a national basis enabling national capability and resource to be available to any incident, for example in the Firth of Forth, on the basis of the nature of the incident.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how his Department measures the performance of the coastguard.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Her Majesty’s Coastguard undertake an annual programme of Operational Standards Reviews to measure the quality, consistency and effectiveness of operational service delivery.
Additionally HM Coastguard routinely review at least 5% of incidents to which their National Network has responded to assess the effectiveness of outcomes and learn any appropriate lessons for future operations.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the coastguard search and rescue capability for the Firth of Forth is.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
HM Coastguard search and rescue capability consists of the tasking and coordination of rescue resources, the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service (CRS) and the provision of Search and Rescue Helicopters.
Tasking and Coordination of Rescue Assets
HM Coastguards ‘National Network’ enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast. Workload is therefore managed on a national basis enabling national capability and resource to be available to any incident, for example in the Firth of Forth, on the basis of the nature of the incident.
Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service
There are 4 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) covering the Firth of Forth with the following operational capabilities.
CRT | Water Safety and Rescue | Land Search | Mud Rescue | Rope Rescue | First Aid |
Leven | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
Kinghorn | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
South Queensferry | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Fisherrow | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
North Berwick | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
Additionally there are 5 full time Maritime Coastguard Agency employees who are responsible for the management, training and oversight of these teams.
Search and Rescue Helicopters
The Search and Rescue Helicopters based at Inverness and Prestwick provide capability for the Firth of Forth. However, it should be noted that the speed and range of the aircraft located at the four HM Coastguard bases in Scotland means that HM Coastguard has the ability to surge up to five SAR helicopters to a single incident in Scotland, should it be necessary to do so.