Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the contract awarded by his Department to KPMG LLP on 12 December 2023 under procurement reference TROP0094, if he will publish the (a) services to be delivered under that contract and (b) purpose of that work.
Answered by Huw Merriman
a) Professional services
b) Support to the private sector financing of the Euston Quarter
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many government procurement cards were held by people to make purchases against his Department’s budget as of (a) 31 December 2022, (b) 31 March 2023 and (c) 31 December 2023.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The number of Government Procurement Cards allocated to individuals for making purchases against the Department's budget was:
(a) As of December 31, 2022: 325
(b) As of March 31, 2023: 336
(c) As of December 31, 2023: 324
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against his Department’s budget using a Government procurement card (a) in calendar year 2022 and (b) from 1 January to 30 September 2023; and what was the total cost of those purchases.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The number of purchases with a value less than £500 made against the Department’s budget using a Government Procurement Card were:
(a) in calendar year 2022: 8507
(b) from 1 January to 30 September 2023: 6982
The cost of these purchases were:
(a) in calendar year 2022: £399,719.55
(b) from 1 January to 30 September 2023: £321,213.13
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December to Question 4979, how many airports have completed full installation of next generation security checkpoints across all passenger security lanes as of 12 December 2023.
Answered by Anthony Browne
One airport had completed the full installation of next generation security checkpoints cross all passenger security lanes by 12 December 2023.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 58331 on Local Government: Snow and Ice, how many tonnes of salt were held by National Highways in (a) the strategic reserve maintained for his Department and (b) its own strategic reserve as of (i) 1 October 2023 and (ii) 11 December 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman
National Highways, who manage the emergency salt reserves on the Department's behalf, estimate that on 01 October 2023 and 11 December 2023 it held 252,387 tonnes of salt in the strategic reserve maintained for the Department and 90,400 tonnes in its own strategic reserve. This is in comparison to an estimated 254,078 tonnes in the Department’s strategic reserve and 92,554 in National Highways strategic reserve on 01 October 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 58331 on Local Government: Snow and Ice, how many tonnes of salt were held by National Highways in (a) the strategic reserve maintained for his Department and (b) its own strategic reserve as of 1 October 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman
National Highways, who manage the emergency salt reserves on the Department's behalf, estimate that on 01 October 2023 and 11 December 2023 it held 252,387 tonnes of salt in the strategic reserve maintained for the Department and 90,400 tonnes in its own strategic reserve. This is in comparison to an estimated 254,078 tonnes in the Department’s strategic reserve and 92,554 in National Highways strategic reserve on 01 October 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 18 July 2023 to Question 193065 on Aviation: Security, on what dates Ministers in his Department have held discussions with (a) the Airports Operators Association, (b) Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd and (c) other major UK airport operators on their progress on the installation of Next Generation Security Checkpoints since 15 December 2022.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Department and Ministers continue to regularly engage with the aviation industry including key stakeholders such as the Airports Operators Association, Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd and other airport operators regarding the implementation of the Next Generation Security Checkpoint.
Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published routinely on gov.uk and can be found here: DfT: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication of data on spending over £500 using a government procurement card in August 2023, what the (a) location and (b) purpose was of the ministerial visit for which a car was hired from Network Executive Ltd on 3 August 2023.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The spend relates to a Ministerial visit to the North East. The Secretary of State travelled between several locations in Darlington and Teeside to meet with local stakeholders and visit a range of transport-related sites, including meeting with the winners of the Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub competition.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2023 to Question 194996, which UK airports (a) had completed the full installation of Next Generation Security Checkpoints across all passenger security lanes by 4 December 2023; and which UK airports he expects to complete full installation of Next Generation Security Checkpoints across all passenger security lanes by 20 December 2023.
Answered by Anthony Browne
Airports are currently rolling out the Next Generation Security Checkpoint technology. The deadline for implementation is 1 June 2024. Airport security measures are sensitive, and as such we are unable to provide detail on the technology implemented at particular airports.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which (a) businesses and (b) projects have received matched funding from the emerging drone technology pilot scheme since 1 January 2020; and how much each received.
Answered by Anthony Browne
Government supports drone technology pilots through programmes such as the Future Flight Challenge and Drone Pathfinder Programme. Both programmes aim to demonstrate, educate, realise, and accelerate the benefit of drones across a wide range of sectors.
The Department for Transport supported the Drone Pathfinder Accelerator programme to award up to £30,000 grants to six small and mediums sized enterprise projects in 2021 to deliver early-stage research and development studies to examine the integration of drones into UK airspace – see https://cp.catapult.org.uk/news/winners-announced-for-the-drones-transport-research-and-innovation-grants-programme/
In 2022 UK Research and Innovation announced £73 million for 17 winning projects for Phase 3 of the Future Flight Challenge Fund to develop and show integrated aviation systems and new vehicle technologies that included drone trials – see https://cp.catapult.org.uk/news/winners-announced-for-the-drones-transport-research-and-innovation-grants-programme/