Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the total value of waterborne freight grants made to operators of (a) coastal and (b) short sea shipping services in each financial year from 2014-15 to 2022-23.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No Waterborne Freight Grant award was made in the periods requested.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of (a) employment and (b) welfare standards for seafarers employed in transporting freight on (i) coastal and (ii) short sea shipping services.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK has a leading global role in protecting and promoting seafarer welfare and employment standards. We have passed the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023, designed to prevent seafarers working aboard ships operating a regular service from a UK port from being paid less than an equivalent to the UK National Minimum Wage while in UK territorial waters. Our Seafarers’ Charter goes further, committing signatory companies to provide employment and welfare conditions a meaningful step above the international minimum standards. This expands the social welfare entitlements of eligible seafarers, prevents voyage contracts, and requires that roster patterns take into account factors including route intensity, fatigue and welfare.
We are pleased that operators DFDS, Stena Line, Brittany Ferries and Condor have committed to work to meet those standards and encourage other companies to do so.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an equality impact assessment of the Driver Services Recovery Programme.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes its Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) responsibilities seriously. The DVSA has advised Ministers about the steps it is taking to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. Ministers have agreed a package of measures that the DVSA is implementing, and the average waiting time for a practical driving test is reducing as a result.
As part of the advice it presented to Ministers, the DVSA included a PSED assessment, as it does with all ministerial advice. The agency did not identify any PSED issues that required action at the time, but the agency keeps the PSED situation under review and would take action if necessary.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Table 1 of the Mode shift grants review call for evidence, published on 4 December 2023, if he will list the operators that received grants through the Mode shift revenue support scheme for intermodal freight transport (a) to and (b) from ports in 2022-23.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The following operators have received freight grants for flows to and from ports for 2022/23:
Freightliner
DB Cargo
GB Railfreight
PD Intermodal
Newell and Wright Transport
Maritime Transport
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications his Department received for (a) mode shift revenue support and (b) waterborne freight grant in each financial year from 2014-15 to 2022-23; and what proportion of those applications were successful in each year.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold the information in the form requested. Applications for these schemes may be subject to iteration and resubmission throughout a financial year as part of the grant management process, due to variations in anticipated and actual freight flows. Some applications are not initially successful, but then are successful when revised or resubmitted.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the 2023-24 budget for (a) mode shift revenue support and (b) waterborne freight grant had been allocated as of 14 December 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The total freight grant budget for 2023/24 is £20m. As of 14 December 2023, the Department has allocated £19,841,891 for Mode Shift Revenue Support. A Waterborne Freight Grant award of £16,524 has also been made for 1 October 2023 to 30 April 2024. The proportion of the budget awarded is about 99%.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the total value of mode shift revenue support granted to operators of intermodal freight transport services (a) to and (b) from ports in each financial year from 2014-15 to 2022-23.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The total value of Mode Shift Revenue Support grant awarded to operators for intermodal flows to and from ports (for years data is currently available) is as follows:
Financial Year | Total Value |
2019/20 | 14,465,869 |
2020/21 | 18,734,640 |
2021/22 | 18,259,533 |
2022/23 | 16,422,410 |
The table above contains total grant awarded for each financial year. Please note that the actual grant paid out may differ as not all awards are claimed by grantees due to variations in the movement of freight. Grants are awarded for volumes moved to and from ports and the DfT does not differentiate claims for payments based on the direction of the journey.
Details of previous Mode Shift Revenue Support awards are publicly available in the “Grants Awarded” section at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-transport-delivers-more-grant-funding-to-transport-freight-by-rail/mode-shift-revenue-support-and-waterborne-freight-grant-applications-and-background-information
Please note that the published data does not distinguish ports from domestic flows.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2557 on published on Rolling Stock: Contracts, how long the leasing arrangements are that his Department has provided consent for Avanti West Coast to enter into with (a) Angel Trains Limited for the Class 390 units and (b) Cross Country for the leasing of Class 170 from Porterbrook; and what assessment he has made of the value for money of these arrangements.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Avanti and CrossCountry recently entered into new National Rail Contracts (NRCs) that started in October. As part of this, the operators negotiated new train leases with the rolling stock owners. Each NRC was subject to a full value-for-money assessment.
(a) The Class 390 trains have the ability to be leased until 1 April 2031.
(b) The Class 170 trains have the ability to be leased until 12 October 2031.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish the revised business case for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
All NPR schemes will be subject to the development and approval of business cases and will undergo all formal governance, in line with relevant fiscal and legal duties.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish the business case for the Transpennine Route Upgrade.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Transpennine Route Upgrade business case will be published early in 2024, after my recent announcement of further funding of £3.9bn for the next phase of the programme.