Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff are employed in his Department's headquarter buildings.
Answered by Claire Perry
The number of staff employed in the Department’s headquarter buildings is 6621. The Full Time Equivalent is 5996.99
These figures include the central department and it’s agencies except Highways Agency who do not have a headquarters building.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many desks are in his Department's main building; how many such desks are (a) owned and (b) leased by his Department; and what the cost is per desk of leasing.
Answered by Claire Perry
There are 1,477 owned desks in the Department’s main headquarters building. The Department does not lease any desks.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimates he has made of the cost of (a) adding a third lane on the A1(M) north from Scotch Corner to Edinburgh, (b) dualling of the A66 on all single carriage sections between Middlesborough and Carlisle, (c) dualling of the A1 north through Northumberland, (d) extending the metro to Washington, through Gateshead and Whickham to Consett, to Durham, (e) building a new bridge over the Wear at Sunderland, (f) building a Durham bypass, (g) building an Allerdene bridge over the A1(M) at Low Fell and (h) introducing integrated Oyster-style ticketing across the North East region and across buses, metro and trains.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department has not completed recent cost estimates for the transport proposals referred to. However, in terms of the strategic road network, this Government has allocated funding for, and the Highways Agency has started construction on, upgrading the A1 between Leeming to Barton to motorway standard which will create a continuous motorway standard route from London to Newcastle (via M1/A1M). Construction has also recently started on the A1 Coal House to Metro Centre improvement scheme in Gateshead. In terms of future proposals for the strategic road network, the Department is currently undertaking specific feasibility studies to identify solutions to address notorious and long standing hot spots on our national road network, including studies on the A1 North of Newcastle and the A1 Newcastle/Gateshead Western bypass.
The detailed scope of work for these studies were published in April this year and are available from the Government’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-road-network-the-scope-of-6-feasibility-studies
The Government has committed to report progress on the studies at the time of the 2014 Autumn Statement.
In addition, as part of its investment planning process, the Highways Agency is developing route strategies for the entire strategic road network, including the A66. The route strategies will allow further consideration of the future investment proposals as part of the Department’s longer-term investment planning process.
In terms of the proposals for local transport improvements, responsibility for their development, including producing cost estimates, rests with the relevant local transport authority – in this instance, the North East Combined Authority.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 367W, on the River Thames: bridges, in what year or years the £30 million allocated to the Garden Bridge in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 is projected to be spent.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Should the business case demonstrate that the project represents good value for money, Government will agree the detailed terms of funding with the Garden Bridge Trust.
Whilst the payment schedule has not yet been determined. It is likely that the funding will be released in tranches throughout the project, as it reaches agreed milestones.