Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has he made of the effect of migration provisions in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the ability of UK road transport businesses to hire drivers.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The economic impacts of the measures necessary to tackle Covid-19 have changed the UK labour market with many UK-based workers needing to find new employment opportunities.
Therefore, our focus is on supporting the industry to address the driver shortage by training more UK-based drivers. This is being facilitated through apprenticeships and support for jobseekers to access driver training, including support to renew their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).
The Department has provided grant funding for the non-profit initiative Road to Logistics to train military service leavers, ex-offenders and the long term unemployed, and to Think Logistics/Career Ready to change perceptions of the industry among young people.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding that would be allocated to the Welsh rail system in the event that funding was allocated in proportion to (a) the number of passenger journeys, (b) the length of the rail network and (c) on a per capita basis.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
DfT has not made such an assessment. While these factors such as total track miles and passenger miles impact the cost base of the railway, overall the railway is not funded on this basis. Railway decisions are made on a range of operational and engineering needs as well as economic, commercial, social and environmental considerations. This is in addition to considering the impact of wider transport investments taken as a whole.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been invested in the rail network in Wales in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
During this financial year (2021/2022), the third year of the current Network Rail Control Period (which runs from 2019 to 2024), planned spend on renewals in Wales is £226 million.
The past expenditure on renewals in Wales by year during this Control Period was £223 million in 2020/2021 and £185 million in 2019/2020.
While figures for expenditure on enhancements as a separate line item are not easily available given the nature of Network Rail funding and the different sources of funding for projects that are termed as ‘enhancements’, there was from FY18/19 to FY20/21 an estimated £143m invested in enhancements in Wales, predominantly in FY20/21.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the Barnett consequential payment to the Welsh Government in the event that responsibility for rail in Wales was devolved in the same manner as in Scotland.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
There are currently no plans for further devolution of the railway in Wales beyond the Core Valley lines which were devolved in March 2020. The Welsh and English railways are highly integrated. In the absence of a specific devolution proposal, it is difficult to make any meaningful assessment of a Barnett consequential.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the British Transport Police Authority on ensuring effective enforcement of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
As the responsible Minister, I have discussed the enforcement of covid-19 restrictions and other operational issues with both the British Transport Police Authority and the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police Force, who is responsible for the delivery of operational policing. In addition, officials have regular discussions with the British Transport Police regarding its work to support Covid-19 regulations and Government guidance.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of blacklisting sellers of unroadworthy vehicles with improperly issued MOT certificates.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department for Transport has not made a recent assessment in this regard. However it is already an offence to sell a vehicle that is in an unroadworthy condition under section 75 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of vehicles not fit for the roads that have been improperly issued a MOT certificate in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department for Transport does not make an annual assessment on this basis. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes action against garages if they are found to be issuing certificates to unroadworthy vehicles, including stopping them from testing altogether. In 2020 the DVSA stopped 443 garages and testers from testing.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department made of the potential merits of extending the current appeal periods for improperly issued MOT certificates of (a) three months for corrosion-related problems or (b) 28 days for other defects for buyers of unworthy road vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department for Transport has not made a recent assessment of extending the appeals periods for improperly issued MOT certificates. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) consider that 28 days for mechanical defects and 3 months for corrosion are still fit for purpose.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) long-term and (b) short-term freight traffic flows through the port of (i) Holyhead and (ii) Liverpool after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
DfT has considered the impact of additional border requirements for goods travelling to the EU following the end of the transition period. In the case of both Liverpool and Holyhead detailed modelling has been undertaken considering the potential impact of these additional checks. The modelling considered a Reasonable Worst Case Scenario (RWCS). Even under the RWCS, disruption is expected to be relatively limited at these locations with any queues clearing within the day and as such there is not expected to be a marked knock on impact on the volume of goods travelling through those ports. This impact is also expected to reduce as traders become used to the new border requirements over time. Nevertheless these queues could lead to short term localised traffic disruption. DfT has shared the results of its modelling with the Welsh Government and relevant Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) so that these estimates can be considered in the development of their traffic management plans.