Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2020 to Question 82606, what progress he has made on those enforcement measures; when he plans to publish those measures; whether he plans to ensure that those measures cover England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Department is continuing to develop draft legislation which will provide powers for enforcement authorities to ensure that anyone who wilfully or neglectfully causes an accident when using a personal water craft can be prosecuted. A consultation on the draft legislation, which would be applicable to the whole of the United Kingdom, will be published shortly.
Local and harbour authorities already have significant powers to introduce measures deal with any issues in the waters they manage through byelaws and harbour directions.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timescale is for the completion of the Union Connectivity Review; whether that review will make an assessment of the potential merits of air connectivity between (a)(i) Ynys Mon and (ii) Gwynedd and London and (b)(i) Ynys Mon and (ii) Gwynedd and Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Union Connectivity Review interim report will be published in January 2021, with final recommendations in Summer 2021. The Review will cover transport connectivity between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland via road, rail and air and across the Irish Sea. This will be an independent review chaired by Sir Peter Hendy who will determine which air corridors should be assessed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the eligibility criteria for future funding packages to protect ferry freight routes; what assessment he has made of the potential merits of basing that eligibility on (a) projections of profitability, (b) financial losses and (c) planned redundancies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
As well as safeguarding vital lifeline services to the Isle of Wright and the Isles of Scilly, we announced a package for critical Roll On, Roll Off (RoRo) freight routes between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and mainland Europe, on 24 April. We will shortly publish information about which of the eligible 31 routes will receive funding.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria was for the allocation of funding to protect routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland; when he plans to publish details of further support for (a) routes between Wales and the Republic of Ireland and (b) other ferry routes; and if he will publish details of the financial commitments made under the joint statement between the UK, France and Ireland, published on 24 April 2020.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has announced potential support for routes that ensure the flow of critical goods into and within the UK.
Discussions are ongoing with operators on eligible routes to determine whether those routes are no-longer economically viable. We will keep the scheme under review and we are working closely with the Devolved Administrations.
There are no financial commitments as part of the Joint Statement with France and Ireland.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to help reduce disruption to British ports as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has a programme of ongoing engagement with ports associations and individual ports, to ensure that there is as little interruption as possible to the flow of goods in and out of the UK. The security and safety of seafarers and port workers continues to be protected.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the new spending on re-opening historic railway lines announced on 28 January will (a) apply to England only and (b) result in Barnett consequentials for the devolved administrations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The UK Government’s announcement is for £500m funding to support railway re-openings within the territory for which it has funding responsibility (England and Wales). It has no immediate implications for DfT’s spending limits, and therefore none for funding of railways in the Devolved Administrations.
The final profile and exact funding arrangements for the reversing Beeching Fund have not yet been agreed. Final decisions on funding will be made at the Spending Review in the usual way.
Her Majesty’s Government is clear about the benefit of pan UK connections. For example, elsewhere in the United Kingdom the Government is supporting the examination of the potential reopening of the Edinburgh- Carlisle ‘Waverley line’ as part of the Borders Growth Deal.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefits to Wales of providing interchanges to the High Speed 2 network at Crewe and Chester.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The department’s analysis shows that passengers in North Wales will benefit from an HS2 interchange at Crewe, with shorter journey times to London and improved cross-country journey times. An HS2 interchange at Chester is not feasible without electrification of the line from there to Crewe. The Network Rail Welsh Route Study, published in March 2016, identified options for improving the North Wales main line but the rail industry has not identified a robust business case for electrification of the line from Crewe to Chester. The Government’s proposals for HS2 do not preclude development of opportunities for future service enhancements including those on the Chester and North Wales lines.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of electrifying the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead and splitting High Speed 2 trains at Crewe with part of those split trains serving North Wales via Chester.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Network Rail Welsh Route Study, published in March 2016, identified options for improving the North Wales main line but the rail industry has not identified a robust business case for electrification of the North Wales Main Line to Holyhead. The Government’s proposals for 400m platforms at Crewe do not preclude development of opportunities for future service enhancements including those on the Chester and North Wales lines.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing infrastructure improvements to the rail line from Crewe to Holyhead to enhance regional connectivity with the High Speed two rail line.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government has funded recent major signalling and track renewals to improve reliability on the North Wales Coast Line. Network Rail’s Welsh Route Study, published in March 2016, identified options for improving the North Wales main line. The Government has recently funded a strategic outline business case for journey time improvements on the North Wales line. Further development will be considered for progression through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. The Government’s proposals for HS2 do not preclude development of opportunities for future service enhancements including on the Chester and North Wales lines.