Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to encourage more people to run to work; and if he will make it his policy to expand the cycle-to-work scheme to include running equipment.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government’s cycle to work scheme allows employers to loan bicycle and bicycle safety equipment to employees as a tax-free benefit. The scheme is one of the many ways in which the Government is supporting active travel choices, as set out in the 2017 Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. The Department has produced guidance, which it plans to update shortly, to encourage employers to take advantage of the scheme, but it has no plans to expand it to include running equipment.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of people who travelled to work by (a) car, (b) bus and (c) rail in Manchester in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The number of people who usually travelled to work by car, bus and rail in Greater Manchester in each of the last five years are given in the table below (based on the Labour Force Survey). Figures have been pro-rated based on proportions for those that answered the question on usual mode of travel to work.
| Car | Bus1 | Rail2 |
2012 | 913,000 | 100,000 | 43,000 |
2013 | 878,000 | 117,000 | 50,000 |
2014 | 917,000 | 123,000 | 64,000 |
2015 | 911,000 | 122,000 | 68,000 |
2016 | 919,000 | 129,000 | 71,000 |
1 Also includes coaches.
2 Includes national rail, underground, light railway systems and trams.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what rail improvement contracts Carillion holds in (a) the North West and (b) Manchester.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Carillion hold a number of contracts with the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs), including Network Rail. This includes rail electrification programme contracts.
However, the electrification works between Manchester and Stalybridge, and between Manchester and Preston, are being delivered by a range of contractors, not just Carillion, and Amey are the principal contractor for those works.
Network Rail also confirmed on Friday 19 January that Carillion staff working on their projects are guaranteed to get paid until at least mid-April 2018.
This ensures that work will continue as planned on Network Rail projects through to mid-April 2018, by which point Network Rail expects to have alternative arrangements in place as necessary.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has made to Volkswagen on (a) compensation to UK vehicle owners affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal and (b) the completion of the required emissions and technological repair work for those vehicles affected.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government continues to take the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously and is working hard on behalf of UK consumers. I most recently met with Volkswagen executives in December 2017 to press the company again to provide compensation and treat their UK consumers fairly.
There are approximately 1.2 million affected Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat vehicles in the UK. As of 16th December 2017, Volkswagen had applied its technical update to approximately 830,000 of these. Officials continue to engage regularly with Volkswagen to monitor progress and press them to respond to consumer concerns.