Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve rural train lines and services in the West Midlands.
Answered by Andrew Jones
West Midlands Trains will be introducing a through-service from Nuneaton to Leamington via Coventry and Kenilworth, from May of this year. These will be operated by the class 172 units that are newer and provide more capacity than the existing class 153 that operates on that route.
As part of the upgrades to the Nuneaton to Leamington Spa route (known as the “NUCKLE” project), two new stations at Bermuda Park and Ricoh Arena have already been built and are open. The next phase, being taken forward by Coventry City Council, will see a bay platform at Coventry Station constructed as part of the wider station masterplan. This will allow two trains per hour to run between Coventry and Nuneaton. DfT is contributing £5m towards the cost of the bay platform, with the balance from local sources.
As part of the Midlands Rail Hub business case, Midlands Connect are working with the Department and local partners to update the business case for enhancing capacity between Leamington and Coventry through the partial re-doubling of the line. The Department expects the business case to be presented in Summer 2019.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the introduction and expansion of very light railway systems in towns and cities across the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Department for Transport recently published a call for evidence inviting views on how the Government and private sector can help harness the opportunities for building on the popularity of light rail, including other such rapid transit systems such as very light rail.
The call for evidence closes on the 19 May 2019.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points in towns and cities throughout the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government’s vision is to have one of the best electric vehicle infrastructure networks in the world. This means current and prospective electric vehicle drivers being able to easily locate and access chargepoints that are affordable and secure.
The Government has a number of different grant schemes to support infrastructure roll-out including the Government’s £4.5 million On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme which assists local authorities with the installation of chargepoints in residential areas. Motorists and businesses can receive grants for chargepoint installation through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme and the Workplace Chargepoint Scheme. Government is investing £20 million to deliver dedicated chargepoints for electric taxis and £14.2 million for bus recharging and refuelling under the Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme.
The Government is also providing £40m through the Go Ultra Low City scheme which will see infrastructure installed in Bristol, London, Milton Keynes Nottingham Dundee, Oxford, York and the North East region and the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund is made up of £200m new Government investment matched by £200m private investors and will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on strategies to protect transport hubs throughout the UK against terrorist activity.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
There is an established system for protecting transport from the threat of terrorism delivered by the Department for Transport in partnership with industry and police. That transport security regime forms part of the Home Office’s wider counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. As such Ministers and officials are in regular dialogue with Home Office counterparts, striving to ensure that transport security measures are responsive to the evolving threat.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made in implementing the recommendations made by the joint inquiry into improving air quality that the Government aligns (a) climate change schemes, (b) urban planning, (c) public transport and (d) fiscal incentives with air quality goals to prevent its policy from working at cross-purposes.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government responded in full to the recommendations on 22 May 2018. The Government’s focus in the immediate term is on bringing forward compliance with legal limits for NO2 concentrations, and stakeholders from seven departments take part in the governance of the NO2 Plan in order to ensure that policies are closely aligned.
The Government published its new Clean Air Strategy on 14 January 2019, setting out a comprehensive plan to tackle air pollution, aimed at all sectors of industry and society.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people (a) charged and (b) found guilty of traffic offences in the UK in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Statistics on prosecutions and convictions for motoring offences are available from the Ministry of Justice Motoring tool and shown below for years 2010 to 2017 for England and Wales:
Motoring offences | ||
| Number of defendants prosecuted at Magistrates' Court | Number of offenders found guilty at all courts |
2010 | 681,594 | 586,515 |
2011 | 610,045 | 526,200 |
2012 | 570,481 | 489,588 |
2013 | 565,611 | 480,720 |
2014 | 591,118 | 512,043 |
2015 | 645,719 | 560,566 |
2016 | 667,317 | 590,260 |
2017 | 664,390 | 594,927 |
Source: MoJ Motoring Offences tool | ||
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
On motoring offences charges, the Home Office does not hold data on these charges apart from ‘causing death by dangerous driving’, because these offences are non-notifiable.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to prepare small and medium-sized airports for the effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Grayling
The Department’s aviation technical notices and the European Commission’s published plans for aviation contingency preparations, including proposed Regulations, clearly demonstrate that, in the event of no deal, both sides are committed to maintaining connectivity.
The Department has and will continue to engage with colleagues across Government and stakeholders from across the aviation industry to help them prepare for EU Exit.