Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings his Department has had on the adequacy of roads in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency in the last year.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
My Department has regular meetings with Cheshire West and Chester which discusses a full range of local transport issues.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment criteria his Department used when it decided to extend the Avanti West Coast contract for a further six months.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department objectively assessed whether the extension was appropriate against the relevant criteria set out in the Secretary of State’s public facing section 26 policy statement. In doing so the Department took into account Avanti West Coast's delivery against its agreed recovery plans in place with both the Department and the Office of Rail and Road, and the improvements in operational performance over recent months. Weekday services have risen from 180 to 264 trains per day, the highest level in over two years. Cancellation rates have fallen from around 25% to 4.2%, the lowest level in 12 months. In addition, over 100 additional drivers have been recruited to reduce reliance on union-controlled overtime working.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the request for a meeting on safety concerns on the A550 requested by the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston on 14 November 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department apologises for the delay in responding and a reply will be provided shortly.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
A search of the DfTc supplier database has found no record of DfTc having any contracts in the last three years with any business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Trade and Cooperation Agreement working group for the automotive industry will be established.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The UK has repeatedly outlined to the EU the importance of establishing and convening the sectoral working group on motor vehicles and parts under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, including in the most recent meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade held on 24 October 2022; however, no date for the first meeting of the working group has yet been agreed.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with National Highways on safety requirements for the Welsh Road A550 and Ledsham Road B5643 junction.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department has set national targets for the reduction of casualties across the strategic road network and has regular discussions with National Highways on how to achieve that.
In 2018, National Highways reduced the speed limit from the national speed limit (60mph) to 50mph through this location as part of a wider scheme to improve safety on the A550. It is in the process of installing average speed enforcement along the Welsh Road A550 from the A494 to the A41 which is likely to be completed in the next financial year.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how STATS19 data on road accident statistics is shared with National Highways.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department collects data from police forces on reported road collisions via the STATS19 collection system. This data then forms the basis for published road casualty statistics.
Following publication of the statistics, non-sensitive variables are made available as open data on data.gov.uk; this open dataset can be accessed by anyone, including National Highways. Variables considered sensitive, for example contributory factors, are made available on receipt of a completed application for, and agreement of, a suitable end user licence. Sensitive data are shared with National Highways on this basis.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and (b) EU member states on aviation matters.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We maintain a productive dialogue with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and EU Member States on aviation matters.
Officials at the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have engaged in discussions with EASA in preparations for the 41st ICAO Assembly.
The Civil Aviation Authority, as the regulator for aviation safety in the UK, also has regular engagement with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on a range of regulatory matters, including those covered under the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).
UK Ministers and officials at the Department for Transport have been engaging regularly with EU Member States on a range of aviation matters, including cooperation on shared priorities during the 41st ICAO Assembly, our response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and on areas covered under the UK/EU TCA.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of implementing minimum service levels on (a) the number of and (b) the impact of strikes.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Minimum service levels will allow us to get the balance right between respecting the right strike, whilst ensuring passengers can make essential journeys to access healthcare, education and employment.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish further information on her proposals to introduce minimum service levels during strike action.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill was introduced into the House of Commons on 20 October 2022.
The bill can be found here:
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3350
The Explanatory notes can be found here:
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3350/publications