Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on (a) state aid and (b) other support for ferry services, in the context of the UK's exit from the EU.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
International freight and passenger ferry services are generally operated on a fully commercial basis, without UK government support. The UK ferry market is a highly competitive sector with operators offering multiple routes and good levels of connectivity to the EU.
The Subsidy Control Act 2022, of which the main provisions came into effect on 4 January 2023, sets the framework for support to ferry services in the United Kingdom, including that provided by devolved administrations, with a view to securing fair competition, value for money and compliance with our international trade obligations.
The Department for Transport provides no specific guidance on this related to ferries. The Department for Business and Trade leads on subsidy matters and provides guidance on public authorities' legal obligations under the UK subsidy control regime.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to Answer of 19 July 2023 to Question 194262 on Public Transport, if he will provide details of the interventions conducted in Scotland and the locations where they took place.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
My answer of 19 July referred to the 33 interventions the Government put in place to address the HGV Driver Shortage. Interventions that were not in devolved policy areas were applicable in Scotland. These include:
It would not be possible to collate data on where in Scotland these interventions were utilised without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the level of labour shortages of (a) HGV and (b) public service vehicle drivers on the provision of public transport.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
In response to the HGV driver shortage, the Government put in place 33 short, medium, and long-term interventions, such as increased driving test availability and the £34m investment from DfE to train up to 11,000 drivers through Skills Bootcamps.
These interventions have begun to take effect, with industry bodies reporting positively that the number of HGV drivers is stabilising, and there is currently no severe disruption to critical sectors due to the driver shortage which we continue to monitor.
Bus and coach driver shortages have been an issue but appear to be abating based on the latest intelligence from the sector.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to devolve powers over road user charging to the devolved Administrations.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Devolved Administrations already have extensive powers over road policy, including over road user charging.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, to steps he is taking to help improve (a) speed and (b) capacity on the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Integrated Rail Plan commits to upgrading and improving line speeds and capacity on the East Coast Main Line. We have provided Network Rail with early-stage development funding to begin consideration of how these ambitious route-wide plans can be delivered as efficiently as possible.
This IRP activity will build upon the £1.2 billion East Coast Enhancements Programme – a collection of infrastructure upgrades across the route, helping to deliver journey time, reliability and capacity improvements.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions it has had with the Scottish Government on improvements to the (a) East Coast Main Line and (b) A1.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Officials in the Department for Transport meet regularly with their counterparts in Transport Scotland about rail improvements, including to the East Coast Main Line. Conversations are ongoing and officials will continue to engage as work progresses.
There have been no recent discussions specifically about the A1 between the Department and Transport Scotland. However, the UK Government remains committed to working collaboratively with the Scottish Government to improve transport connectivity.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated maintenance budget of Network Rail is in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024; and whether that estimated budget has been revised in the last 12 months.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Network Rail’s business plans were last updated in February 2023. The forecasted maintenance spend for 2023 and 2024 is shown below:
Following the Secretary of State’s High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available for Control Period 7, that was issued in early December, Network Rail will shortly publish a response which will provide more detail on the maintenance plans for 2024-2029.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many non-UK registered oil and gas support vessels were inspected by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year from 2014-15 to 2021-22.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Non-UK vessels are inspected under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Port State Control Inspection regime. The database of inspections uses categories of vessel rather than the industry the vessels serve. In this instance, oil and gas support vessels are in the category of “Offshore Supply” which may also include vessels, such as wind farm vessels. Therefore, the number of inspected non-UK registered oil and gas support vessels cannot be accurately provided.
However, from 2014 to 2019 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspected on average 144 foreign flagged Offshore Supply vessels under the Port State Control Regime each calendar year. The Covid-19 pandemic reduced this to 88 inspections in 2020 and 119 in 2021. The number of foreign flagged Offshore Supply Vessels inspected under the Port State Control regime is now back to pre-pandemic levels with 144 inspected in 2022.
The table below shows the number of UK Offshore Supply inspections carried out in each year from 2014-2022.
UK Offshore Supply Inspections | |
Year | Inspections by MCA |
2014 | 154 |
2015 | 139 |
2017 | 143 |
2018 | 140 |
2019 | 151 |
2020 | 88 |
2021 | 119 |
2022 | 144 |
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what regulatory approach the Maritime and Coastguard Agency takes to offshore support vessels contracted to service (a) oil and gas or (b) renewable energy installations located outside UK territorial waters.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
In regard to both oil and gas and renewable energy instillations, Offshore Support Vessels require certification in accordance with the applicable conventions subject to the gross tonnage (GT) and/or length, number of passengers carried on board, flag state legislation and the national legislation of the waters where the vessel is operating. Emergency Response Rescue Vessel (ERRV) certification is an option that is available to UK operators, however, there is no statutory requirement to hold this certificate as this is a UK oil and gas initiative.
Offshore Support Vessels that carry more than 12 passengers are required to be certificated as passenger vessels. Alternative provisions are allowed where passengers are deemed special personnel and as such, the vessel may be certificated as a Special Purpose Ship (SPS) where compliant with this Code.
Offshore Support Vessels that carry less than 12 passengers that are less than 24m in length may be certificated as a Workboat to the appropriate category of operation.
The above regulations are extant for both UK and non-UK vessels, regardless of area of operation.
The sector of work for offshore supply vessels does not change the certification of them. Offshore Support Vessels are certificated with the applicable Conventions subject to the GT and/or length, number of passengers or UK/national legislation, where they are outside of the applicable limits of the appropriate convention. Where a vessel carries Industrial Personnel (IP), outside of the limits of a High Speed Offshore Service Craft Code (HSOSC) certificate, the vessels fall into the same category of SPS for UK vessels (as per above) or if non-UK, an IP Safety Certificate may be provided as per Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS) XV. High Speed vessels operated by UK operators have the option of certification to the HSOSC Code.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2023 to Question 135415 on Offshore Industry: Missing Persons, whether representatives from Liberia have travelled to the UK to investigate Valaris 121; and what other steps the Liberian authorities have taken.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
A representative from the Liberian registry investigation team visited Valaris 121 on 14 February 2023. Requests were also made for documentation and information to be provided by the vessel and operating company, and the Liberian investigation is progressing.
As a substantially interested state, the UK will continue to receive periodic updates on the investigation and will have sight of the Liberian draft report once it has been prepared.