Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Transport Focus last published minutes of meetings of its Board.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Transport Focus is currently in the process of updating numerous sections of its website. This includes records such as the board minutes, and the board committee terms of reference. Transport Focus is committed to upholding the principles of transparency and accountability and will prioritise the publication of historic minutes as soon as possible.
The most current iteration of board meeting minutes available on the Transport Focus website are those from the November 2021 board meeting. Recordings of public board meetings are available on the website, with the most recent being from May 2024: https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/about/transparency-and-accountability/board-meetings/
In the interim, if there are any minutes/events of particular interest, Transport Focus will be more than happy to make these available upon request: https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/contact-form.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Office of Rail and Road's letter to Network Rail of 11 February 2025, entitled Management of structures – structures examination and assessment noncompliance, what recent assessment she has made of Network Rail's capability to (a) identify and (b) remedy infrastructure failings; and when the Independent Reporter commission that is referred to in that letter will conclude.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), in its capacity as the independent rail safety regulator for Great Britain, is responsible for assessing the adequacy of the measures taken by Network Rail to examine, assess and evaluate the safety of the structural assets it owns, and for deciding on any appropriate regulatory action. ORR expects the Independent Reporter commission to conclude in approximately 9-12 months.
Safety remains our top priority for the railways, and it is important the independent rail regulator can act proactively to ensure high standards are maintained. We will look to Network Rail to work closely with the ORR to agree a plan for prioritising delivery of its planned structures examinations and assessments.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the levels of corrosion on the Class (a) 150/0, (b) 150/1, (c) 150/2, (d) 155, (e) 156 and (f) 158 vehicles operated by Northern Trains.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold information with regards to the levels of corrosion on the specified rolling stock. It is a matter for the operator, rolling stock owner and maintainer to ensure that their rolling stock remains in an appropriate condition for operation on the railway network.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 28794 on Railways: Season Tickets, what the cost of a standard-class annual rail season ticket from (a) Longbridge, (b) Northfield and (c) Kings Norton stations to Birmingham New Street was between 03 March 2024 and 01 March 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The price of the standard class annual season ticket for all these journeys was £971.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Network Rail takes to monitor air quality at Birmingham New Street station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail monitors air quality at Birmingham New Street station as part of a £4.5 million air quality monitoring network, which is funded by the Department for Transport and managed by the Rail Safety and Standards Board.
The network, which began operating in 2022, has measured air quality at over 100 mainline stations across Great Britain, providing data on key pollutants that impact public health, such as nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5).
In addition, Network Rail conducts occupational health monitoring to assess staff exposure to diesel engine exhaust emissions at its managed stations, including Birmingham New Street.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Enabling road use of hydrogen-powered non-road mobile machinery, published on 27 March 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following a consultation that closed in April 2024, the Department for Transport is developing an amendment to The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to allow hydrogen-powered off-road machinery to be used on the road. Legislation is expected to be introduced alongside publication of the Government’s response to the public consultation in April.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Highways England traffic officers were employed on 15 March in each year since 2016.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The number of traffic officers employed by National Highways on 15 March in each year since 2016 was as follows:
Year | Traffic officer headcount on 15 March |
2016 | 1,435 |
2017 | 1,410 |
2018 | 1,419 |
2019 | 1,546 |
2020 | 1,472 |
2021 | 1,412 |
2022 | 1,390 |
2023 | 1,488 |
2024 | 1,553 |
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the cost of a standard-class annual rail season ticket from (a) Longbridge, (b) Northfield and (c) Kings Norton stations to Birmingham New Street in 2010.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In 2010, annual season tickets from both Longbridge and Northfield to Birmingham New Street cost £597.00, and from Kings Norton to Birmingham New Street cost £523.00.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contracts (a) BFS Group Limited and (b) subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited hold with (i) her Department and (ii) agencies of her Department.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
After a review of DfT central’s (DfTc) internal systems, we can confirm no contracts were identified with BFS Group Limited and subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited. Following a commission to DfTc’s Executive Agencies, we can confirm that Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) and Active Travel England (ATE) all confirmed they also had no contracts with BFS Group Limited and subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited.Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people work in the Great British Railways Transition Team on (a) headcount and (b) full-time equivalent basis.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Great British Railways Transition Team, including resource for the Fares, Ticketing and Retail programme, currently has a headcount of 235 staff. This equates to 228.9 full-time equivalent.