Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the implications for the Isles of Scilly of no longer having a ferry.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A regular passenger service is provided commercially by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group during the summer season. The Scillonian III vessel is currently being prepared for the new season and is scheduled to resume service on 23 March 2020.
No assessment has been made by Government on the implication for the Isles of Scilly of the ferry service ceasing.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Watermen’s Company apprenticeship scheme on maritime safety on the Thames.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport does not carry out assessments of maritime apprenticeships, nor their impact on maritime safety.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the costs of complying with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposed changes to the safety rules for historic passenger vessels will have on the financial viability of operators of such vessels.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are preparing a full Impact Assessment (IA) to determine the anticipated costs and impacts of compliance with the proposed changes to the standards for older passenger vessels.
An earlier version of the IA was consulted on during a public consultation which ran from 6 November 2018 to 29 January 2019. Consultees were invited to comment on the validity of the analysis in the IA and encouraged to provide information that would help to strengthen this. The IA is now being updated to reflect the range of further information provided through consultee feedback.
The IA process is ongoing and policy officials in the MCA are happy to discuss impacts with any interested parties and take onboard relevant evidence for the assessment.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many passengers have lost their lives while travelling on the Princess Freda since she began operating as a passenger vessel on the Thames; and what assessment they have made of the extent to which the seaworthiness of that vessel is demonstrated by the number of soldiers she rescued during the Dunkirk evacuation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) report that to their knowledge no instances of loss of life on the Princess Freda have been reported to them during her operation as a Thames passenger vessel.
As with all UK passenger ships, Princess Freda is subject to annual survey by the MCA to maintain passenger ship certification in accordance with the appropriate standards. Her operational record during the Dunkirk evacuation would not have formed part of her initial assessment as a passenger ship nor any subsequent annual verifications.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the basis for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposed changes to the safety rules for historic passenger vessels; and what assessment they have made of whether all the proposed changes are necessary to ensure an acceptable level of maritime safety.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The technical standards applicable to the current domestic passenger fleet vary depending on the age of the vessel with new build ships being subject to updated standards. These newer standards are considered to provide a higher safety standard than that required for older ships. Concurrent with these developments, the standards for existing vessels have remained mostly unchanged.
The aim of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA’s) proposed changes to standards for older passenger ships is to bring their level of safety as far as possible up to that required for new build ships in order to lessen the safety gap in key areas and thus achieve an acceptable level of safety for the travelling public in the 21st century.
The proposed changes have been formed out of a review of standards. This review took place against a background of Lord Justice Clarke’s Thames Safety Inquiry into the accident involving the passenger ship MARCHIONESS and the dredger BOWBELLE on the tidal Thames, a Formal Safety Assessment carried out for the UK government into domestic passenger ship safety, and the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) recommendations.
The proposed changes were the subject of a public consultation which ran from 6 November 2018 to 29 January 2019. Following feedback received in the consultation the MCA have reviewed the proposed changes and in some areas the changes have been modified to maintain proportionality whilst still achieving an acceptable level of safety for the travelling public. These modified proposals are the subject of a second public consultation which was launched on 29 May 2019 and runs until the 10 July.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the concerns of owners and operators that they will be required to substantially rebuild historic passenger vessels in order to comply with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposed changes to safety rules.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) conducted an initial public consultation on the proposed changes to standards for older vessels from 6 November 2018 to 29 January 2019, this consultation included a consultation stage impact assessment (IA). Consultees were invited to comment on the proposals and also the validity of the analysis in the IA and encouraged to provide information that would help to strengthen this. The IA is now being updated to reflect this feedback, in particular areas where operators have indicated that substantial alterations would be required.
As well as reflecting concerns in the IA the MCA have also revised some of the proposed changes to standards in response to feedback from the first consultation, including concerns raised with respect to substantial structural alterations being required. These revised proposals are the subject of a second public consultation which was launched on 29 May 2019 and runs until the 10 July. Owners, operators and other stakeholders are invited to comment, including raising any ongoing concerns.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the latest estimated costs of the HS2 project; and when the line is expected to open.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The 2015 Spending Review confirmed a funding envelope for the whole of HS2 of £55.7bn in 2015 prices.
HS2 Ltd has been set Delivery-In-Service targets by Government under its Development Agreement, which are to deliver initial Phase One services from 2026 and the whole HS2 network by 2033.
HS2 Ltd is currently working with their contracted suppliers to update and agree the latest cost and schedule positions for Phase One. Once completed we will make these details public as part of the Phase One Full Business Case, which is due for publication later in 2019.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what they expect will be the final total cost of the Crossrail project; and when the line is expected to open.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Crossrail Limited, the organisation responsible for delivering the project and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transport for London, are working to establish a robust delivery schedule to gain certainty regarding the opening plan for the Elizabeth line and the final cost of the project. The anticipated final cost of the Crossrail project is yet to be confirmed.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 16 March 2016 (HL6659, HL6660, and HL6661), what progress they have made in (1) legislation in regard to, and (2) protection against, drones in the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Last year, the Government legislated to make flying drones above 400ft or within 1km of an airport boundary illegal. Last month, the aerodrome restriction zone was expanded to include an airport’s aerodrome traffic zone as well as 5km by 1km extensions from the end of runways to protect take-off and landing paths.
Last year, the Government also put into law a registration requirement for all operators of drones weighing 250 grams or more, and a requirement for remote pilots of drones to take a competency test. These requirements will come into force on 30 November 2019.
A new Drones Bill will be introduced in the next Session, which will give the Police greater powers to tackle offences involving the misuse of drones. In addition, the Home Office has announced new stop and search powers for drones around aerodromes, which will also be included in the upcoming Bill.
The Home Office continues to review the UK’s response to the malicious use of drones, and will consider how best to protect the full range of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, as well as testing and evaluating technology to counter drones.
The Government will also continue to work closely with industry and other partners on regulation, anticipating future innovations wherever possible in order to keep our airports secure and our airspace safe.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of Southern Rail is owned by SNCF; and whether they have made any representations to the government of France about the poor performance of Southern Rail.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), who run Southern, is 65% owned by go-ahead and 35% owned by Keolis. Based in France, Keolis is 70% owned by SNCF. The government is in regular communication with GTR, the operator about performance.