Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 7.16 and 7.17 of the Ministerial Code, on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have informed the Law Officers that they are the defendants in a libel action in (a) their personal capacity, (b) their official position and (c) both since 19 December 2019.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Ministerial Code also states, at paragraph 2.13: “The fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority.” Paragraph 2.13 covers whether a minister has notified the Law Officers of a personal role in litigation.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to Question 15694 on Department for Transport: DP World and P&O Ferries ,tabled by the Hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley on 26 February 2024 for answer on 29 February 2024.
Answered by Guy Opperman
A response to PQ 15694 was provided on 8 March 2024.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussion he has had with the Secretary of State for for Business and Trade on enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (Offshore Employment) (Amendment) Order 2020 for seafarers working on (a) domestic shipping routes and (b) offshore oil and gas installations on the UK Continental Shelf.
Answered by Guy Opperman
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of non-qualifying seafarers working on vessels in scope of the Seafarers Wages Act 2023; and when he plans to publish the updated impact assessment.
Answered by Guy Opperman
In 2023, the Government passed the Seafarers’ Wages Act to address this issue. Based on data and assumptions used in the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 impact assessment (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62e2aa8ed3bf7f75af0923d5/seafarers-wages-impact-assessment.pdf), the Department for Transport estimates that there are 9,400 non-qualifying seafarers working on vessels in scope of the Seafarers Wages Act 2023. A non-qualifying seafarer is defined as all other seafarers on vessels within scope of The Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023, that do not directly benefit from the policy, because it is estimated that they are not currently at risk of being paid below the National Minimum Wage equivalent (NMWe).
An updated version of the impact assessment will be published in due course.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of seafarers working on ships that regularly use UK ports who are paid less than the national minimum wage.
Answered by Guy Opperman
In 2023, the Government passed the Seafarers’ Wages Act to address this issue. Based on data and assumptions used in the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 impact assessment (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62e2aa8ed3bf7f75af0923d5/seafarers-wages-impact-assessment.pdf), the Government’s most recent estimate is that 4,400 individuals working on services in scope of the Act (i.e. those working on international services calling at a UK port at least 120 times a year) may be being paid less than the UK national minimum wage. The secondary legislation that the Department is consulting on currently will bring the Act into force to address this issue.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 73 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review, which policies were identified for receipt of core net zero spend funding from the £1 billion allocated to fund decarbonisation of cars and vans in the financial year 2024-25 at the time that Budget was published; how much funding each of those policies was due to receive; and whether any of those policies have been discontinued since 2021.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The £1 billion allocated to fund the decarbonisation of cars and vans for the financial year 2024-25 in the 2021 Spending Review was allocated to a range of policies across the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (now the Department for Business and Trade).
For the Department for Transport, HM Treasury allocated £619m for policies relating to zero emission vehicles, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and air quality.
This sum was subsequently allocated by the Department to specific policies, including the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, the Rapid Charging Fund, the Plug-in Vehicle Grants, EV Homecharging Schemes, the Workplace Charging Scheme and the Joint Air Quality Unit’s NO2 programme. All grants are kept under continual review to ensure best value for money for the taxpayer.
The remaining funding (£333m) was allocated for the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy, for the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chain, including through the Automotive Transformation Fund Programme. This aims to support the creation of an internationally competitive EV supply chain in the UK, through research and development and capital investments.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 73 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, which policy areas will receive funding from the £1.8 billion allocated to core net zero spend relating to the Department for Transport for the 2024-25 financial year; and how much funding as been issued to each of those policy areas for the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The £1.8 billion allocated to the Department for Transport for the financial year 2024-25 in the 2021 Spending Review supports net zero policies across zero emission vehicles (including buses) and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the bus transformation funding to support local authority Bus Service Improvement Plans, air quality improvement measures, active travel policies, City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, Nexus Metrofleet in Newcastle, rail electrification, and the UK’s production of sustainable aviation fuel.
£333 million of the £1.8 billion was reallocated to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (now the Department for Business and Trade), for the electrification of UK vehicle manufacturing and their supply chains, including through the Automotive Transformation Fund Programme.
The Department’s business planning process for 2024-25 financial year remains ongoing and final plans will be published in due course as per standard practice.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Seafarers in the UK Shipping Industry statistics, published by his Department on 22 February 2024, how many vessels belonging to members of the UK Chamber of Shipping were surveyed as part of the data collection process.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department of Transport commission the UK Chamber of Shipping to carry out the Seafarer Employment Survey of its membership, collecting information on the seafarers the companies employ. The survey is about seafarers, therefore data on the number of vessels belonging to members of the UK Chamber of Shipping was not collected as part of this survey.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 18 July 2023 to Question 193953 on Department for Transport: DP World and P&O Ferries, whether (a) his Department has and (b) executive agencies of his Department have (i) made payments and (ii) awarded grants to (A) P&O Ferries and (B) DP World since 17 March 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Since 17 March 2022, to allow for the Department and its agencies to carry out unannounced in-service inspections of P&O Ferries vessels, or to perform operational duties where the company is the only operator on the route, there has been a total of three bookings made with P&O Ferries, at a total cost of £453. This is in addition to the expenditure given in the Answer of 18 July 2023 to Question 193953.
A review of spending did not identify any grants made to either DP World or P&O Ferries.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 20 February 2024 on Government response to the consultation on rail reform legislation and draft Rail Reform Bill, HCWS267, what estimate he has made of the savings available to the public purse from the Government's proposals on rail reform; and how that calculation was made.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Written Statement references the draft Rail Reform Bill. The Impact Assessment published alongside the draft Bill gives estimates of costs and savings related to the proposals for a new industry structure. We are committed to reforming the railways and we are getting on with delivering improvements for passengers, freight customers and the taxpayer. Industry experts’ suggested savings are set out in the Plan for Rail.