Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people were prosecuted by each local authority in the North West for fraudulent use of bus passes since 1 January 2014; and how many bus passes were withdrawn by each local authority because of non-entitlement in that period.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Travel Concession Authorities are responsible for administering the national concession consistent with legislation, including ensuring that only eligible applicants are provided with a bus pass. Permits which have expired or been lost or stolen can be “hotlisted” to prevent their fraudulent use on smart-enabled vehicles. However, we do not collect data on prosecutions and permit withdrawals.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on maintenance of the M6 between Junctions 31 and 32 in the last four years.
Answered by John Hayes
The Highways Agency's maintenance contracts are structured so that Service Providers are paid a single sum for a wide range of general maintenance duties. Payment for these activities is made as per the contract and, by its very nature, is not disaggregated to particular routes. However, I am currently discussing Highways Agency contracts with my officials, and I hope such granularity may be simpler to glean in future.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs his Department supports (a) directly and (b) indirectly in the supply chain in (i) the North West, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) Preston constituency.
Answered by Claire Perry
The information requested is not held on Department for Transport data systems and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff employed at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency office in Preston were made redundant when it closed; and what the total cost was of those redundancies.
Answered by Claire Perry
When the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s local office in Preston closed, 45 members of staff volunteered to take a redundancy package. The total cost of those redundancies was £910,687.44. There were no compulsory redundancies.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with bidders for the Northern Rail franchise covering the Colne to Blackpool South service via Preston on the replacement of Pacer trains with rolling stock that has not previously been used on London Underground.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department has held discussions with bidders for the Northern franchise to discuss and receive feedback on a range of specification areas, including rolling stock and the intended service specifications across the new franchise.
Our specifications for the Northern franchise will be set out in the Invitation to Tender document, which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many motor vehicle accidents occurred in (a) Preston constituency, (b) Preston and (c) Lancashire in each month in 2013.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The numbers of reported personal injury motor vehicle accidents in a) Preston constituency, b) Preston and c) Lancashire in each month of 2013 are shown in the table below.
Number of reported personal injury accidents involving at least one motor vehicle1 in Preston constituency, Preston and Lancashire: 2013
| Number of accidents involving at least one motor vehicle | |||
| a) Preston constituency | b) Preston | c) Lancashire | |
| January | 36 | 58 | 377 |
| February | 25 | 37 | 375 |
| March | 34 | 47 | 375 |
| April | 38 | 66 | 363 |
| May | 33 | 43 | 377 |
| June | 34 | 51 | 424 |
| July | 38 | 58 | 439 |
| August | 30 | 40 | 392 |
| September | 48 | 59 | 388 |
| October | 44 | 66 | 437 |
| Novemeber | 38 | 51 | 476 |
| December | 53 | 81 | 406 |
| TOTAL | 451 | 657 | 4,829 |
1 excludes pedal cycles, horse riders, mobility scooters and trams
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Government invested in highway and infrastructure construction in the North West in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
HM Treasury's Country and Regional Analysis November 2013 states that identifiable public capital expenditure on transport in the North West of England was: 2009/10 £1,229m, 2010/11 £1,268m, 2011/12 £1,261m, 2012/13 £1,257m.