Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 9980, on iron and steel: procurement, what progress his Department has made on delivering greater UK steel content in line with the public procurement guidelines published by the Government in April 2016.
Answered by John Hayes
Government’s guidance on the procurement of steel was published in November 2015 and subsequently updated in December 2016. In DfT steel is only purchased directly by Network Rail, and they source ninety-five percent of their steel from Scunthorpe. There are few other companies of our size who can show such a clear commitment to buying British.
Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains. The guidance has been fully adopted by DfT for all in-scope projects and we are required to report on its implementation every 6 months. The most recent report provided covers the period 1 January to 30 June 2017. During that period no steel had been procured which fell within the scope of the guidance.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of Network Rail's re-planning of Control Period 5.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Office of Rail and Road is responsible for monitoring Network Rail’s performance and whether the company is complying with the obligations set out in its licence. This includes a twice-yearly publication through its Network Rail Monitor document.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal of access to flight and winch training on (a) the ability of local fire and rescue services to support maritime safety and (b) maritime safety.
Answered by John Hayes
The Fire and Rescue Services, in common with other emergency services, are routinely offered training and familiarisation with the Coastguard search and rescue (SAR) helicopters.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure effective working between the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and local Fire and Rescue services on appropriate access to flight and winch training.
Answered by John Hayes
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency works closely with all of the emergency services to provide an appropriate level of access to its search and rescue helicopters and familiarisation about how they work.