Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking with FirstGroup to address disruption to TransPennine routes from Newcastle Central Station.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department, which manages the TPE contract in partnership with Transport for the North, has been in regular dialogue with the operator to manage the provision of services in the face of prolonged national and local industrial action and a backlog of training caused by Covid-19 lockdowns. The actions that have been agreed and continue to be discussed include:
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking with Network Rail to reduce instances of overhead line issues on the East Coast Mainline.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We recognise that overhead line issues on the East Coast Main Line have a huge impact on passengers and freight operators. Network Rail has put in place a programme of work to replace overhead line components that have historically caused a high number of failures and are working with train operators to ensure their trains interact as sympathetically as possible with the infrastructure. Network Rail is also designing a series of specific upgrades for tunnels, where overhead line failures can be extremely disruptive, so that the infrastructure is as resilient as it possibly can be. Finally, Network Rail is working to improve the speed of its response when incidents do happen, making sure its teams get trains moving again as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) leasing by airlines on the rights of UK-based airline staff.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
UK based airlines use ACMI to provide additional capacity, often during peak periods, and have done so for many years. The flexibility to bring in additional capacity for limited periods is welcomed by the UK’s largest carriers to manage seasonal changes or when aircraft and crew are otherwise unavailable.
This summer has seen an increase in this type of activity for several reasons, including a shortage of aircraft and of cabin crew. The Government will keep the use of ACMI, from UK and foreign providers, under review as the market recovers and evolves following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of rolling out electric vehicle charge points in Newcastle City Council area by 2030.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
It is for Newcastle City Council to identify the most effective electric vehicle chargepoint strategy for their residents.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the number of off-street electric vehicle charge points required in the Newcastle City Council area by 2030.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
It is for Newcastle City Council to identify the number of chargepoints needed and the most effective electric vehicle chargepoint strategy for their residents.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) economic, (b) social and (c) environmental impact on the local area of the removal of the Q3 bus between St Peter's Basin and Wallsend.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the £150 million support package for bus and light rail operators announced on 1 March 2022 will be allocated to operators in the North East of England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Allocations for the Bus and Light Rail recovery package have not yet been made. The Department has requested information from bus operators and Local Transport Authorities to enable us to make these allocations, which will be on the basis of need.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing England in line with the rest of the United Kingdom by introducing free off-peak bus travel for over-60s.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area and the administrative arrangements for the schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are entirely separate.
Funding the concessionary bus pass costs around £1 billion annually, so any changes, such as extending free bus travel to those who are not yet eligible would have an impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability. In England, the age of eligibility for the concessionary bus pass is linked to the state pension age. This addresses the anomalous position of non-disabled, working age citizens receiving free bus buses, which in turn supports the financial sustainability of the scheme. There are no current plans to change the concessionary bus travel age of eligibility in England. However, concessionary travel legislation gives local authorities the flexibility to offer local travel concessions, such as free or discounted travel to those who are not yet eligible for the bus pass, if they choose to do so.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department used to inform its decision to put the United Arab Emirates on covid-19 red list for travel.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of countries and territories. This risk is based on factors such as the level of community transmission of variants of concern or variant under investigation, levels of testing, genomic sequencing and reporting.
The decision to add the United Arab Emirates to the red list on 28 January was made by the Government, following analysis of the variant of concern first identified in South Africa and its strong travel connections to South Africa.
As with all our coronavirus measures, the Government keeps the red list under constant review and our priority remains to protect the health of the UK public.
A summary of the JBC methodology has been published on GOV.UK, alongside key data that supports ministers’ decisions.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has any plans to extend child discounts on public transport from 16 to 18 years to match the new compulsory school leaving age.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Government recognises the importance of accessible transport to all young people and, whilst there are no plans to introduce a statutory concession for young people, we are working with the sector to encourage operators to continue to improve their offers.
In the de-regulated bus market it is for operators to set their own fares. Current estimates indicate that 50% of young people aged 16 to 19 receive at least a third off standard fares.
The new Enhanced Partnership powers in the Bus Services Bill would allow local transport authorities and bus operators to agree standard ticket rules, such as eligibility for half fares across operators.