Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK steel and steel products procured by his Department in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Network Rail purchase ninety-seven percent of their steel from Scunthorpe. Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains. Raw materials for non-infrastructure purchases e.g. Rolling Stock are purchased by the prime contractor.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the need for UK Government investment in transport infrastructure in South Wales after the UK leaves the European Union; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Grayling
The Government works closely with the Welsh Government on the specification and funding of Network Rail’s operations in England and Wales for each five year railway Control Period. The approach we are using to assess the need for investment into rail infrastructure in South Wales will remain unchanged after the UK leaves the EU. We will continue to consider rail investments in line with the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP). Network Rail’s Control Period 6 Strategic Business Plan, covering the period from April 2019 to 2024, states a total proposed investment of £1.34bn in rail across Wales and Borders.
Investment in road infrastructure is a devolved responsibility and would be a matter for the Welsh Government.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms to ensure legal compliance of car manufacturers with emissions targets.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Since 2015, the Department has more than quadrupled its resource investment in this area. It is continuing to build both its capacity and capability to test a wide selection of vehicles in order to ensure their continuing compliance with emissions standards.
In 2016, the Department established the Market Surveillance Unit (MSU), within the Driver Vehicle and Standards Agency (DVSA). The MSU works closely with the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) to check that new road vehicles placed on the UK market comply with the relevant legal obligations. The MSU publishes a yearly report of its findings, and its most recent report is at:
New regulations were introduced in 2018 which make it an offence for a manufacturer to supply a vehicle to the UK market which contains a prohibited defeat device. The fines can be up to £50,000 per offence.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Answer of 16 January 2019 to Question 207177 on Volkswagen: Exhaust Emissions, what investigations his Department conducted to determine that no wrongdoing has taken place within the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The relevant engines were designed, developed, manufactured and presented for type approval (either by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency or other EU type approval authorities) outside the UK. The Government has not aware of any evidence that representatives of VW UK were aware of the wrongdoing.
Evidence on this matter is likely to flow, if at all, from the investigation now being undertaken in Germany. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate for the UK to carry out a separate parallel investigation, and there would be significant difficulties in obtaining evidence. However, the Government has reserved its position on this matter and continues to monitor the German investigation with interest.
Given that the German investigation remains under way, the Secretary of State has had no further recent discussions with his German counterpart.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2019 to Question 207177 on Volkswagen: Exhaust Emissions, what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on criminal proceedings against executives of Volkswagen.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The relevant engines were designed, developed, manufactured and presented for type approval (either by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency or other EU type approval authorities) outside the UK. The Government has not aware of any evidence that representatives of VW UK were aware of the wrongdoing.
Evidence on this matter is likely to flow, if at all, from the investigation now being undertaken in Germany. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate for the UK to carry out a separate parallel investigation, and there would be significant difficulties in obtaining evidence. However, the Government has reserved its position on this matter and continues to monitor the German investigation with interest.
Given that the German investigation remains under way, the Secretary of State has had no further recent discussions with his German counterpart.