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Written Question
Bus Services: Urban Areas
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on new funding for the (a) restoration of bus services removed due to changes in local authority funding and (b) other bus services in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) other coalfield towns.

Answered by George Freeman

On 30 September, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced ‘A Better Deal for Bus Users’ package, worth £220 million, to boost bus services.

As part of this package, the Government will pay an extra £30 million directly to local authorities in 2020/21 to enable them to improve current bus services or to restore lost services. Further details, including the funding allocations for each local authority, will be announced in due course.

Further details of the package can be found online with the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-better-deal-for-bus-users/a-better-deal-for-bus-users


Written Question
Railways: Staffordshire
Monday 4th November 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on new funding for (a) the reopening of local railway lines, (b) the reinstating of passenger services on freight lines, (c) new stations, (d) new rolling stock and (e) other local railway services in coalfield towns in North Staffordshire.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Government assesses rail enhancement schemes including the reopening of closed lines, use of freight lines and opening of new stations on a case by case basis. The Department continues to work with local authorities and other partners to identify new rail projects that can deliver value for money for the UK taxpayer.

Proposals would be taken forward as part of the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP). The RNEP sets out the Department’s priorities for rail and principles for investment based around the progressive development of business cases and formal investment decision gateways.

From 2020 onwards, passengers using services in North Staffordshire will benefit from the modification and modernisation of West Midlands Train rolling stock which will provide additional capacity. Additionally, the West Coast Partnership will be replacing Voyager trains with 23 new trains which will provide more capacity, be more efficient and have lower emissions. The West Coast Partnership Pendolino fleet will also be refurbished providing increased capacity.


Written Question
Transport: Exhaust Emissions
Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government's Transport Decarbonisation Plan will apply to international (a) aviation and (b) shipping; and what steps he is taking to ensure that those sectors achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Answered by George Freeman

The Transport Decarbonisation Plan will consider the transport sector as a whole and the increased contribution that all modes need to make to achieve an economy-wide net zero target by 2050. Given the global nature of the aviation and shipping sectors sector, and their climate change impacts, effective and coordinated international action remains essential. Unilateral action by a single state leads to the risk that these highly mobile carbon emissions are simply moved overseas, therefore failing to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The UK will continue its leadership role at the IMO pushing for the most ambitious measures to reduce GHG emissions from ships and negotiate for ICAO to agree a long-term emissions reduction goal by its 41st Assembly in 2022. Government will keep our approach to the inclusion of international shipping and aviation emissions in our legislation under review, taking account of progress in the IMO and ICAO.


Written Question
Cycling and Walking: Finance
Monday 30th September 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional cycling infrastructure funding; and what steps he is taking to meet the walking and cycling targets his Department's cycling and walking investment strategy published in 2019.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

My Department has regular discussions with the Treasury at Ministerial and official levels on this and other matters, and will continue to make the case for sufficient funding to achieve the aims of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. A detailed report will be laid before Parliament later this year setting out the steps the Government has been taking to deliver the commitments set out in the Strategy, and the progress that is being made towards its targets.


Written Question
Season Tickets: Compensation
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of automatically awarding season ticket rail passengers with compensation in respect of a delay to their travel.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Since announcing ‘one-click’ compensation in October 2018, the Government has introduced a requirement for new franchises to introduce simple automated Delay Repay claims systems, available via smartphones and smartcard registration, to make it easier for passengers to claim compensation when they have suffered delays.

Automated ‘one-click’ compensation schemes make it very quick and easy to claim compensation and have a number of advantages over automatic compensation schemes – for example, the fact that passengers know they have received compensation and also that the risk of fraud is reduced, because passengers need to ‘click’ to confirm they were on the delayed train.


Written Question
Planning: Urban Areas
Wednesday 4th September 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to prioritise (a) pedestrian and (b) cyclists in the design of streets in towns and cities.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Government’s recently strengthened National Planning Policy Framework advises local authorities to promote healthy, inclusive and safe places which encourage walking and cycling. The Department for Transport’s guidance on Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) helps local authorities to identify priorities for investment and a pipeline of projects to encourage more walking and cycling.


Written Question
Cycleways: Construction
Tuesday 3rd September 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to support the construction of new cycle lanes that are separate from roads.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Local highways authorities are responsible for decisions on cycle lanes in their areas, including on whether or not these should be segregated from other road traffic. The Department is currently in the process of updating its guidance note to local authorities on Cycle Infrastructure Design, which includes advice on where and when different forms of segregation might be appropriate, and the updated guidance will be published in due course.


Written Question
Cycling
Tuesday 3rd September 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to reduce urban traffic speeds to encourage more cyclists to cycle on roads.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Department has no plans to change national speed limits.

Local traffic authorities are responsible for setting speed limits on local roads and for targeting their funding on measures that are most effective in ensuring that their roads become safer. To assist with this, the Department published guidance to local highway authorities on setting speed limits in 2013, and furthermore last year published an evaluation into the effectiveness of 20mph speed limits. The 2016 update to the TSRGD (Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions) also made significant changes to facilitate and reduce the cost of providing 20 mph zones in England, allowing traffic authorities to place repeater speed signs and/or speed roundel road markings as well as traffic calming features.

In April 2017 the Government published its first statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, setting out its ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys. And in July 2019, the Government published the Road Safety Statement 2019: a lifetime of road safety. This includes a two-year action plan to address a range of road safety issues which will improve safety for cyclists.


Written Question
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
Monday 5th August 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to ensure that all airlines operating in the UK have a carbon offset scheme to which customers can sign up.

Answered by George Freeman

On 18 July 2019 the government launched a call for evidence on carbon offsetting for all transport modes, including aviation.

This call for evidence explores how we might improve consumer understanding of the emissions from their journeys and their options to offset them, and if travel providers should be required to offer voluntary carbon offsets to their customers.

This is an area where we believe more information is needed to understand how any schemes could work successfully and we are looking forward to seeing the views and evidence that come through in response.


Written Question
Petrol: Ethanol
Monday 5th August 2019

Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the amount of ethanol in petrol sold to reduce carbon emissions.

Answered by George Freeman

In 2018 the Department published a call for evidence on “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”. This document noted that using E10 (petrol containing up to 10% bioethanol) in place of E5 could reduce the net greenhouse gas emissions of a petrol vehicle by around two per cent.