Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing free ports throughout the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Freeports will be established after we leave the EU and will play a significant role in boosting trade. They will attract inward investment and drive productive activity across the UK, which will help rejuvenate deprived communities across the country through increased employment opportunities.
The Government is engaging with industry experts and economists to ensure we make Freeports a success, by developing an extremely ambitious and attractive offer to businesses interested in investing in our Freeports
The Government is committed to working with the DAs to ensure a Freeport policy that works for the whole UK. Specific locations for Freeports will be chosen in due course according to a fair, transparent and robust bidding process. The Government is keen to ensure that the bidding process is fair and open, and that the government is not seen to show favour to particular areas over others.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to conduct a feasibility study on a (a) bridge or (b) tunnel connecting the islands of Ireland and Great Britain.
Answered by George Freeman
A feasibility study has not currently been commissioned.
However, as you would expect, government regularly commissions work to examine the feasibility of potential projects, so that position is subject to regular review.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the Highways England Innovation Fund has been (a) allocated and (b) spent on developing of automated traffic cone machines and any associated technology.
Answered by George Freeman
Highways England has one project regarding “Automated Cone Laying” which seeks to develop a first generation fully automated cone laying vehicle which requires no personnel on the back of the vehicle. £1.133m is forecast to be spent in 2019/20 from a total approved allocation for the project of £1.27m. There is a break point at the end of this financial year after completion of live testing of the automated cone laying vehicles. No funding was spent in previous financial years on automated traffic cone machines.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Government innovation funds for automated traffic cone technology, how much funding has been awarded to date; and on what date each such funding award was made.
Answered by George Freeman
Highways England has one project regarding “Automated Cone Laying” which seeks to develop a first generation fully automated cone laying vehicle which requires no personnel on the back of the vehicle. £1.133m is forecast to be spent in 2019/20 from a total project budget of £1.27m approved on 9th December 2018. There is a break point at the end of this financial year after completion of live testing of the automated cone laying vehicles. No funding was spent in previous financial years on automated traffic cone machines.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the designated Innovation Fund for development of automated traffic cone machines and associated technology, which recipients are awaiting funding; and how much funding each organisation is awaiting.
Answered by George Freeman
There are no projects or recipients awaiting funding to develop automated traffic cone machines and associated technology.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason Highways England has not responded to Jordan Products Ltd following the meeting of 21 June 2019 on Conemaster.
Answered by George Freeman
No contact has been received from Jordan Products Ltd since 21 June 2019. However, Highways England has been reviewing its position and would be happy to talk to Mr Jordan should he make contact.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department has not encouraged the use of approved automated traffic cone machine, Conemaster, on the strategic road network.
Answered by George Freeman
It is for Highways England and its suppliers to determine which cone deployment systems are used on the Strategic Road Network.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 introducing financial penalties for transport companies that fail to provide assistance for passengers who require such assistance.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government wants disabled people to be able to travel easily, confidently and without additional cost, and expects transport operators to play their part in making this happen.
Modal regulators play an important role in ensuring passengers receive the appropriate assistance, and we continue to consider measures to improve the experiences of passengers further. At present, however, we have no plans to apply financial penalties where they do not exist.
Responsibility for road and rail transport accessibility in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Blue Badge Scheme to include people with (a) Chron's Disease and (b) other Inflammatory bowel disease conditions.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Eligibility for a blue badge is not restricted to specific conditions. People with Chron's Disease and other Inflammatory bowel disease conditions could receive a badge if they meet the eligibility criteria. The aim of the new expanded criteria is to ensure that those with non-visible conditions with the greatest needs have equal access to badges.
It is for the relevant local authority to decide if an applicant meets the eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce (a) disposable and (b) non-recyclable waste on public transport services.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government is committed to reducing the adverse environmental impacts of transport. Reducing plastic and non-recyclable waste on public transport is predominantly a matter for transport operators. However, the Department for Transport (DfT) encourages improvements. For example, DfT sets targets in rail franchise agreements for operators to reduce waste to landfill and to increase the proportion of waste that is recycled.
Network Rail (NR) has installed drinking facilities in nine stations to reduce plastic waste and plans to introduce facilities to all other NR-managed stations. By the end of 2020, NR plans to ban retailers from supplying plastic cutlery and cups, implement a coffee cup recycling scheme, and expand the roll-out of coffee ground recycling to all NR-managed stations.