Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether he has made a recent comparative assessment of the effectiveness of outreach work being carried out by the House of Commons and the House of Lords to encourage people to take up apprenticeships in either House.
Answered by Tom Brake
Staff from the House Service work closely with the providers and the House of Commons recruitment team to ensure vacancies are published to as broad an audience as possible. Staff are also working alongside Amazing Apprenticeships who work with over 3,500 schools and colleges nationally to reach those who may not instantly think the House of Commons is for them, by creating a short film which will tour schools in time for National Apprenticeship Week this year.
Staff will be attending a recruitment fair in Newham during National Apprenticeship Week and, with Newham College, staff are attending local jobs fairs aimed at 16–24 year olds over the coming months.
In addition, the House of Commons’ first apprentice ambassador will be speaking at school events across London, talking about her experience as an apprentice at the House of Commons and her career with us since. A House representative will also be speaking at an event for teachers and careers advisors to engage them with the work of Parliament and the opportunities for their students.
We also hold a biannual recruitment fair which gives us an opportunity to speak to visitors about the House of Commons apprenticeships as well as the wider roles available.
The House of Commons is working closely with the House of Lords, the Parliamentary Digital Service and our providers to share learning and where possible work together on outreach.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether public transport providers are taking steps to ensure that patients and staff can get to NHS hospital sites in England as safely, conveniently and economically as possible.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The bus market in England outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision are primarily a matter for bus operators, although local authorities do support socially necessary routes that are not commercially viable.
The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services. We are working with local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the accessibility by public transport of hospitals in rural areas.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Bus Services Act 2017 will enable local authorities to take steps to improve service and grow passenger numbers. This could include introducing multi operator tickets, improved vehicle standards and better connections between transport modes, employment and housing. In terms of access to hospitals via public transport, the most recent statistics show that around 94% of the population of England can reach a large hospital within an hour by public transport or walking in urban areas. In rural areas this falls to around 59% of the population.
More generally the Government is committed to making the transport system, in urban and rural areas, accessible to all users irrespective of the reason for or destination of the journey. The draft Accessibility Action Plan, published for consultation last year, set out a number of steps we will be taking across transport modes.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the accessibility by public transport of hospitals outside London.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Bus Services Act 2017 will enable local authorities to take steps to improve service and grow passenger numbers. This could include introducing multi operator tickets, improved vehicle standards and better connections between transport modes, employment and housing. In terms of access to hospitals via public transport, the most recent statistics show that around 94% of the population of England can reach a large hospital within an hour by public transport or walking in urban areas. In rural areas this falls to around 59% of the population.
More generally, the Government is committed to making the transport system accessible to all users irrespective of the reason for or destination of the journey. The draft Accessibility Action Plan, published for consultation last year, set out a number of steps we will be taking across transport modes.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatal accidents occurred on the M11 motorway section in the Harlow constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Number of fatal accidents on the M11 motorway for each year since 2010 in the Harlow constituency is as follows:
2010 – 1
2011 – 0
2012 – 0
2013 – 0
2014 – 0
2015 – 0
2016 – 1
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatal accidents occurred on the M11 motorway in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Numbers of fatal accidents on the M11 motorway for each year since 2010 are as follows:
2010 – 3
2011 – 1
2012 – 1
2013 – 1
2014 – 2
2015 – 5
2016 – 1
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the European Fuel Quality Directive Article 7a (a) on petrol prices and (b) generally.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government takes the environmental implications of exploiting high carbon intensity crudes very seriously and fully supports the aim of the Fuel Quality Directive to reduce carbon emissions. We also believe that the accounting methodology must be proportionate in the burden placed on suppliers. The European Commission's proposals for a greenhouse gas intensity accounting methodology to implement Article 7a failed to receive agreement in 2012, and we await the publication of a revised proposal and impact assessment.
The Department consulted on measures to implement Article 7(a –e) of the Directive between March and June 2011. The core costs envisaged in the impact assessment relate to putting in place a 6% greenhouse gas emissions savings target to 2020, the supply of biofuels and other compliance measures required to achieve these reductions. The costs of delivering such measures are subject to a very high degree of uncertainty given that EU negotiations on key elements for implementing the Directive have not yet concluded. Based on a range of provisional assumptions, it was estimated that, relative to the cost of policy currently in place, the impact in 2020 would be an increase of 0.5 pence per litre on petrol and 2.5 pence per litre on road diesel. A full analysis is presented in the impact assessment published on 10 March 2011 which can be found at:
The UK has not yet set a trajectory for biofuel supply to meet the 6% greenhouse gas emissions savings target required in 2020. Any associated increase in targets for the supply of biofuel and other compliance measures would be the subject of a further consultation and a revised impact assessment which would carefully consider the impact on the motorist and the environment.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money has been spent on repairing potholes in (a) Harlow and (b) Essex since 2004.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport provides capital funding to local highway authorities, including Essex County Council, from the local highways maintenance capital block grant. Harlow falls within Essex County Council's area of responsibility and therefore we do not allocate any funds directly to the Borough Council for road maintenance.
Since 2004 the Department has allocated the following amounts to Essex for highway maintenance:
| Year | £m |
| 2004/05 | 12.626 |
| 2005/06 | 15.782 |
| 2006/07 | 16.682 |
| 2007/08 | 22.428 |
| 2008/09 | 20.706 |
| 2009/10 | 21.361 |
| 2010/11 | 20.959 |
| 2011/12 | 20.728 |
| 2012/13 | 19.838 |
| 2013/14 | 22.482* |
| 2014/15 | 19.873* |
* includes the top up announced in the 2012 Autumn Statement.
The Department also allocated additional funding to authorities to help repair roads damaged by various weather events and this included a further £2.116 million to Essex County Council in 2010/11 and £5.301 million in March 2011. More recently the Department for Transport has agreed to allocate over £2.7 million due to the severe wet weather the country has encountered.
A £200 million Pothole Fund was announced in the Budget on 19 March 2014. From this, £168 million is being made available to councils in England through a bidding exercise. Further details on the fund will be made available in the coming weeks.
Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways. Neither capital nor revenue highways maintenance funding is ring-fenced and it is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services they provide.
The Department for Transport does not centrally hold information on what proportion of this funding is spent by Essex County Council on repairing potholes.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefits to children's safety of road crossing patrollers.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government firmly believes in localism and providing local authorities with powers to introduce measures to deal with local needs and conditions. Local authorities will invariably have a strategy to improve road safety and will prioritise their road network based on the need to reduce casualties.
The provision of the school crossing patrol service is a matter for the local authority. Legislation gives them the power to make arrangements for the patrolling of places where children cross roads on their way to or from school, but does not impose a duty on them to do so. Funding decisions are also a matter for the local authority based on their local needs and priorities.
It is for the Council to assess the crossing situation and determine a course of action as it is in this situation. In some cases, if the authority agrees that children from a particular school need help in crossing a busy road but have not recruited anyone, they have to think about finding other ways of making the crossing safer - for example, by putting in a pedestrian crossing.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent on road crossing patrollers in (a) Essex and (b) Harlow constituency in the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department does not hold records of the amount spent on school crossing patrol services in each local authority.