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Written Question
Tourism: Kent
Thursday 26th May 2022

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the economic impact of the planned closures of the M2 motorway between junctions 5 and 6 at weekends in (a) spring and (b) summer 2022 on tourist industries in the seaside towns of (i) Whitstable, (ii) Herne Bay, (iii) Birchington-on-Sea, (iv) Westgate-on-Sea, (v) Margate, (vi) Broadstairs and (vii) Ramsgate.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The closures are required to carry out essential replacement of life-expired bridge components. The Department does not, as standard practice, carry out economic impact assessments for road closures. However, National Highways has agreed the planned closures in consultation with Kent County Council and timed them to avoid school holidays and major events in the local area.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of new trade deals on the import and export volumes that will require air freight transportation.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of future GDP growth on air freight tonnage for (a) imports into and (b) exports from the UK.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of UK airfreight infrastructure required to accommodate (a) dedicated freighter aircraft using UK runway capacity, (b) belly freight on passenger aircraft served by existing UK airports and (c) airfreight trucked to or from EU airports.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the air freight capacity available at (a) Heathrow (b) Stansted and (c) East Midlands airports.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the annual tonnage of air freight that is (a) trucked from the UK to EU airports for onward carriage by air and (b) flown into EU airports and then trucked onwards into the UK.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what modelling his Department has made of levels of future air freight volumes to and from the UK up to 2050.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Aviation: Freight
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of internet sales on demand for air freight services.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Department actively monitors the passage of air freight in and out of the UK and engages regularly with industry including airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The Government recognises the vital role air freight plays in supply chains by ensuring that essential goods can continue to be brought into and out of the UK without disruption. The sector is highly resilient and exclusively private. In 2017 air freight contributed £7.2 billion to the UK economy.


Written Question
Pedestrians: Accidents
Thursday 11th July 2019

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pedestrians were involved in road traffic accidents while using a mobile phone in the last year for which figures are available.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The department does not collect data specifically on mobile phone use for pedestrians involved in road accidents. The department collects data on personal injury road accidents reported to the police, including contributory factors which the police select when they attend the scene. This does not assign blame for the accident but gives an indication of factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident.

In 2017, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 2,490 road accidents involving pedestrians where the contributory factor of ‘Pedestrian careless, reckless or in a hurry’ was allocated to an injured or killed pedestrian, and 35 where this factor was allocated to an uninjured pedestrian in Great Britain.

This contributory factor includes cases where the pedestrian either behaved in a negligent or thoughtless manner or was in a hurry and, therefore, behaved in an unsafe manner. It also includes cases where a pedestrian was distracted (e.g. using a mobile phone).

Statistics on the number of accidents involving pedestrians by contributory factor assigned to pedestrians are available in table RAS50004: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/743098/ras50004.ods.


Written Question
Manston Airport
Wednesday 27th March 2019

Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will confirm the commitment given by his Department to reinstate Manston Airport following the cessation of the use of that airfield as a potential lorry park after the UK leaves the EU.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Town and Country Planning (Manston Airport) Special Development Order 2019 came into force on 24 January 2019, updating the SDO from 2015, and extends planning permission for the use of Manston as an emergency lorry holding facility until 31 December 2020.

S.5(2) of the Order states that the land must be restored to its condition before the date of the Order coming into force, prior to the Order expiring on 31 December 2020. The Department will do this.