Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she had with relevant local authorities on decisions relating to the MV Ruby in Great Yarmouth port.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers and senior officials worked with their counterparts from the relevant local authorities throughout the time MV Ruby was docked at Great Yarmouth.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will clarify the decision making process behind the decision to transfer MV Ruby's cargo of ammonia nitrate into the North Sea; and who was responsible for that decision.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The East of England Environment Group comprising a range of scientific experts and regulators, considered the options, including socio-economic impacts, and a recommended site was agreed for disposal. This site is a live aggregate dredging area, over 20 metres deep with no anticipated impacts on sensitive habitats or ecosystem features.
The ship's master made the ultimate decision to discharge the ammonium nitrate due to force majeure and the risks posed to the crew and ship by an incoming weather front.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the MV Ruby's cargo of ammonia nitrate was tested for contamination.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The port provided the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with the information required to verify the potential contamination and therefore no certification was required.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish all documents relating to plans to evacuate Great Yarmouth constituency due to the docking of the MV Ruby.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions regarding evacuation of local populations are taken based on the local assessment of risk and impacts by local authorities and local emergency services cooperating as a Strategic Coordination Group (SCG) to ensure an effective local response.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Seven officials have been hired by the Department at AO and EO grades via the Civil Service ‘Going Forward into Employment’ schemes in the last financial year.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) cost of building HS2 and (b) impact of HS2 on economic growth in the next 10 years; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the lessons learned from the construction of Crossrail.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
HS2 has faced increases in costs since delivery started and this needs to end and the programme must be brought under control. The Secretary of State has asked Mark Wild, the new CEO of HS2 Ltd, to review the remaining scope, the cost and schedule needed to complete phase 1 of the programme, and advise the government on what is needed.
Despite its challenges, HS2 is delivering, and will deliver long-term benefits for people and places. The programme is currently supporting over 31,700 jobs, and it will support wider economic growth, including the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes. A report commissioned by HS2, ‘From Trains to Cranes’, included analysis estimating that HS2 will drive a £10 billion annual uplift within the West Midlands area over the next 10 years (https://www.hs2.org.uk/about-us/our-documents/from-trains-to-cranes-hs2-and-the-west-midlands-development-boom/).
Action is being taken to learn lessons from Phase 1 of HS2, as well as previous programmes such as Crossrail. The Department has commissioned an independent review of the governance and assurance of the Department’s major infrastructure projects, drawing primarily on the experiences of HS2. The review, which is led by James Stewart, is part of the Department’s on-going programme of work to learn lessons from HS2 and its other major projects, such as Crossrail.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many international (a) air miles and (b) flights have been completed by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in their Department since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Data on minister’s overseas travel and on senior civil servant’s business expenses is published on a quarterly basis. This can be found here:
Information for the period July to October is due for publication shortly.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that women can only be strip-searched by British Transport Police officers who were female at birth.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police (BTP) is operationally independent. Chief Constables must ensure that their force policies comply with all legal obligations, including under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and Equalities Act 2010.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of people affected by train delays in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold information on the number of people affected by train delays. Rail industry data measures train delays. The Office of Rail and Road publishes quarterly and periodic (four-weekly) statistics on punctuality, reliability and causes of delay for passenger trains operating on the mainline network in Great Britain.
This data set includes the percentage of recorded station stops that were arrived at ‘On Time’ (early or less than one minute after the scheduled time).
Table: Proportion of recorded station stops that were arrived at ‘On Time’, Great Britain
2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
64.5% | 63.2% | 62.0% | 62.8% | 63.5% | 65.0% | 79.8% | 73.1% | 67.8% | 67.6% |
Source: Table 3138 - Train punctuality at recorded station stops by operator (periodic), Office of Rail and Road Note: Financial year ending 31 March
These statistics can be found on the passenger rail performance data portal at the following link:
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will provide a breakdown by place of birth of all new driving licence applications in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost as a scan of the DVLA’s driving licence database and subsequent manual scrutiny and organisation of the data would be necessary to obtain the information requested.