Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2018 to Question 144821, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of cable theft incidents on railway infrastructure on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
On the Tyne and Wear Metro, British Transport Police (BTP) is responsible for policing the route and stations from Pelaw to South Hylton, with Northumbria Police having responsibility for the rest of the network, which makes up the majority.
There are monthly partnership meetings between BTP, Tyne & Wear Metro and Northumbria Police to review crime levels on the network. BTP assesses that the trend for the level of theft of cable crimes recorded has been stable over the last five years.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Nexus on the (a) procurement, (b) delivery and (c) roll-out of the new fleet of trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Nexus provide the Department for Transport with regular updates on this procurement work as part of its regular reporting. Nexus are responsible for the management of the procurement, delivery and rollout of the new fleet of trains.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the proposed new fleet of Metro rolling stock will be introduced onto the network by 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Nexus provide the Department for Transport with regular updates on this procurement work as part of its regular reporting. Nexus are responsible for the management of the procurement, delivery and rollout of the new fleet of trains.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department has provide to (a) South Tyneside and (b) Gateshead local authorities for the repair and maintenance of potholes.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided South Tyneside Local Highway Authority £6.567 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £0.417 million from the Pothole Action Fund to allow the repair of potholes or stop them forming in the first place.
The Government has provided Gateshead Local Highway Authority £11.478 million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 for local highways maintenance. This funding includes £0.626 million from the Pothole Action Fund.
The Department for Transport announced in January 2017 that it is undertaking an innovative trial on the way potholes are identified and managed, working in partnership with Thurrock, York and Wiltshire councils and two private sector SMEs, Soenecs and Gaist. This trial allows high-definition cameras to be mounted to refuse collection vehicles and by deploying innovative intelligent software will identify road surface problems before they become potholes. The trial recently won an award for the best use of new technology in the highways sector.
The Government announced in March 2018 that it is investing more than £900,000 in innovations using connected vehicles to help councils manage and plan maintenance works more efficiently. These trials will ultimately help to provide councils with data to enable them to repair potholes before they occur as well as to maintain their other assets more effectively as part of their asset management plans.
The Department for Transport is also providing funding to the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to work on technological and innovative improvements to future-proof the local road network.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle cable theft on railway infrastructure in (a) Tyne and Wear, (b) North East England and (c) the UK.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
British Transport Police (BTP) engages in regular enforcement activity to combat cable theft, as well as joint working with partner agencies such as local police forces, local authorities, the environment agency and other stakeholders such as HMRC, VOSA and Network Rail.
BTP response teams in the North East continue to focus patrol and investigative resources in cable theft hotspots. BTP is using a number of tactics, both covert and overt, to investigate these offences. BTP also uses technological solutions to combat cable theft.
Within the last fortnight three suspects in the Hartlepool Area have been arrested for cable theft and the matter is being investigated.
Asked by: Stephen Hepburn (Independent - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2018 to Question 129752 on A19: Accidents, if he will publish the information for 2017.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Figures for 2017 will be published later this year.