Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the scope of the Global Travel Taskforce’s report due to be published on 12 April 2021 on the reopening of international travel will include the cruise sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The successor to the Global Travel Taskforce report will consider a safe and sustainable return to international travel. It will include the cruise sector and will determine the timelines for international cruise restart.
The report’s recommendations will be aimed at facilitating a return to international travel as soon as is possible, while still managing risk from imported cases and variants of concern. The Taskforce will report on 12 April to the Prime Minister and will work with UK representatives of the travel sector, including cruise operators and trade associations. Following that, the Government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May.
I am in regular contact with the cruise sector and will engage with them once timelines have been determined.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the maritime industry on funding for feasibility projects relating to maritime decarbonisation.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
On 18 November the Prime Minister announced, as part of his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, £20 million for a Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition to develop clean maritime technology, such as feasibility studies on key sites. My officials and I have had preliminary discussions with representatives from the maritime sector concerning the commitments in the Ten Point Plan, including the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. Further information on the terms of the competition will be published in due course.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of UK ports on their role in contributing to the Government's net zero emissions target.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department has regular meetings at both Ministerial and Official level with individual ports and their trade representatives on wide a range of issues including decarbonisation.
The UK’s ports are covered by both the Net Zero 2050 target, and our national carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act. Ports will need to decarbonise alongside the wider UK economy.
Most recently I have met with the board members of the UK Major Ports Group, one of the two port trade associations in the UK, on the 27th of November. We discussed a range of issues of interest to the sector including decarbonisation.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to make rail fares more flexible for commuters in (a) St Austell and Newquay constituency and (b) throughout the UK to reflect the change in working patterns (i) during and (ii) after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Government recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a fundamental change in working patterns and that this could have long-term effects on commuter behaviours.
In response, the Department for Transport has proactively worked with the rail industry, and is currently considering proposals received from train operators, including Great Western Railway, to try to ensure better value and convenience for part-time and flexible commuters.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reform the regulations governing rail fares to reflect changes in working patterns throughout the UK.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government remains committed to modernising rail fares and ticketing and recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a fundamental change in working patterns which could have long-term effects on commuter behaviours. We are actively considering how we can modernise our fares and ticketing offer, to develop more convenient and better value options for passengers.
However, these are unprecedented times and our immediate focus is on ensuring that we keep the railway available and safe for those who rely upon it.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2020 to Question 84287 on Roads: Hedgehogs, what steps local highway authorities in England need to take to obtain the hedgehog warning signs announced by his Department on 17 June 2019.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Local highway authorities in England need to apply to the Department for an authorisation to use the small wild animal warning sign.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to the maritime sector as part of the economic recovery from covid-19.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The maritime sector plays a vital role in the UK economy and continues to provide vital freight and key worker services throughout the pandemic. However, as with many parts of the economy, it has faced significant disruption and challenges. That is why the Chancellor announced a £330bn package of financial support to support businesses and employees during these unprecedented times. In addition, the Department provided bespoke financial support to ensure that critical lifeline and freight services continued to operate through the most challenging period.
My Department is now working closely across the maritime sector on their restart plans identifying the support that is needed to enable the safe resumption and continued increase of services and operations. We are also working with the sector on a longer-term Maritime Recovery Plan which will build on the Maritime 2050 launched by the Government last year. The Recovery Plan will draw on the plans the industry has already provided and consider both fiscal and non-fiscal opportunities.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to decarbonise the maritime sector as part of meeting the net zero target by 2050.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is pursuing efforts at both domestic and international levels to decarbonise the maritime sector.
Domestically work has continued on delivering the ambition set out in the Clean Maritime Plan, including research into zero emissions clusters and consideration of the tax treatment of marine fuel as part of a wider Treasury initiative, and the Department is currently preparing a package of further, ambitious measures for inclusion in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Internationally, we are working with other high ambition States at the International Maritime Organization to agree ambitious measures to peak, and rapidly reducing emissions from the sector, in line with the IMO’s initial strategy on Greenhouse Gas.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the maritime sector on the level of funding required to decarbonise maritime.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My officials have regularly engaged with the UK maritime industry on this matter, particularly since the launch of the Clean Maritime Council, which was established in 2018 to ensure strong collaboration between Government, industry and academia on maritime decarbonisation. The Council underpinned the publication of the Clean Maritime Plan, which was published in July 2019 and made a number of recommendations relating to funding.
Key recommendations included the commitment by Government to funding a competition for innovation in clean maritime in 2019 and a round of Government grant support for early stage research projects in the same year. Both commitments have been delivered, with the Clean Maritime Call funding round having supported 24 green shipping projects and having been six-times oversubscribed.
Today my officials continue to engage with industry to develop a Covid-19 Recovery Plan for Maritime. The Recovery Plan will consider how economic recovery for the maritime sector can be aligned with the need to reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. Ensuring that we plan for a green recovery has been jointly identified by Government and industry as a top priority.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance he has issued to local councils on the introduction of hedgehog crossing signs.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport has not issued specific guidance to local authorities on the introduction of the hedgehog sign. General guidance on animal warning signs is provided in Chapter 4 of the Traffic Signs Manual.