Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the decision-making process which resulted in the £30 million investment in the Garden Bridge Trust through an increase in block grant to Transport for London.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
An initial decision to provide £30m towards the Garden Bridge project was taken by the former Chancellor on the condition that certain requirements were met. The transfer of £30m to Transport for London was instigated once the proposal had been considered by the Department’s business investment committee. The National Audit Office carried out an investigation into the funding and reported in 2016.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £30 million grant to the Garden Bridge Trust has been spent to date; and whether any funding allocated to that project has been returned to his Department.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Spend on pre-construction activity on the Garden Bridge project was capped at £13.5m. The former Secretary of State for Transport agreed that a further £9m could be spent on cancellation liabilities should the project not go ahead. Following cancellation of the project, the Garden Bridge Trust has submitted a claim for around £5m of cancellation liabilities. The final spend figure will be known after the standstill period of 3 months (from 13 February) which allows for any final remaining claims to come forward. We do not expect any remaining claims to be substantial. Therefore we expect the total spend to be around £18.5m with £11.5m returned to the Department once the claim is settled.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons his Department decided to increase the cap on the amount of funding between February and May 2016 for the Garden Bridge Trust that could be used for pre-construction activity.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
A decision was taken by the former Transport Minister to allow an increase in pre-construction spend to £13.5m to allow the Garden Bridge Trust to carry out essential activities related to the construction of the Bridge.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on (a) noise pollution and (b) air pollution that would be caused by the changes to flight paths proposed under the Heathrow Airspace and Future Operations Consultation.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Appraisal of Sustainability[1] that accompanies the Airports National Policy Statement provides a strategic level assessment of the potential noise and air pollution impacts, based on indicative flight paths.
If expansion proceeds, the exact noise and pollution impacts will depend on the final flight path design which must be approved through the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Airspace Change Process.
This regulatory process will provide further opportunities for stakeholders to be informed by, and comment on, more detailed flightpath proposals. The process also requires that the feedback received by the sponsor of the change is taken into consideration fully before the final proposal is submitted to the CAA for regulatory approval.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Consultation on the use of section 19 and section 22 permits for road passenger transport in Great Britain, published by his Department on 8 January 2018, whether the exemptions in that consultation are intended to (a) not compel Scout groups to purchase public service vehicle licences and (b) allow them to continue using Section 19 licences when delivering services.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
There is wide variation between permit holders and the work that they do which means that this Department cannot comment on individual circumstances.
However, as the Honourable Member will be aware, there is an exemption for operators who have a main occupation other than that of road passenger transport.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on making wi-fi available on Southern Rail services.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Govia Thameslink Railway introduced wi-fi access at 104 of its stations in March last year. We understand that Southern Rail is making good progress in regards to on-board wi-fi and will announce further details in due course.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Southern Rail compensation scheme announced by his Department on 2 December 2016 extends to passengers who use contactless cards to travel.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As we announced in December, Southern’s Season ticket holders are able to claim a refund for the equivalent of a month’s (4 weeks) travel. Passengers who pay for their journey by contactless cards (i.e. credit/debit cards) are not season ticket holders and therefore are not eligible to claim under this scheme. However, the majority of commuters on Southern are season ticket holders.
Passengers using contactless card, and those who purchase day tickets, can claim through the Delay Repay system, which was enhanced on the whole of GTR from 11 December to Delay Repay 15.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Southern Rail to ensure that passengers who pay with contactless cards are able to receive enhanced compensation under the terms of the scheme announced by his Department on 2 December 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As we announced in December, Southern’s Season ticket holders are able to claim a refund for the equivalent of a month’s (4 weeks) travel. Passengers who pay for their journey by contactless cards (i.e. credit/debit cards) are not season ticket holders and therefore are not eligible to claim under this scheme. However the majority of commuters on Southern are season ticket holders.
Passengers using contactless card, and those who purchase day tickets, can claim through the Delay Repay system, which was enhanced on the whole of GTR from 11 December to Delay Repay 15.