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Written Question
Bus Services: Visual Impairment
Tuesday 7th February 2017

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve access to bus services for people who are visually impaired.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) have achieved a step-change in the accessibility of local bus services, including for visually impaired people who benefit from the priority seating, colour-contrasting step edges and hand-holds that it requires. Around 94% of buses in England now comply with the requirements of the PSVAR.

The Bus Services Bill, which is currently before Parliament, includes powers to introduce an Accessible Information Requirement, for local buses throughout Great Britain to provide audible and visible next stop announcements.

I am also preparing to launch a consultation on the Accessibility Action Plan (AAP) which is a cross modal plan to build on our social inclusion agenda by reducing barriers to disabled people accessing transport services.

Written Question
Bus Services: Disability
Tuesday 7th February 2017

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the options available to increase the provision of audio-visual information on buses.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Bus Services Bill includes powers to introduce an Accessible Information Requirement, for local buses throughout Great Britain to provide audible and visible next stop announcements. The impact assessment for these new powers considered a number of options to increase the provision of audio-visual information on buses and is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561964/bus-services-bill-accessibility-information-requirement-annex-a.pdf

Written Question
Motor Vehicles: Ownership
Tuesday 18th October 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds data on the level of motor vehicle ownership in (a) England and (b) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last five years.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The numbers of vehicles registered in England and in the Middlesbrough and East Cleveland constituency at the end of each of the last five years are as follows:-

Year

Licensed vehicles (thousands)

Mid year Population Estimates (thousands)

Vehicles per 1000 population

(a) England

2011

29,069

53,107

547

2012

29,275

53,494

547

2013

29,692

53,866

551

2014

30,361

54,317

559

2015

31,047

54,786

567

(b) Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland

2011

48.2

92.8

520

2012

48.4

92.6

523

2013

48.8

92.5

528

2014

49.9

92.7

539

2015

50.3

1

1

Vehicle statistics are derived from the DVLA vehicle register. This is an operational database used to handle the licensing of vehicles registered in the United Kingdom. The number of vehicles are those where the address of the registered keeper is located in (a) England and (b) within the Middlesbrough and East Cleveland constituency. Mid year population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics. 1. figures for 2015 are not yet available.

Written Question
Transport: Infrastructure
Thursday 30th June 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of the British steel industry to future transport infrastructure projects in the UK.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

The Department has been working closely with BIS, Cabinet Office and industry to consider how Government can help the UK steel industry meet the challenges it has been facing.

The bulk of infrastructure projects within the Department are being delivered by the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALB), in particular, Network Rail, Highways England and HS2. Cabinet Office guidance on the approach to steel procurement has been circulated to the Accounting Officers of each ALB and procurement and commercial teams within these organisations are aware of the need to:

  • Signal the future pipeline of requirements on steel sourcing and best practice in pre-procurement market engagement;

  • Ensure there is clear visibility of opportunities at sub-contractor level where the source of steel has not been defined by a Tier 1 contractor;

  • Assess the health and sustainability of potential suppliers in the supply chain at selection stage, including compliance with relevant health and safety and employment legislation;

  • Ensure that the price or cost calculations are based on an assessment of the whole-life cost and not lowest purchase price;

  • Take account of appropriate social and environmental impacts at the award stage where they are linked to the subject of the contract.

As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain for the majority of our infrastructure projects. The Department and its ALBs are complying with the Cabinet Office guidance and ensuring that, for instance, where appropriate, assessment of social and environmental impacts are considered as part of the evaluation criteria. The Department and its ALBs also positively encourage bids from British companies and are holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to win contracts.

Activity currently underway is as follows:


Network Rail

  • Network Rail buys approximately 120,000 tonnes of steel for rails per annum directly from British Steel in Scunthorpe, which is around 96% of Network Rail’s total aggregated demand by value.

Highways England

  • Highways England does not procure steel materials directly, however over the last five years Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network.

  • To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from British Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.

Crossrail

  • The 57km of steel required for the rails of Crossrail’s brand new central tunnel section is being sourced entirely from British Steel in Scunthorpe. This equates to 7,000 tonnes of steel.

  • Crossrail Ltd does not directly procure steel as this is undertaken by their tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. However, Crossrail keeps an oversight of its critical contracts and estimates that 85% of its supply chain providing steel to the project is UK based.

HS2

  • It is estimated that HS2 will need approximately 2 million tonnes of steel over the next 10 years. The procurement for the main civil engineering works between Euston and Birmingham is now underway with procurements for the stations and rail systems expected to commence later this year and for rolling stock in early 2017. Subject to Royal Assent, the project will start construction in 2017.

  • As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain. HS2 positively encourages bids from British companies and is already holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to complete for contracts for the steel that will be needed for track, concrete reinforcements, overhead wires and other structures.
Written Question
Bridges: Tees Valley
Wednesday 15th June 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 9.2.7 of the report by Lord Heseltine, Tees Valley: opportunity unlimited, published in June 2016, if he will make it his policy to provide a new strategic road Tees crossing.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The first Road Investment Strategy (RIS) recognises that tackling congestion on the A19 is a priority and includes a scheme to widen the A19 between the A1027 (Norton) and A689 (Wynyard).

In addition, the Tees Valley Combined Authority and the local authorities are working in partnership with Highways England to identify options for a new crossing of the Tees to enhance the road network. The Combined Authority has made a bid to the Department’s Large Majors scheme for 2016/17 to develop proposals. The results of bids into this fund are due to be published in July 2016.

Highways England has begun gathering evidence to support the development of the second RIS period which commences in 2020/21. The evidence from Lord Heseltine’s Report will be taken into account in this process.

Written Question
Railways: Electrification
Monday 13th June 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the inclusion of the Northallerton to Teesport line in the rail electrification scheme.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is an ambitious and challenging programme which is due to be delivered by December 2022. There are currently no plans within this scope to electrify the line between Northallerton and Teesport. However, this does not preclude the thinking of future electrification as a further phase following the delivery of the current scope in 2022.

I can confirm that the current assumption for services between Manchester and Middlesbrough is that these will operated by new bi-mode trains i.e. capable of diesel and electric operation. The new bi-mode will offer significant journey time savings for passengers on this route.

Written Question
Railway Stations: Disability
Wednesday 27th April 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on increasing the number of wheelchair accessible stations from street to platform level at National Rail and London Underground stations.

Answered by Claire Perry

We take improving station accessibility very seriously and the Access for All programme has delivered step free access at over 150 stations with a further 68 projects in construction or development. In addition, whenever infrastructure work is carried out at stations it must meet current accessibility standards. For example, when Crossrail fully opens in 2019, all 40 stations on the route will also have step free access.

Step free access to London Underground is a matter for Transport for London, but I understand that 66 Tube stations and 57 London Overground stations currently have step-free access, and Docklands Light Railway stations are all step-free.

Written Question
Bus Services: Disability
Wednesday 27th April 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that broken accessibility equipment on buses is considered as a priority for repair.

Answered by Andrew Jones

From 1 January 2016 all single-deck buses designed to carry over twenty-two passengers on local and scheduled routes must comply with the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR), which require them to incorporate a wheelchair space and boarding facility, priority seating and other features to make journeys easier for a range of disabled people. Double deckers must comply by January 2017, and coaches by 2020.

Currently 89% of buses are compliant, and last year just 47 of the 7,343 public service vehicles subject to routine checks were found to have PSVAR related defects. Operators of vehicles found to be non-compliant are required to rectify faults promptly or risk enforcement action.

We expect all operators to comply with the law and are working with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to ensure it continues to be enforced effectively.

Written Question
Bus Services: Disability
Wednesday 27th April 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that bus operators educate their drivers on wheelchair use of the accessible space on buses.

Answered by Andrew Jones

Buses subject to the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) must incorporate a designated wheelchair space.

Priorities for the use of this facility are currently the subject of proceedings at the Supreme Court.

The assistance provided by drivers can be key to giving many disabled people the confidence to travel by bus however, and we have asked Mott MacDonald to review disability-awareness training from across the transport sector to inform the development of best practice guidance for bus operators. Our aim is to ensure that every bus driver has the skills and knowledge to provide disabled customers with a first class service.

Written Question
Bus Services: North East
Monday 11th April 2016

Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of bus services in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Teesside.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions about the provision of subsidised services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.

The Government is committed to supporting bus services in England. We are taking forward a Buses bill to provide local authorities with the tools they need to improve local bus services.