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Written Question
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken with relevant authorities to improve the condition of roads in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is providing an unprecedented £8.3 billion of additional funding over this year and the next decade to local highways authorities in England to enable them to transform the condition of their local roads. £150 million of this has already been allocated in 2023/24 with a further £150 million to follow in 2024/25. All of this has been made possible by reallocating funds that would have otherwise been spent on the HS2 programme.

The Romford constituency is in the London Borough of Havering, which will receive a minimum of £10.4 million of additional funding over the 11-year period. £333,000 of that has been allocated in 2023/24 with a further £333,000 to follow in 2024/25. All funding allocations can be found on gov.uk.


Written Question
Railways: Finance
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 25 November 2020 to Question 120953 on Network Rail: Finance and pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2024 to Question 18100 on Railways: Finance, what assessment he has made of the causes of the differential in the rail enhancements budget for 2019 to 2024.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The answer provided 25 November 2020 to Question 120953 on “Network Rail: Finance” referred to the budget for rail enhancements during the years 2019-2024. The answer provided 12 March 2024 to Question 18100 on “Railways: Finance” referred to the spend on rail enhancements in each year of that period. The comparison is therefore of a budget, stated as £9.4bn after Spending Review 2020, to the spend against that budget estimated at £8.63bn over the same period. There is no differential in the rail enhancements budget implied by that comparison. The difference in the figures comes from a degree of underspending against budget in each year of the first 4 years of the period.


Written Question
Avanti West Coast: Contracts
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the decision of the Transport for the North Board to write to him requesting the end of the Avanti West Coast contract.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The challenges faced on the West Coast will remain regardless of the operator, including longstanding restrictive working practices which require the agreement of unions to amend. To place West Coast Partnership under the Operator of Last Resort would remove the opportunity to retain private sector expertise in both the West Coast as an operator and in the HS2 Shadow Operator function. A full response will be provided to the Transport for the North Board in due course.


Written Question
Shipping: Conditions of Employment
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to help ensure greater job security for seafarers in the last two years.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In July 2023 we launched the Seafarers’ Charter, which among other measures requires that operators who obtain full Charter status do not use voyage contracts except in exceptional circumstances. This means that seafarers aboard ships run by a Charter operator can be confident that in most cases after their period of time aboard a vessel has ended, they will continue to have work without needing to reapply. I am pleased that 5 of the 6 major international ferry companies operating from the UK have now committed to meeting the Charter requirements.

Examples of ‘exceptional circumstances’ might be if a seafarer has been taken ill and the operator needs to bring someone onboard at short notice to cover the position, or if a piece of machinery has broken and they brought an additional seafarer onboard to fix it while it the vessel was underway.

We continue to work to improve seafarer protections in the UK and around the world.


Written Question
Delivery Services: Driving
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Home Office on tackling the matter of delivery drivers who are in the UK illegally.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

DfT ministers and officials engage with the Home Office on this matter. The Department sits on the cross-government ministerial Taskforce on Immigration Enforcement, which ensures that every available power across government is utilised to support law enforcement activity to identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK, and ensures only those eligible can work, receive benefits or access public services. The Department and its agencies continue to support the Home Office on the wider issue of illegal working in the UK.


Written Question
Roads: Subsidence
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of risk of damage to public highways from subsidence caused by global warming; what is the current budget for repairs following subsidence; and what grants are available to private landowners for such repairs.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Chapter 4 of the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment Technical Report assesses the climate-related risks and opportunities to infrastructure in the UK. Part 4.8 of that document considers the risks to subterranean and surface infrastructure from subsidence.

National Highways is responsible for the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the Strategic Road Network, funded by the Government in 5-year roads periods with objectives set out in Road Investment Strategies. The second Road Investment Strategy (2020-2025) includes action to enhance all-weather resilience of the strategic road network, to minimise the risk of incidents and their impact for road users. National Highways also reports under the adaptation reporting power of the Climate Change Act 2008 on what it is doing to check climate resilience against the latest Met Office Climate Projections and undertake actions to improve resilience across its network. The next round of adaptation reporting closes at the end of 2024.

In respect of local roads, the Department is providing over £5.5 billion of highways maintenance funding between 2020/21 – 2024/25 for eligible highway authorities outside London and those receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS). This funding is not ring-fenced, and authorities may choose to use it to maintain their network, including repairs to the highway following subsidence and actions to make networks more resilient to changing weather patterns. The Government has also announced that it will provide an additional £8.3 billion of reallocated HS2 funds over this year and the next decade to help authorities to transform their highway networks.

The Department for Transport does not provide grants to private landowners for repairing subsidence damage.


Written Question
Public Transport: Tickets
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for introducing contactless ticketing in Southend West constituency.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We have announced that Contactless Pay as you go (PAYG) ticketing will be rolled out to Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea in during 2024. This is part of our commitment to rollout contactless PAYG to more stations across the south east. Further details on the exact date for launch will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Motorcycles: Licensing
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Motorcycle Industry Association and Zemo Partnership report Realising the Full Potential of Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles: A Joint Action Plan for Government and Industry, published in February 2022, what steps they are taking to simplify the licensing regime for mopeds and motorcycles.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government welcomes and is open to discussing ideas for reform of the existing licensing regime for powered light vehicles known as L category vehicles where they do not compromise safety standards.

While there are not currently any plans to reform L category licenses, Ministers and officials have met with motorcycle stakeholder representatives to listen to and discuss various motorcycle initiatives, including ideas for reform. The Minister for Road Transport will meet with the MCIA and other motorcycle stakeholders in a roundtable format on 8 May to this and other issues.


Written Question
Motorcycles: Licensing
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposals to simplify the licensing regime for powered light vehicles contained in the Motorcycle Industry Association report A Licence to Net Zero: Unleashing Our Potential, License Reform Essential: L-Category Licensing Reform Proposals, published in October 2023.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government welcomes and is open to discussing ideas for reform of the existing licensing regime for powered light vehicles known as L category vehicles where they do not compromise safety standards.

While there are not currently any plans to reform L category licenses, Ministers and officials have met with motorcycle stakeholder representatives to listen to and discuss various motorcycle initiatives, including ideas for reform. The Minister for Road Transport will meet with the MCIA and other motorcycle stakeholders in a roundtable format on 8 May to this and other issues.


Written Question
Motorcycles: Licensing
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will announce a timeline for a full-scale licensing review for mopeds, motorcycles and other powered light vehicles, and if so when, .

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government welcomes and is open to discussing ideas for reform of the existing licensing regime for powered light vehicles known as L category vehicles where they do not compromise safety standards.

While there are not currently any plans to reform L category licenses, Ministers and officials have met with motorcycle stakeholder representatives to listen to and discuss various motorcycle initiatives, including ideas for reform. The Minister for Road Transport will meet with the MCIA and other motorcycle stakeholders in a roundtable format on 8 May to this and other issues.