Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many positions in her Department included (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity and (d) equality in their job title in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the salaries of each such job was in each of those years.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not routinely collate information on specific words and collating this information would come at a disproportionate cost. Information on spending and staffing can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce violence against women and girls on public transport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. Achieving this means concerted work on prevention and overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes.
The Department for Transport is working across government to address these issues. We are also piloting Transport Safety Officers in five areas in England, including officers specifically trained to respond to incidents of VAWG.
The Department also continues to work closely with transport partners, including the British Transport Police, on a range of initiatives to address the problems faced by all passengers, on the transport network. This includes the Railway Guardian app which provides safety advice, links to partner organisations and enables reporting of incidents to the force directly. BTP uses specialist teams of plain clothed and uniformed officers across the network to target and identify offenders. It also uses enhanced patrols, with a directed, intelligence-led focus around the nighttime economy, providing high visibility presence to reassure rail staff and the public.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) signalling safety, (b) service reliability and (c) maintenance on the West Coast Mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is clear that performance on the West Coast Main Line has not been good enough with too many cancellations and delays.
Ministers recently met with the Managing Director of Avanti West Coast and the Network Rail West Coast South Route Director to challenge them on poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements relating to service reliability. Ministers will be meeting them again next month to follow-up and to ensure progress.
In their capacity as the independent safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road has not raised any concerns regarding signalling safety on the West Coast Mainline.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the Aylesbury spur of the East-West Rail link for the (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) UK economy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Along with East West Rail Company and Network Rail, the Department for Transport is considering the merits of providing an East West Rail link to Aylesbury, and shared both cost information and the results of business case analysis with the local authority. A final decision will be made in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish the memorandum of understanding between (a) her Department, (b) Transport for London and (c) the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the cost of the Hammersmith Bridge repairs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A Memorandum of Understanding on the split of responsibilities for the repair of Hammersmith Bridge was drafted but not agreed in 2021. However, the Department has continued to work productively with both LBHF and TfL and has contributed almost £13m towards the Hammersmith Bridge restoration project to-date. A reconvened Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce is currently being organised, which will help to move this project forward.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve transport links in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department is committed to improving transport links in West Yorkshire, and across the country. West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has been allocated £830m of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements funding over a five-year period, to help transform local transport into an integrated and inclusive network. Included in the investment is £160m set aside for mass transit development in West Yorkshire.
WYCA has also received £13.373m of additional Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding for 2024/2025, helping deliver their vision for better buses in West Yorkshire. The Department’s Buses Bill will support WYCA in their vision to bring buses back under local control, ensuring their networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.
Additionally, as part of improving rail connectivity in West Yorkshire and the rest of the country, we have established Shadow Great British Railways to bring a major overhaul of the rail network, putting passengers first and driving up performance.
Asked by: Katie White (Labour - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the safety of Ford EcoBoost engines.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Ford EcoBoost engine is a series of engines introduced around 14 years ago that covers a range of engine sizes and Ford vehicle models.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) investigates potential safety defects within the terms of the United Kingdom’s Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects (the Code), which has the support of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (as amended). This has specific requirements as to what can and cannot be considered a safety defect and is clear on its requirement of evidence to support any conclusions made.
As the appointed regulating body, the DVSA’s Market Surveillance Unit acts solely on the evidence available and will demand safety recall action by a manufacturer whenever the requirement to do so presents itself.
The DVSA regularly audits manufacturers to ensure that their policies and procedures fully meet with the expectations of the Code. This is demonstrated by recall action generally taken voluntarily by manufacturers and prior to DVSA formally mandating action.
The DVSA continues to review all reported cases and investigates whether they present a road safety concern. Should remedial action be required, the DVSA will work with the manufacturer to ensure swift action is taken and that the manufacturer informs vehicle keepers directly.
In the past, safety recalls have been conducted for parts of the Ecoboost range, and investigations continue into potential defects today relating to 'belt failures' and whether this could constitute a safety defect, although there are no immediate concerns.
Consumers experiencing issues with Ford Ecoboost engines should contact Ford or the retailer directly to resolve the issue. Consumers can also contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 for advice.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that transport infrastructure in the M5 corridor north of Bristol is developed in a way that allows housing targets in the Stroud district council local plan to be achieved.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the need to ensure that housing growth is appropriately supported by transport infrastructure provision. I am unable to comment on specific proposals, it is for the local authority in consultation with infrastructure providers to determine the infrastructure requirements to support proposed growth in local plans. National Highways has worked collaboratively with the local council throughout the Local Plan process and continues to work constructively with them.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the £2 bus fare cap beyond 31 December 2024.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Delivering reliable and affordable public transport services for passengers is one of the government’s top priorities and we know how important this is for passengers and for local growth. The Department for Transport is looking at the future of the £2 fare cap as a matter of urgency, and is considering the most appropriate and affordable approach for the future of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they are making available for the development of Northern Powerhouse Rail between now and April 2025; and how many staff are currently engaged on this project.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Northern Powerhouse Rail accounting officer assessment summary published on 30 July set out that £54m has been budgeted for development work on the scheme in 2024/25. Expenditure of a further £34m is anticipated on the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill, excluding purchase costs for land and property.
There are around 40 full-time equivalent officials in the Department for Transport working on Northern Powerhouse Rail. This is reflective of the current stage of development and proposals. The Department for Transport is supported in its development of Northern Powerhouse Rail by Network Rail, HS2 Ltd and Transport for the North.