Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government how their proposed Great British Railways organisation will differ from the Strategic Rail Authority that was abolished in 2006.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) did not integrate track and train, nor was it intended to.

Great British Railways will integrate track and train at a route and operating company level, thus reducing costs, increasing revenue and improving performance, thus serving passengers, freight and the taxpayer.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of requiring operators of mobile cranes to be licensed in a similar way to those licensed under the Goods Vehicles Licensing of Operators Act 1995.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Mobile cranes mounted on an HGV chassis are not exempt from the requirements contained in the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995. However, cranes which are specially built, or adapted for some lifting operations are exempt from operator licensing, and other regulations, covering Construction and Use, Authorised Weight, and Goods Vehicle Type Approval Regulations. These specially built vehicles are instead authorised to be used on the public highway by Road Vehicles (Authorisation of Special Types) (General) Order 2003 (STGO). The rationale for the difference is that these vehicles are typically used for the purposes of construction and demolition and are normally only used on the public highway on a limited basis to move between sites.

The Department for Transport has previously considered bringing mobile cranes which are not based on an HGV chassis into the scope of operator licensing, most recently when undertaking a review of plating and testing requirements of heavy vehicles which are exempt from roadworthiness testing. At that time, it was not deemed proportionate to include them in the scope of operator licensing. This position is kept under review.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Vallance of Balham on 3 December (HL Deb cols 1033–1034), whether they have an agreed retaliation doctrine for the cutting of UK undersea cables.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The UK Government constantly monitors and regularly assesses the security of critical national infrastructure, including energy and telecommunications assets in the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone. This is a whole-of-Government effort involving multiple Departments, including the Ministry of Defence.

While it is not appropriate for us to discuss the specifics of response options, our adversaries should be in no doubt of our ability to protect the UK and its interests, and that any deliberate attack on UK infrastructure would be met with an appropriate response.