Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the costs of reinstating the UK’s membership of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is considering options for UK access to a satellite-based augmentation system, following our withdrawal from the EU's European Geostationary Navigation Overlay (EGNOS) system. This work is ongoing and no decision has yet been made. The Government engages with the European Commission and European Space Agency on space programmes but has not specifically discussed access to EGNOS.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of alternatives to the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service; when any alternatives would be operational; and what they would cost.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government recognises the importance of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) technologies for our security and prosperity. We are implementing the Government Policy Framework for Greater PNT Resilience, including developing proposals for a National Timing Centre and enhanced long-range navigation system. The Government is considering options for UK access to a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS). This work is ongoing and no decision has yet been made.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government which statutory harbour authorities in England charge for overhanging residential balconies.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The department has not conducted a review of all Statutory Harbour Authorities to assess if they have the power to charge for overhanging residential balconies. Given the divergence in port local acts, it is not clear how many ports have this power.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how bringing railways into public ownership will (1) reduce operating costs, (2) deliver economic growth, (3) improve delivery for passengers and freight operators, (4) reduce cost to passengers, and (5) ensure fair access to the network by all passengers and freight operators.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Bringing train operations into public ownership is the first step in the Government’s plans for wider rail reform, including establishing Great British Railways (GBR). Under public ownership, passenger services will be operated in the interests of passengers, not shareholders. Under GBR, we will create a unified and simplified railway that puts passengers first, rebuilding trust.
GBR is set to be the ‘directing mind’ for the rail industry, bringing together the management of the network and the delivery of passenger services into a single public body, to deliver better services for passengers and freight customers, and better value for money for taxpayers. These changes form a critical part of the Government’s wider Plan for Change - delivering growth, jobs, and housing through greater connectivity, putting more money in people’s pockets, and rebuilding Britain.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 10 April (HL6331), whether they have held any meetings with the Port of London Authority in the past 12 months; on what date any such meetings took place; and whether the issue of overhanging residential balconies was discussed.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The department has held many meeting with the PLAs. As one of the most important UK ports, officials and Ministers from across government meet with the Port regularly to discuss a range of issues. I can confirm that the issue of balconies has been raised.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what was the cost of supply and repair of the front door system to Peers' Entrance, and what action he is taking to ensure that the system operates efficiently and reliably at all times.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The supply of the Peers Entrance works was competitively procured and benchmarked against other projects within Parliament to provide assurance around value for money.
For security reasons, the Houses do not publish capital expenditure on security mitigating projects as providing this level of detail could enable an individual to infer the extent and nature of the works, and thus the vulnerabilities which they were intended to mitigate.
There is no additional cost to the House in repairing defects with the door, as these defects are covered as part of our supply contracts for the main works. £1,500 in maintenance costs have been incurred for call outs where operator or user error have been the cause.
The House Administration is undertaking urgent work with operational staff and with our contractors to address and resolve the ongoing issues with the door.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money is raised annually from the victim surcharge.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The surcharge (often referred to as the victim surcharge) was first introduced in April 2007 and changes were introduced on 1 October 2012, 1 September 2014, 8 April 2016, 28 June 2019, 14 April 2020 and then again on 16 June 2022.
When a court passes a sentence, it must also order that the relevant surcharge is paid. The amount of the surcharge depends on the sentence and whether at the time the offence was committed the offender was an adult or a youth (under 18 years of age), or if the offender is an organisation.
Revenue raised from the surcharge provides a contribution towards Ministry of Justice-funded victim and witness support services.
HMCTS accounts for the amount of victim surcharge imposed and collected in the annual HMCTS Trust Statement. The Trust Statement was introduced in 2010-11 prior to that the data was not collated centrally. The table below illustrates the amounts imposed and collected each year since April 2010. The amounts collected will include receipts for amounts imposed in prior years.
Financial Year | Victim Surcharge Imposed £000 | Victim Surcharge collected £000 |
2010-11 | 12,552 | 10,516 |
2011-12 | 11,234 | 10,165 |
2012-13 | 14,331 | 10,518 |
2013-14 | 30,970 | 19,548 |
2014-15 | 35,203 | 24,569 |
2015-16 | 37,866 | 28,307 |
2016-17 | 44,785 | 31,029 |
2017-18 | 46,603 | 35,022 |
2018-19 | 45,521 | 33,529 |
2019-20 | 44,424 | 39,689 |
2020-21 | 36,647 | 35,039 |
2021-22 | 46,654 | 37,852 |
2022-23 | 65,270 | 41,314 |
2023-24 | 104,032 | 65,496 |
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the annual revenue raised from the victim surcharge is given to organisations that support road crash victims and their families.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Victim Surcharge is not a standalone funding stream and instead provides a contribution to the overall Ministry of Justice Victim and Witness budget, which is used to commission practical, emotional and therapeutic support for victims of all crime at a national and local level. Therefore, we are unable to say how much is given specifically to organisations which support victims of road traffic incidents.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the total annual victim surcharge is raised from traffic offences.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce roadside cameras, following trials carried out between October 2022 and February 2023.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department does not have any current plans to undertake further trials of roadside noise cameras. The trials demonstrated that this technology currently has the potential to be used for enforcement, but only when accompanied by human review of the recorded evidence, which is likely to lower the cost effectiveness of deploying the technology in many circumstances.
It is ultimately for local authorities and the police to consider what the most appropriate enforcement routes may be for addressing issues with excessive vehicle noise within their area. The use of noise camera technology has already been taken forward by some local authorities.