Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that appropriate safety measures will not be compromised due to the minimum rail service legislation; and what steps they have taken to study the safety measures that have been implemented in (1) Belgium, and (2) France.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government and rail industry, including Network Rail, have worked together and continue to work together to ensure plans are in place to minimise disruption allowing for freight and passenger services to remain operational where possible. The Civil Contingencies Secretariat is also convening ministers daily during the strike period to assess operational response and impact.
We are looking at everything we can do to help maintain services amid disruption and Minimum Service legislation is just one part of that. We are experienced in safely running very reduced train services - the industry is currently doing so right now. Minimum service levels are a government manifesto commitment to introduce legislation which would require train operators to run a base number of services in the event of strike action. We of course encourage employers and unions to reach agreement wherever possible.
We will review any relevant comparable available evidence, including safety measures, in these countries and others, when developing any policy around the introduction of Minimum Service Levels.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the debate on 26 November (HL Deb, cols 403–23), whether they have any plans to procure portable toilets for use by heavy goods vehicle drivers using the port of Dover after 1 January 2021; and if so, what steps they are taking to ensure that Ministers in any such procurement process declare (1) personal interests, and (2) interests of family members, relevant to such a procurement.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The driver welfare provision within the ports will be provided by the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel under their usual arrangements. The Department for Transport is unable to comment on Port of Dover’s procurement process for welfare facilities.
Government Inland Border Facilities for lorry holding areas in Kent at Sevington and Manston will include facilities for HGV drivers, including toilet and hand washing provision.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the debate on 26 November (HL Deb, cols 403–23), whether they have made any assessment of the need to provide portable toilets for use by heavy goods vehicle drivers using the port of Dover after 1 January 2021; and if so, how many such toilets they estimate will be required.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The driver welfare provision within the ports will be provided by the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel under their usual arrangements. The Department for Transport is unable to comment on Port of Dover’s procurement process for welfare facilities.
Government Inland Border Facilities for lorry holding areas in Kent at Sevington and Manston will include facilities for HGV drivers, including toilet and hand washing provision.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to build more cargo airport developments.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Airports in the UK are owned and operated privately. Applications to develop airports for the purposes of storage and distribution will be considered by the appropriate planning authority.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to inform the local population that an objective decision will be made about the proposed development of a freight cargo project at Manston airport; and if so, how.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The decision by Her Majesty's Government to grant the Manston Airport Development Consent Order 2020 for the reopening and development of Manston Airport was published on the Planning Inspectorate’s National Infrastructure Planning Portal on 9 July 2020. This information will also be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the estimated costs are to date for the preparations of (1) Operation Stack, and (2) Operation Brock, to minimise any traffic disruption at the Port of Dover following the end of the Brexit transition period, including the costs of any exercises held.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Operation Stack is a long-standing approach to managing disruption caused by delays at the Channel ports. It involves partial or complete closure of parts of the M20. The Government has incurred no additional costs in relation to Operation Stack in preparing for the end of the EU transition period.
In view of the traffic management issues experienced in Kent when Operation Stack is invoked, the Kent Resilience Forum – with the Government’s assistance – has developed Operation Brock which includes a contraflow on the M20 to be available at the end of the transition period onwards. Highways England is spending £60.1 million in developing a Quick Moveable Barrier which can be installed within a few hours. In addition, the Government is putting in place additional temporary lorry holding capacity to enable the Kent Resilience Forum to manage disruption. These costs are subject to ongoing commercial discussions, so we are unable to disclose them at this time.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that congestion is now higher than comparable 2019 levels, what plans they have to reduce congestion on roads.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
These are unprecedented times, bringing both challenges and opportunities. There is an opportunity to build on changes in behaviour seen during lockdown. The Prime Minister has been clear that as the country emerges from lockdown, people should walk or cycle where possible. Walking and cycling will reduce pressure on the public transport system and the road network.
To help with this, the Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF) announced on 9 May included £225 million of funding in two tranches for local authorities. Alongside the funding, the Government published additional Network Management Duty guidance. This clearly set out what the Government expects local authorities to do in making changes to their road layouts to encourage cycling and walking in response to COVID-19 and to support a green restart and recovery.
Active travel clearly does not work for everyone, or for every journey, but the more people that cycle and walk, the more road space is freed up for those who really need to drive.
The Government is also investing in road and rail. On 14 May the Department laid out plans to transform the country’s transport infrastructure to help the country ‘build out’ of COVID-19 and support the nation’s economy through a £1.7bn Transport Infrastructure Investment Fund to improve roads, repair bridges and fill in millions of potholes.
We are also increasing our investment in the operation, maintenance and renewal of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) to secure safer and more reliable journeys. Our second Road Investment Strategy, published in March, requires Highways England to meet the ambition that average delay on the SRN will be no worse than then in 2025, and sets tough targets for keeping the SRN free from traffic restrictions owing to roadworks and the clearance of incidents within one hour.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 24 July (HL6859), how much they have spent on preparations for the provision of additional lorry parking capacity at Manston Airport.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
I can confirm that between August 2015 to June 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) has paid a total of £19.4m for the use of Manston Airfield as a lorry park. DfT paid £10.3m as part of the EU Exit no deal preparation contingency planning and £9.1m for the use of Manston Airfield for business as usual and Operation Stack. This has enabled DfT to use Manston Airfield to hold HGVs for traffic management purposes, in the event of disruption of flow at the short straits crossings.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made (1) in preparing for any increased traffic, and (2) in providing additional lorry parking capacity, in Kent in preparation for the impact of new trade agreements following the exit from the single market.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are continuing to work at pace with the Kent Resilience Forum to revise traffic management contingency plans, to deal with the potential congestion at the end of the transition period. One such measure is Highways England’s Quick Movable Barrier project, which will be operational from December 2020. This flexible concrete barrier can be deployed on the M20 in Kent within 24 hours to form a safe contraflow, compared to the previous steel barrier which required a month of overnight closures to set up.
We can also?confirm?that the Department has purchased the?MOJO site in Ashford.?This site will form part of our contingency planning which aims to help ensure the free flow of freight and reduce the risk of disruption at the border at the end of the transition period. It was chosen due to its strategic location, with easy access to the M20, the primary corridor to and from key ports within the Dover Straits.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to create more space for walking and cycling during the COVID-19-related lockdown.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government welcomes appropriate changes to roads to give cyclists and pedestrians more space to enable social distancing. The details are for local authorities as they are responsible for managing their roads, but the Government is pleased to see that some local authorities have already begun to consider such changes.
There is a well-established range of traffic management measures already available to local authorities. Some measures, such as road closures, require Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to make them legal and enforceable, and we are aware that parts of that process are difficult for local authorities to comply with during the current situation. To assist with this, the Department has published temporary guidance, which suggests ways in which authorities can continue to make TROs, whilst still complying with the intention of the legislation.
This guidance has been circulated to local authorities already and will be kept under review. It will be withdrawn when circumstances allow.