Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage the take-up of transporting freight by water, rather than by road.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Moving additional freight by water or rail can provide a number of benefits over transporting that freight by road, in particular environmental gains, but can also a decrease in congestion. The Department will continue to consider waterborne freight in future transport policy, including the Future of UK Freight strategy and when looking at transport decarbonisation options.
In terms of current measures, the Department offers Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) to assist companies with the operating costs associated with running inland water (or rail) freight transport instead of road, where this is more expensive than road. A similar scheme, Waterborne Freight Grant, is available to help with the additional operating costs of a new coastal or short sea shipping service.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many road fatalities and accidents were caused by driving under the influence of drugs over the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The number of fatalities and reported personal injury road accidents where a police officer attended the scene of the accident and allocated the contributory factor “Driver/Rider impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)” in Great Britain for the last 5 years can be found in the table below.
Reported road accidents and fatalities where the contributory factor "Driver/Rider impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" was allocated¹, Great Britain, 2015-2019 | ||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year | Fatalities | Personal injury road accidents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2015 | 67 | 881 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2016 | 92 | 1,054 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2017 | 105 | 1,151 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2018 | 85 | 1,321 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2019 | 92 | 1,469 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Source: DfT, STATS19 |
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have collected any data on consumer demand in the UK to be able to travel on direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh; and if so, what assessment they have made of that data.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government took the decision to change travel advice against all but essential travel by air to Sharm El Sheikh as the safety and security of the public is our primary concern. We will not hesitate in putting in place any measures that we believe are necessary, effective and proportionate.
This decision was based on security rather than economic grounds. The Government does not collect information on the economic value of outbound flights to specific global destinations and the value of them to the UK travel market.
We look forward to achieving the return of flights to Sharm el Sheikh, once we can be assured of there being the necessary secure and sustainable security situation.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the ban on flights between the UK and Sharm El Sheikh contributed to the bankruptcy of Monarch Airlines.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The reality is that there is intense price competition in the aviation market, particularly on low-cost short-haul routes operated by Monarch. I note that there are other airlines who used to fly from the UK to Sharm el Sheikh who are still in business.
The security of British nationals is our top priority, and we took the decision to suspend flights from Sharm el Sheikh in 2015 to protect the travelling public.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their current risk assessment of Sharm El Sheikh Airport.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department for Transport carries out regular assessments of aviation security at all last points of departure airports to the UK from Egypt. It is long standing government policy not to comment, or publish, details on security matters. We look forward to achieving the return of flights once we can be assured that the necessary security environment can be sustained.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the report arising from the most recent inspection of Sharm El Sheikh airport.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for Transport carries out regular assessments of aviation security at all last points of departure airports to the UK from Egypt. It is long standing government policy not to comment, or publish, details on security matters. However the Government works closely with international partners, including airlines, airports and the Egyptian Government, on security standards. The Government hopes to be in a position to change travel advice to enable flights to the UK from Sharm El Sheikh as soon as security conditions allow.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measurements of safety levels they apply to Sharm El Sheikh airport.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department for Transport carries out regular assessments of aviation security at all last points of departure airports to the UK from Egypt. It is long standing government policy not to comment, or publish, details on security matters. However the Government works closely with international partners, including airlines, airports and the Egyptian Government, on security standards. The Government hopes to be in a position to change travel advice to enable flights to the UK from Sharm El Sheikh as soon as security conditions allow.