Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) unregistered and (b) uninsured vessels do not (i) enter UK territorial waters and (ii) dock at UK ports.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNLCOS), the UK (or any state that has subscribed to the agreement) cannot disrupt the transit passage of vessels through its territorial waters for lacking insurance, or being unregistered, as this is not considered to fall within any of the exceptions to passage being ‘innocent passage’.
Refusal to allow a vessel to dock into a UK port is a decision for the port. Vessels docked at a UK port may be subject to a Port State Control inspection. Registration and insurance are part of the documentation that is checked.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) unregistered and (b) uninsured vessels have been boarded by UK authorities in UK territorial waters in 2024.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No unregistered or uninsured commercial vessels have been boarded by UK authorities in UK territorial waters this year.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many wet cargo ships have been boarded by UK authorities in territorial waters for lacking insurance this year.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No wet cargo ships have been boarded by UK authorities in territorial waters due to a lack of insurance this year.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to facilitate the employment of non-EU nationals on inshore fishing vessels based in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK has ratified the International Labour Organisation’s Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which sets minimum global standards for living and working conditions for fishermen. Regardless of employment status or nationality, all those working on UK fishing vessels, including fishing vessels in Northern Ireland, are therefore protected by the UK legislation implementing that Convention.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which local authorities his Department has consulted on the progress of plans for the construction of High Speed 2 since May 2015.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department has conducted four consultations since May 2015, all of which relate in various ways to preparation and planning for the construction of High Speed Two. As these were public consultations, all local authorities were of course able to respond to these. The consultations were:
At the conclusion of each consultation, a list of all respondents is published on GOV.UK
In addition to formal consultation, there is also extensive and ongoing engagement with local authorities along the HS2 line of route.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date he plans to announce the successful bidder for the South Western rail franchise.
Answered by Paul Maynard
We expect to announce the winning bidder in February 2017.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings have been held by (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) on the investigation by the RAIB into train driver fatigue.
Answered by Paul Maynard
A meeting is scheduled for me to meet with the Chief Executive of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) concerning its recent investigation into train driver fatigue.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on which dates (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department met representatives of (i) George Best Airport and (ii) the Northern Ireland Assembly to discuss the potential effect on jobs in Northern Ireland of airport expansion in South East England.
Answered by John Hayes
My Hon Friend, Robert Goodwill, Minister of State for Transport until July 2016, met with Brian Ambrose from George Best Airport on Thursday 25 February 2016 and my Rt Hon Friend, Patrick McLoughlin, Secretary of State for Transport until July 2016, met with Brian Ambrose on Friday 17 June 2016. As usual for meetings with aviation stakeholders, the meetings covered a number of issues, including airport capacity.
The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the provision of free Wi-Fi connections on board all (a) Network Rail and (b) Transport for London carriages.
Answered by Claire Perry
Network Rail does not run train carriages, however, working with train companies operating franchises in England and Wales, we have committed that 90% of passenger journeys will benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.
The decision on provision of free Wi-Fi within non-franchised operations, including Transport for London (TfL), is not a responsibility for the Department for Transport. Decisions relating to implementation of On-Train Wi-Fi within TfL carriages is devolved to the Mayor of London.
Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential of Westbury to become the north-south/east-west rail hub for the central south of England.
Answered by Claire Perry
The importance of Westbury as an interchange station for South West Trains and Great Western Rail services is not underestimated by the Department, and is already a mini hub and crew point for some of the inter-regional services (Bristol to Portsmouth and Weymouth). However, Bristol is the key hub for the region, and the Department has therefore made no such assessment regarding Westbury.