Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) consultations and (b) calls for evidence issued by his Department are closed but have not been responded to as of 12 July 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2022 to Question 26742 on P&O Ferries: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, whether her Department has had recent discussions with representatives of P&O Ferries on the repayment of its furlough funding.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department has not had recent discussions with P&O Ferries’ representatives on the repayment of furlough funding. As per the response of 4 July 2022, the government has repeatedly called for P&O Ferries to repay its furlough funding, and we have emphasised this at every opportunity.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many officials in his Department are employed to oversee the storage of personal protective equipment (a) in the UK and (b) overseas.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The DfT Health and Safety teams do not oversee the storage of Personal Protective Equipment. If individuals require Personal Protective Equipment as part of their role then their line managers will provide Personal Protective Equipment to them through the Procurement team and contract in place with the clothing provider. This is the same model for Personal Protective Equipment used by all of the Departmental Agencies and arms-length bodies.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2022 to Question 157377 on DP World and P&O Ferries: Contracts, how many such contracts have been (a) identified, (b) reviewed and (c) disclosed to date.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Our review indicates that P&O Ferries and DP World are not currently providing any direct services to HM Government. We will provide a further update on this in due course.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2022 to Question 151129, on DP World and P&O Ferries: Contracts, if he will list the contracts with P&O Ferries and DP World that the Government has so far identified through its review.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Our thorough review of government contracts with P&O Ferries and DP World continues, and we will not hesitate to take action where it is appropriate to do so. Naturally, due to commercial sensitives findings will be reviewed and disclosed on a case-by-case basis as appropriate.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what policy objectives his Department intended to achieve through The Seafarers (Transnational Information and Consultation, Collective Redundancies and Insolvency Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/26), in relation to the enforcement of employers' duty to notify authorities of an intention to dismiss workers as redundant.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
These regulations were introduced to implement EU Directive 2015/1794 (Seafarers). The UK was required to implement this Directive as a member of the European Union.
The regulations introduce the requirement on shipping companies to inform the competent authorities of the flag State of seafarer redundancies. The period in which such notice should be given is 45 days’ notice where there are 100 or more redundancies planned. This gives the authorities an opportunity to engage with employer and employees to identify what assistance can be provided.
The Government is strongly committed protecting UK seafarers and those who work in UK waters continue to be protected by National Minimum Wage laws despite the 2018 legal change. The Secretary of State made a statement in Parliament on Wednesday 30 March regarding a further package of measures the UK Government is introducing to ensure there is no repeat of P&O Ferries actions.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to review public sector contracts with (a) P&O Ferries and (b) DP World.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Government is urgently undertaking a thorough review all the contracts currently in place with P&O Ferries and DP World.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral statement of 23 March 2022 that he will be taking steps to ensure all mariners who are working in UK waters are paid the living wage, what steps he plans to take to achieve that; and whether those steps will apply to mariners working in UK waters on vessels making international voyages.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We have already strengthened the minimum wage to apply to all seafarers ordinarily working in our territorial waters regardless of their nationality of where the vessel they are working on is registered. This means that routes operating within the UK, such as the Cairnryan - Larne route, are protected by our minimum wage. The other P&O Ferry routes are international and we are unable to apply our legislation to those vessels as they are outside our jurisdiction.
We will soon announce a package of measures that will ensure that the outcomes that P&O Ferries is seeking to achieve through this disastrous move cannot be seen through.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department have had with the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell since 1 September 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State had a one-to-one call with Chris Grayling on 19 May 2021 to discuss the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail. A DfT Special Adviser also attended.
Baroness Vere met with Chris Grayling and one of his constituents on 19 May 2021 to discuss road safety.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what correspondence have (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department received from the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell since 1 September 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has received 74 pieces of Ministerial Correspondence and 8 Parliamentary Questions from Chris Grayling since 1 September 2020.