Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the discovery of water pollution in the HS2 cofferdams sunk into the aquifer for the Colne Valley Viaduct construction haul road, what plans they have to call for a moratorium on the sinking of deeper piles of up to 80 metres for the Viaduct piers until the source of the pollution at the haul road pile sites has been identified.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The piling for the Colne Valley Viaduct is largely complete. The extensive monitoring of groundwater around all piling works and cofferdams has detected no contamination issues in the water environment related to HS2 construction works within the Colne Valley. Monitoring data is shared on a frequent basis with both Affinity Water and the Environment Agency. Affinity Water has its own monitoring regime to verify these results.
HS2 Ltd has consents in place with the Environment Agency, in consultation with Affinity Water, for these works, which are supported by an extensive groundwater risk assessment and monitoring regime to avoid pollution or long-term impact to the underlying aquifer. There are no plans to cease the construction of the piles which will support the Colne Valley Viaduct.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the Mitigation Strategy for the impact of HS2 on the natural water resources.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HS2 Ltd’s approach to managing the impact of HS2 on the water environment is set out in a number of published documents, including Information Paper E4: Water Resources and Flood risk.
The mitigation approach is driven by existing environmental law, Protective Provisions in the Acts which authorise the railway and additional commitments made to Parliament, including the project’s “Environmental Minimum Requirements”. As a result, HS2 Ltd’s contractors are required to fully assess risks to the water environment from all their activities and to mitigate risks through design or other interventions.
As the regulator for the water environment in England, the Environment Agency reviews those risk assessments and mitigation strategies, and grants approvals to proceed when it is satisfied the risks are suitably managed and adverse impacts are unlikely to occur.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when HS2 Ltd will cease to be financially liable for public water sources in the Colne Valley and for the replacement of public water supplies.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As it builds the new railway in the Colne Valley, HS2 Ltd has been working closely with Affinity Water to ensure that there continues to be no interruption to the provision of high-quality drinking water. Working alongside Affinity Water and the Environment Agency (EA), HS2 Ltd has funded a range of protective measures to ensure resilience of public water supply.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by National Highways that the Amesbury to Berwick Down Improvement Scheme would "protect and enhance" the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, in light of the findings by the Examining Authority and the Secretary of State for Transport that the scheme would cause "significant harm" to the World Heritage Site.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following an Order of the High Court made on 30 July 2021, the decision, dated 12 November 2020, to grant development consent for the application by National Highways (formerly Highways England) for the proposed A303 Stonehenge scheme was quashed. The Secretary of State is currently re-determining the application.
All further details on the re-determination process are published on the schemes project page on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
As this is now a live planning application, I am unable to comment further.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the findings by the Examining Authority and the Secretary of State for Transport that the Amesbury to Berwick Down Improvement Scheme would cause "significant harm" to the World Heritage Site, and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's opinion that the scheme would adversely impact on the outstanding value of the World Heritage Site, whether the contingent heritage valuation survey which makes up 73 per cent of the Amesbury to Berwick Down improvement scheme's expected benefits has been re-run.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following an Order of the High Court made on 30 July 2021, the decision, dated 12 November 2020, to grant development consent for the application by National Highways (formerly Highways England) for the proposed A303 Stonehenge scheme was quashed. The Secretary of State is currently re-determining the application.
All further details on the re-determination process are published on the schemes project page on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
As this is now a live planning application, I am unable to comment further.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Amesbury to Berwick Down Improvement Scheme’s value for money assessment has been revisited by the Investment, Portfolio and Delivery Committee (IPDC) since the road scheme’s value for money was originally assessed as ‘low’, with a cost benefit ratio of 1.15.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
An updated Value for Money (VfM) assessment for the scheme was included in the initial Full Business Case presented to the Department for Transport Investment, Portfolio and Delivery Committee on 7 February 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the updated business case for the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down Improvement Scheme has been presented to the Investment, Portfolio and Delivery Committee (IPDC); and if so, (1) when, (2) what is the date of the report containing the updated business case, and (3) what conclusions the IPDC has made on the report.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
National Highways presented the initial Full Business Case (dated January 2022) for the scheme to the DfT Investment, Portfolio and Delivery Committee (IPDC) on 7 February 2022. The Committee was content to approve the initial Full Business Case in support of National Highways proceeding with Main Works and Delivery Assurance Partner contract awards subject to HM Treasury and Ministerial approval. Subsequent HMT approval was conditional upon National Highways and DfT returning to HMT to seek final investment and FBC approval before commencing main works mobilisation and following the conclusion of the planning process.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - 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 20 June (HL636), whether the data referred to are published; and if so, where they can be found.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This statistic was based on internal analysis of National Travel Survey data. The data is released annually by the Department for Transport in many forms and formats, with the data required for this particular analysis made available to researchers under special licence via the UK Data Service. A table containing the full breakdown of journeys of less than 5 miles in towns and cities by transport mode is due to be published alongside the next annual statistical release for the survey, in August 2022, on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a local authority that funds Active Travel investment from sources other than central government funding must carry out the work to the standards laid out in Local Transport Note 1/20 Cycling Infrastructure Design as if the funding had been provided by central government.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to increasing cycling and walking and making our roads safer for all vulnerable road users. This is vital if we are to realise the considerable health and environmental benefits of active travel. In April the Government updated its additional Network Management Duty guidance to local authorities setting out what it expects them to do in making changes to their road layouts to encourage walking and cycling.
However, the detailed design of cycle lanes is a matter for individual local traffic authorities. Design advice for cycling infrastructure, can be found in the non-statutory guidance document Local Transport Note 1/20 ‘Cycle Infrastructure Design’. Local authorities are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. They are responsible for ensuring that their actions are within the law and are accountable to local people for their decisions and their performance. Local councillors are responsible for ensuring that local decisions about street infrastructure take account of the needs and opinions of local people. If Her Majesty's Government are not involved with the funding, then the Department would continue to advise that LTN 1/20 guidance be consulted to ensure designs are of the utmost quality.
A key part of the Government’s strategy to increase levels of walking and cycling is setting up a new Executive Agency, Active Travel England (ATE). ATE will ensure the Government’s unprecedented £2 billion investment in active travel makes the biggest difference possible to the increasing number of people walking and cycling. ATE is currently working in shadow form and is developing toolkits for scheme designs.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they used to support the claim made in their Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, published on 19 October 2021, that 42 per cent of journeys in towns and cities were made by cycling and walking in 2019.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The data comes from the National Travel Survey: an annual, nationally representative survey which measures how people travel across England. The figure was based on analysis of the proportion of short trips (that is, those under 5 miles) that were taken across town and city settlements, as classified by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.