Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2021 to Question 21939, on Department for Transport: Freedom of Information, how many freedom of information requests his Department has referred to the central Cabinet Office Clearing House for advice on handling in the year 2020-21.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department’s records show that between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, of the 2,512 requests we received that were made under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations, 167 were referred to the Cabinet Office for advice on handling.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what private companies are contracted to provide security services at his Department’s buildings that contain Ministerial private offices; and whether there are closed circuit television cameras in any Ministerial private office within his departmental estate.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As has been the case under successive Administrations, it is not government policy to comment on security procedures in government buildings.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department’s non-executive directors were appointed; what oversight did officials have of ministerial appointments of non-executive directors; and what assessment was made of their experience against the requirements for breadth and depth of experience set out in the Cabinet Office guidance on departmental boards of November 2014.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Departments follow the principles set out in Cabinet Office/HM Treasury ‘Corporate governance in central government departments: code of good practice.’
The Department for Transport’s current Non-Executive Directors (NED) are listed below with their appointment dates:
Ian King (Lead NED): Appointed on 1st November 2017
Tony Poulter: Appointed on 19th September 2016
Tracy Westall: Appointed on 1st November 2017
Richard Keys: Appointed on 1st December 2017
Dame Sarah Storey: Appointed on 1st April 2021
Ranjit Baxi: Appointed on 1st April 2021
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many freedom of information requests his Department has referred to the central Cabinet Office Clearing House for advice on handling in each year since 2016.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost, as we do not have a central record of referrals to the clearing house over this period.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department operates a red, amber and green rating system for categorising Freedom of Information requests according to their presentational sensitivity.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
My Department does not operate a red, amber and green rating system for categorising Freedom of Information requests according to their presentational sensitivity.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether bus operators in receipt of the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant are permitted to amend ticket validity times.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The terms and conditions of the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant do not exclude operators from amending ticket validity times. However, payment of the grant is based on the operator’s original fare structures.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether prior consent is required from his Department for a bus operator in receipt of the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant to change ticket validity times.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The terms and conditions of the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant does not require operators to seek consent from the Department to change ticket validity times. However, payment of the grant is based on the operator’s original fare structures.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the terms of the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant define an amendment to ticket validity times as a fare price increase.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The terms and conditions of the COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant does not define an amendment to ticket validity times as a fare price increase. However, payment of the grant is based on the operator’s original fare structures, and operators are not permitted to increase or decrease the price of tickets.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What steps he is taking to help protect seafarers from nationality-based pay discrimination.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 provides protection for EEA seafarers and those from designated States. These Regulations will be reviewed later this year.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Wallem Ship Management has been listed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as an approved recruitment and placement agency, in line with the requirements of the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Recruitment and Placement) Regulations 2014.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Approval of recruitment & placement agencies is the responsibility of the State in whose territory the agency is located. Wallem Ship Management is not located in the UK; hence they are not approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.