Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2024 to Question 13143 on Roads: Safety, and with reference to the Answer of 28 February 2023 to Question 150393 on Roads: Safety, whether it remains his policy to publish an updated Road Safety Strategic Framework.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to road safety, and we are working on a number of measures to keep our roads and road users safe.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2024 to Question 15192 on Govia Thameslink Railway: Standards, whether his Department made an estimate of the potential increased cost to the public purse of performance fees due under the Train Operating Company’s management contract when deciding to lower performance standards for Thameslink.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Targets are updated annually and are calibrated to incentivise operators to deliver the best outcomes for customers within the budget available. They should be challenging but achievable. This process was followed when setting Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) Service Quality Regime (SQR) targets for 2023/24.
The SQR fee is capped at a maximum level, however, the actual fee is dependent on performance, which is not known in advance.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department lowered seven performance targets for Thameslink for the 12 months to the end of March 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The contractual performance targets are agreed with the train operators on an annual basis and do not involve consultation with external bodies.
Targets are proportionate to the level of investment agreed within the Business Plan budget for that year and may vary year on year.
These plans setting out service performance measures are scrutinised by Departmental officials to ensure the agreed level of investment represents the best value for money and customer service quality possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a value for money assessment was conducted before his Department lowered performance targets for Thameslink for the 12 months to the end of March 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The contractual performance targets are agreed with the train operators on an annual basis and do not involve consultation with external bodies.
Targets are proportionate to the level of investment agreed within the Business Plan budget for that year and may vary year on year.
These plans setting out service performance measures are scrutinised by Departmental officials to ensure the agreed level of investment represents the best value for money and customer service quality possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any public consultation was conducted before his Department lowered performance targets for Thameslink for the 12 months to the end of March 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The contractual performance targets are agreed with the train operators on an annual basis and do not involve consultation with external bodies.
Targets are proportionate to the level of investment agreed within the Business Plan budget for that year and may vary year on year.
These plans setting out service performance measures are scrutinised by Departmental officials to ensure the agreed level of investment represents the best value for money and customer service quality possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he consulted any passenger and commuter groups before lowering performance targets for Thameslink for the 12 months to the end of March 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The contractual performance targets are agreed with the train operators on an annual basis and do not involve consultation with external bodies.
Targets are proportionate to the level of investment agreed within the Business Plan budget for that year and may vary year on year.
These plans setting out service performance measures are scrutinised by Departmental officials to ensure the agreed level of investment represents the best value for money and customer service quality possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to update the policy paper entitled Strategic framework for road safety, published on 11 May 2011.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport published Road Safety Statements in 2015 and 2019.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of withdrawing Sections 19 and 22 exemptions for schools.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are not currently planning to revise Transport Act legislation in relation to the section 19 and 22 permit schemes.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Hertfordshire County Council on the expansion of Luton Airport since 2020.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has not held any discussions with Hertfordshire County Council on the expansion of Luton Airport since 2020.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of London Luton Airport's plans to monitor noise from its flight paths in Hertfordshire in 2024.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government does not set noise controls at London Luton Airport, as these are set by Luton Borough Council. We will be assessing the airport’s Noise Action Plan for 2024-2028 as per statutory requirements.
The Government encourages all airports to be transparent with communities about their noise impacts. Effective noise monitoring, both by mobile and fixed monitoring equipment, plays a key role in helping to understand such impacts. The Government also expects airports to help local communities understand these noise impacts and the performance against relevant targets.