Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to introduce 3D baggage screening equipment at UK airports.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As announced by the Prime Minister on 25 August, all major UK airports have been instructed to introduce new 3D cabin baggage screening equipment by 1 December 2022.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of replacing diesel trains with hybrid and electric trains.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department has not made an estimate of the cost of replacing diesel trains. The Government has set out its ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040, and the rail industry are producing a decarbonisation report which will set out how it can achieve this objective.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of public transport in rural areas.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government recognises the importance of public transport in rural areas.
All local authorities in England have powers to subsidise socially necessary bus services. The Department provides £43 million per year to local authorities to support this.
The Bus Services Act 2017 provides tools for local authorities to work more effectively with bus operators to improve bus services.
A number of projects from the £11.5 million Building Connections Fund will provide new community transport links to support people at most risk of isolation.
On rail, the Department’s Community Rail Development Strategy, published in Nov 2018, looks for ways to make it easier for the rail industry and local community rail partnerships to improve services and stations on local branch lines.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to introduce electric charging points for cars at petrol stations.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government has had a number of discussions with petrol service station operators about the provision of electric vehicle charge points. We want to encourage and leverage private sector investment to build and operate a self-sustaining public network supported by the right policy framework. In many cases, the market is better-placed than government to identify the right locations for chargepoints and it is essential that viable commercial models are in place to ensure continued maintenance and improvements to the network. Already, the vast majority of chargepoints now being installed are funded with private money and we want to see this trend continue. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act gives the Government new powers to mandate provision of chargepoints at Motorway Service Areas and large fuel retailers. The Government will continue to monitor the market and will bring forward regulation using these powers if the market fails to deliver the infrastructure required.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce congestion on the roads during rush hours.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This Government is determined to improve journeys for all motorists which is why we are spending more than £50 billion between 2015 and 2025 to tackle congestion and maintain the condition of roads in England.
On England’s Strategic Roads, our motorways and main ‘A’ roads, the Government is spending £17.6 billion between 2015 and 2020 which includes a dedicated Congestion Relief Programme, as part of the first Road Investment Strategy. A further £25.3 billion is expected to be spent between 2020 and 2025 to deliver the second Road Investment Strategy.
On local authority roads, £420 million in the 2018/19 financial year was allocated for the repair of roads (including potholes), bridges and local highways infrastructure generally, on top of the £6.2 billion allocation for maintenance between 2015 and 2021.
Between 2015/16 and 2020/21 the Government has provided local highway authorities with £1.29 billion from the Integrated Transport Block which is for small scale transport improvements, including schemes to ease congestion.
Between 2020 and 2025, £3.5 billion has been announced for the Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme which will provide increased focus and funding certainty to the most important local authority roads.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving licences were revoked due to medical issues in 2018.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The number of Group 1 (car/motorcycle) and Group 2 (Bus/lorry) drivers whose driving entitlement was revoked or refused for medical reasons in 2018 is provided in the table below:
Year | Group 1 | Group 2 |
2018 | 61,482 | 12,242 |
It should be noted that there may be a number of drivers who would have been revoked or refused for both Group 1 and Group 2 licences, and therefore may be duplicated in the figures above.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the cost of rail fares to the EU from the UK will be affected by the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Chris Grayling
Fares for international passenger services between the UK and the EU are set by the relevant train operator on a commercial basis. Any potential change in fares is therefore a commercial matter for the operators concerned.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce congestion of lorries going to the port of Dover after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Grayling
The Government remains focused on ensuring the UK’s smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible. As a responsible government, we’ve been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for over two years.
The Department for Transport has worked closely with the Kent Resilience Forum on developing plans, also known as Operation Brock, to be used as a contingency in the event of cross-Channel travel disruption at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel, whatever the cause.
Operation Brock has been designed to ensure that the M20 will be kept open and traffic will continue to flow in both directions. It consists of three phases: a contraflow queuing system on the M20, between Junctions 8 and 9; temporary holding areas at Manston Airfield for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) heading to Europe via the Port of Dover; and, if necessary, temporary holding areas on the M26 (Brock M26) for HGVs heading to Europe via Eurotunnel. The M20 contraflow element will allow non-port traffic to continue to use the M20 in both directions when HGVs are stored on the coast-bound carriageway.
The Government has also been taking steps to minimise the number of hauliers and other vehicles arriving at Dover and Eurotunnel without the essential documentation for EU border controls in a no deal scenario. This should help to reduce the risk of significant disruption at ports and on the Kent road network from the introduction of new EU customs processes.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has provided to car insurance companies on the potential for a fee to be charged in respect of driving from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Chris Grayling
There has been no such engagement with car insurance companies; my Department is not aware of any plans for a fee to be charged by car insurance companies in respect of driving from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland, which is a commercial matter for those companies.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with airlines on additional charges to fly from the UK to EU member states after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Secretary of State and officials from the Department have and will continue to engage with stakeholders from across the aviation industry on all issues relating to EU Exit.