Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the level of Government funding for the restoration of Hammersmith Bridge will be agreed.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government remains committed to supporting the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) in up to one third of the costs of the project. However, the Government cannot commit specific sums of money until LBHF completes and submits a business case, clearly setting out the engineering options and their costs, for each stage of the repairs. These business cases, which must conform to the Government’s Green Book standards, are under development by LBHF and the Government eagerly awaits their completion.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the recent progress of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government remains committed to supporting the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) in finding a long-term solution for Hammersmith Bridge. The Department for Transport, Transport for London and LBHF must first scrutinise and agree the necessary business cases which are being developed by the borough and are not yet complete.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason Chile was only removed from the red travel list on 8 October 2021.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Decisions on red list assignment and associated border measures are taken by ministers, who take into account the UKHSA risk assessments, alongside wider public health factors. Chile remained on the red list until 10 October 2021 due to the ongoing detection of variants of concern in the country.
Given the success of the vaccination programme in the UK and the latest evidence of variants across the world, including the fact that the Delta variant is now dominant in many countries as it is in the UK, Chile was removed from the red list on 11 October 2021.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a recent assessment has been made of the impact of the Hammersmith bridge closure on air quality in (a) Wandsworth Borough, (b) Richmond Borough, (c) Hammersmith & Fulham Borough and (d) Hounslow Borough.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As Hammersmith Bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), the Department for Transport has not undertaken any assessments of the impact on air quality due to the closure of the bridge or its impact on local authorities. This assessment will form part of the business case being developed by LBHF for the repairs to the bridge.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress he has made on securing the reopening of Hammersmith Bridge to vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Hammersmith Bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) and therefore responsibility for reopening the bridge to motor vehicles and making decisions on its repair lies with the borough.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he or Baroness Vere plans to visit Hammersmith Bridge in the next six months.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
My Noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Baroness Vere of Norbiton, visited Hammersmith Bridge at the invitation of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham when the bridge reopened to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic on 17 July 2021. Any invitations issued by the borough for a Ministerial visit to the bridge will be given due consideration.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of British Airways on financial support for (a) cabin crew and (b) pilots.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with the aviation industry throughout the pandemic and continue to do so. In total, we estimate that by the end of September 2021 the air transport sector (airlines, airports and related services) will have benefited from around £7bn of Government support since the start of the pandemic. This included the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Covid Corporate Financing Facility and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme.
On 3 March 2021, the Government extended the CJRS until 30 September 2021 and furloughed employees will continue to receive 80% (up to £2,500) of their current salary with the Government currently contributing 60% of this.
British Airways reported that it expected to receive a total of £279m in relief under the CJRS for the 12 months to the end of December 2020 and had applied the CJRS to more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground-based employees; and it has continued to make use of the CJRS in 2021.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he or any of the Ministers in his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Departmental business is conducted through the official DfT email systems. Any correspondence to external addresses will be directed to our official DfT channels.
All DfT staff and ministers have DfT email accounts and sign up to acceptable use and cyber security operating policies, which state that departmental business must be conducted via DfT email addresses, and not personal email or other web-based mail system.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which of his Department's non executive directors were appointed through open competition.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
All DfT Non-Executive Board Members were recruited according to the guidance set out in the Corporate governance code for central government departments.
DfT announces the appointments (including reappointment dates) of Non-Executive Board Members, as well as their experience, in the Annual Report and Accounts. Our current Non-Executives are covered in the following Annual Report and Accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-to-2020
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council and (b) the Mayor of London on securing a viable long term funding arrangement to repair Hammersmith Bridge.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following the Government’s investment of £4m toward emergency mitigation works, the Board responsible for the Case for Continued Safe Operation made the decision to reopen Hammersmith Bridge to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic on 17 July. This is a very welcome development, especially for the people and businesses that use the Bridge.
The next step to permanent reopening lies with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), as asset owner, who must submit a satisfactory business case to the Department for Transport. The submission of such a case is a condition for the release of any Government contribution to the cost of repairing the Bridge.
The Government has set out a clear commitment to support LBHF in finding a long-term solution for the Bridge. As agreed in the Transport for London extraordinary funding and finance agreement of 1 June 2021 the Government will contribute up to 1/3 of the total costs, but no more.
The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, chaired by Baroness Vere of Norbiton, met on 20 July. The Leader of LBHF and London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport were present.