Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
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 extending the time allowed for road users to pay the Dart Charge for using the Dartford Crossing.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Users of the Dartford Crossing can pay the Dart Charge up to a year in advance and by midnight the day after travel. They can also set up a pay as you go account where their card will be automatically charged when they cross, or a pre-pay account which also offers a discounted rate. The vast majority of journeys at the Dartford Crossing are paid for correctly and on time (94.7% in the period May 2022 to April 2023 inclusive).
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the zonal boundaries and eligibility for grant support for intra-zonal freight movements within the Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
A review of the Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) scheme, which runs until 31 March 2025, will commence soon. This review will consider all aspects of the scheme, including zonal boundaries.
The current scheme operates under the EU State Aid regime, so any amendments have to be made in line with this legal framework.
However, the revised scheme would be governed by the UK’s independent state aid regime, enabling greater flexibility with the design of the scheme.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the European Commission on the operation of the Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
A review of the Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) scheme, which runs until 31 March 2025, will commence soon. This review will consider all aspects of the scheme, including zonal boundaries.
The current scheme operates under the EU State Aid regime, so any amendments have to be made in line with this legal framework.
However, the revised scheme would be governed by the UK’s independent state aid regime, enabling greater flexibility with the design of the scheme.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that airlines operating in the UK meet their obligations in response to county court judgements, in the context of outstanding and unpaid county court claims.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The civil courts in England and Wales offer a number of different methods by which a creditor can enforce a judgment in their favour. These processes are designed to address different financial circumstances, and collectively they aim to make it as difficult as possible for the debtor to avoid their responsibilities. The choice of enforcement method lies entirely with the judgment creditor and it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in or comment on individual cases.
The UK has a regulatory framework in place to protect consumers whilst travelling by air, including seeking redress through Alternative Dispute Resolution and if necessary through the courts. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the UK’s specialist aviation regulator, is responsible for enforcing consumer laws for the collective interest of consumers and will take further action if required. The Government has been clear with industry on expectations to put consumers first and meet their legal obligations to their passengers.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has made of the adequacy of the consumer protection powers available to aviation regulatory bodies.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As part of the Aviation Consumer Policy Reform Consultation in 2022, we consulted on whether the CAA should be given additional administrative powers to enforce consumer protections laws. The Department is considering the responses across all the proposals and will set out next steps in due course.
The Department is also currently reviewing the CAA as part of the programme of reviews of sponsored bodies, including looking at the CAA’s effectiveness at enforcing consumer rights with its current powers. The report will be published in the Spring following the review.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK flagged ships were registered with the UK Ship Register in each calendar year since 2003.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Transport publishes UK Ship Register statistics as part of its annual Shipping fleet statistics publication in table FLE0100 and the number of UK flagged vessels of 100 gross tons and over registered in each year from 2003 to 2021 are as follows:
Year | Number of vessels |
2003 | 1,419 |
2004 | 1,404 |
2005 | 1,438 |
2006 | 1,456 |
2007 | 1,481 |
2008 | 1,550 |
2009 | 1,553 |
2010 | 1,503 |
2011 | 1,469 |
2012 | 1,401 |
2013 | 1,360 |
2014 | 1,327 |
2015 | 1,330 |
2016 | 1,328 |
2017 | 1,317 |
2018 | 1,306 |
2019 | 1,177 |
2020 | 1,134 |
2021 | 1,091 |
The 2022 annual Shipping fleet statistics will be published on 29 March 2023.
The UK Ship Register is provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and generally includes all known sea-going ships (and a few non-seagoing vessels) of 100 gross tons and above.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department's funding for active travel projects will meet or exceed the Scottish Government's equivalent spending on a per capita basis.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Local transport policy and funding, including funding for active travel, is a devolved matter for the Scottish Government. In England outside London, the Government is projecting investment of around £3bn in active travel over the current Parliament. Amounts per capita in future years will vary significantly from one part of the country to another depending not only on local investment decisions but also on final decisions on capital and revenue budgets for active travel for the next two financial years, which have not yet been taken.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the level of funding that will be required by Active Travel England to meet the target to increase the proportion of short journeys in towns and cities that are walked or cycled to 50 per cent by 2030.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Active Travel Investment model estimates that a minimum of £5.5 billion is likely to be required to meet this objective.
The actual amount will depend on a wide variety of factors including the highly uncertain long-term impact of the pandemic on walking and cycling stages.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the monies allocated under City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements are directed toward projects exclusively or mainly concerned with active travel improvements.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) programme the Government has agreed five-year local transport funding settlements for seven eligible city regions from April 2022. CRSTS funding is supporting improvements across a range of transport modes, but based on the plans put forward by mayors, the Government expects at least £700m to be allocated to active travel infrastructure over the period of 2022-25.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that per capita spending by Active Travel England is distributed equitably between regions in England.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Active Travel England provides funding to local authorities in England, outside London, based on several criteria. These include local authorities’ technical capability to deliver active travel projects, the quality of bids received and population levels.