Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Director General of the Road Transport Group in his Department is responsible for co-ordinating Network North.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Directors General across the Department are responsible for looking at transport in an integrated way and from the perspective of the places and public they serve, with each Director General having cross-cutting responsibilities. The unit that provides a central co-ordinating function across the many projects and policy areas included within Network North reports to the Director General of the Road Transport Group.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department last (a) reviewed the evidence base underpinning its demand forecasts and (b) update its forecasts of travel demand across modes as set out in its Transport Analysis Guidance.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We review evidence underpinning our transport demand forecasts across modes regularly and publish forecasts every few years, consistent with the proportionate update process in the Transport Analysis Guidance. Projections of travel demand across modes were last published in 2022 which included, for the first time, a set of Common Analytical Scenarios to illustrate the impact of different plausible futures on demand. The projections are available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tempro-downloads. The Department will publish an update in due course.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the European Train Control signalling system is classified as a (a) renewal or (b) enhancement for the purposes of Network Rail’s budget.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance issued by his Department to (a) Network Rail, (b) National Highways and (c) the Great British Railways transition team on potential conflicts of interest.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Arm’s Length Bodies have a duty to manage public money responsibly and effectively and in a transparent way. This includes managing any potential conflicts of interest effectively through the implementation of an effective and appropriate Conflicts of Interest (CoI) policy, in line with the Cabinet Office’s Procurement Policy Note: Applying Exclusions in Public Procurement, Managing Conflicts of Interest and Whistleblowing (PPN 04/21).
As the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) employs people from across the rail industry, DfT’s Rail Reform team has been working closely with them to maintain and improve current information sharing processes, including ensuring NDAs have adequate provisions to protect all parties where potential conflicts of interest exist. This includes ensuring GBRTT have adequate provisions in place when working with Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and contractors.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the medication reimbursement mechanism for community pharmacists.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the medicine margin survey, the Department assesses whether the reimbursement arrangements pay pharmacy contractors as agreed as part of the community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF). The medicine margin survey considers what pharmacies paid for medicines by looking at their invoices compared to the amount reimbursed by the National Health Service. Where the survey finds that they have been underpaid, we increase the pharmacy contractors’ payments, and where they have been overpaid, we decrease payments.
Furthermore, where pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, Community Pharmacy England can request that the Department reassesses the reimbursement price. If a new reimbursement price is issued, this is known as a concessionary price.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of pharmacies that have closed in Easington since 2019; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of these closures on primary care services.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 21 physical pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in Easington constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, two pharmacies closed in Easington constituency. However, access remains good. 85 percent of the population in Easington live within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of Easington can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the statutory duty of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of community pharmacies on the communities.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 21 physical pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in Easington constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, two pharmacies closed in Easington constituency. However, access remains good. 85 percent of the population in Easington live within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of Easington can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the statutory duty of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department provides to officials on the use of the social media platforms (a) X and (b) LinkedIn.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department’s policy for the use of social media platforms X and LinkedIn is available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport/about/social-media-use. The Civil Service Code provides wider guidance in relation to the conduct of civil servants and is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil-service-code.
The Department for Transport and its agencies (DVLA, DVSA, MCGA, VCA and ATE) follow the guidance set out in these policies. Further guidance is provided to all staff in the Social Media Policy for DfT and Executive Agencies, available on the staff intranet.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 25 November 2020 to Question 120953 on Network Rail: Finance and pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2024 to Question 18100 on Railways: Finance, what assessment he has made of the causes of the differential in the rail enhancements budget for 2019 to 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The answer provided 25 November 2020 to Question 120953 on “Network Rail: Finance” referred to the budget for rail enhancements during the years 2019-2024. The answer provided 12 March 2024 to Question 18100 on “Railways: Finance” referred to the spend on rail enhancements in each year of that period. The comparison is therefore of a budget, stated as £9.4bn after Spending Review 2020, to the spend against that budget estimated at £8.63bn over the same period. There is no differential in the rail enhancements budget implied by that comparison. The difference in the figures comes from a degree of underspending against budget in each year of the first 4 years of the period.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the roads good vehicles travelling to Europe statistics for April 2023 to March 2024; and when this series will conclude.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Road Goods Travelling to Europe statistical series is currently undergoing a quality review due to a potential supplier data issue. We are working with our data supplier to assess this issue, and updates to this statistical series will resume once the matter has been resolved. Dates for future publications will be communicated via our release calendar (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport/about/statistics) as soon as possible. There are no immediate plans to cease this statistical series, and any future variation would be consulted on as per Code of Practice for Statistics.