Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the fastest journey time from Leeds to Sheffield by rail is; and what that journey time is planned to be under the proposals set out in the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Journey times from Leeds to Sheffield by rail currently take around 40 minutes. Intercity connections will be further considered within the £100m funding announced in the IRP which includes work on how best to take HS2 services to Leeds.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what routes his Department has produced costings in the first phase of the proposed West Yorkshire Mass Transit system.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has not produced costings, as it is for West Yorkshire Combined Authority to develop the scheme. The figures used by the Department come from proposals submitted by West Yorkshire Combined Authority for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements programme.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the latest study by Highways UK on the impact of 38.4 tonne and 44 tonne volumetric concrete mixers on road infrastructure.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
National Highways (then Highways England) commissioned a report into the load effects of volumetric concrete mixers (VCMs) in 2017. The Department for Transport does not have plans to publish the report.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an environmental impact assessment has been undertaken on the number of additional journeys that will result from the introduction of a 32 tonne limit on volumetric mobile plants.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The standard weight limits applicable to four-axle rigid vehicles is 32 tonnes. In 2017, the Government published the response to a consultation relating to specialised vehicle testing in which it was asked whether volumetric mobile plants (VCMs) should be permitted to exceed the standard 32-tonne weight limit for vehicles of their design.
Vehicle weight limits are necessary to maintain the integrity of road structures and ensure vehicles are not overloaded, presenting a danger to other road users. No environmental impact assessment has been undertaken; however, an impact assessment was conducted at the time of the regulatory change, which included these factors, and is available online.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to make the fitting of GPS trackers on all new cars compulsory.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Before new road vehicles can be placed on the market and registered, manufacturers must obtain type approval to the relevant technical requirements. The technical requirements are established at an international level and currently do not require the fitting of GPS trackers on new cars. There are no plans to amend these requirements.
The Department for Transport will be consulting during the autumn on legislation to introduce a new GB type approval scheme for road vehicles. This will include a Call for Evidence on possible new measures to introduce into the GB scheme in the future.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's estimate is of covid-19 vaccination rates in (a) India and (b) Pakistan as of 31 August 2021.
Answered by Robert Courts
The World Health Organization publishes data on vaccination rates. As at 18 August 2021, India has approximately 125 million fully vaccinated individuals, which is over 9% of the population. Pakistan has approximately 12.5 million fully vaccinated individuals, which is over 5% of the population. The Department for Transport does not produce forecasts for global vaccination rates.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will set out the criteria used in respect of the covid-19 travel rules in deciding that (a) Pakistan should remain on the red list and (b) India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates should move from the red to the amber list, announced on 5 August 2021.
Answered by Robert Courts
Decisions on Red, Amber or Green List assignment and associated border measures are taken by Ministers, who take into account Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) risk assessments of countries and territories, alongside wider public health factors. Key factors in the JBC risk assessment of each country and territory include genomic surveillance capability, COVID-19 transmission risk and variant of concern transmission risk. A summary of the JBC methodology is published on gov.uk, alongside key data that supports Ministers' decisions.
These are intended to be temporary measures and the government keeps data for countries and territories under regular review.