Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the consultation into parts of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the potential merits of immediately suspending the driving licences of anyone who causes death while driving.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport is currently working on the scope of the call for evidence on motoring offences.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what advice he plans to give to people who are unable to book domestic cruise trips as a result of the cruise company's policy that passengers of all ages must be fully vaccinated against covid-19, including children for whom that vaccine has yet to be approved.
Answered by Robert Courts
My Department is committed to the safe restart of cruise and monitoring the risk of transmission and will require passengers and crew to present a negative Covid-19 test prior to embarkation. However, the matter of mandating vaccinations in order to travel on domestic cruises in the UK is a matter for individual operators. This is a commercial matter, with cruise operators formulating their own policies on Covid-19 safety measures.
More information about safe domestic cruise travel in the UK can be found on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the resilience programme for the three priority interventions at Dawlish is planned to be funded as an enhancement scheme during Network Rail’s Control Period 6 programme.
Answered by Andrew Jones
To help find the right permanent solution to deliver the future resilience of the Dawlish rail route, we have already provided £15million for detailed investigation and design work at three key areas, one of which is the seawall at Dawlish. Following this investigatory work, we have announced that, as we move into the next phase of work, we will invest up to £80m in a brand new, more resilient sea wall at Dawlish. This is planned to be funded as an enhancement scheme during Network Rail's Control Period 6 programme.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the October 2018 consultation outcome report on the second road investment strategy entitled Shaping the future of England’s strategic roads, what progress his Department has made on analysing the potential costs and benefits of upgrading the A38.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Department recognises the support that exists locally for improvements to the A38 in the South West, and is considering them alongside other potential network enhancements for inclusion in the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2). The Department will make decisions on RIS2 later this year, after which it will be possible to develop robust estimates of the costs and benefits of specific options for schemes included in the investment plan.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Whether his Department plans to respond to the Peninsula Rail Task Force report and set out a rail strategy for the South West.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
I wrote to the Chair of the Peninsula Rail Task Force this week setting out the Governments response to the Task Force report.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ensuring (a) delivery riders and (b) bike messengers are insured when working on a self-employed basis.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has no current plans to introduce compulsory insurance for delivery cyclists, bicycle messengers, or for cyclists in general, although it encourages all cyclists to take out some form of insurance. There are insurers who offer policies tailored to cyclists who use their bicycle for courier and delivery purposes.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether improvements to WiFi connectivity on-board trains will be discussed during the Great Western Rail franchising talks.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Yes. Improved Wi-Fi connectivity has been a strong theme already, in particular among stakeholders in the South West of England.
The Department recognises the importance of providing Wi-Fi to passengers on trains and at stations, allowing them to use their journey time productively for work and leisure and to stay in touch and up to date with the latest information. We are committed to ensuring that at least 90% of services provide free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018 and expect that virtually all trains will be fitted by 2020.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide details of the improved WiFi capabilities on the new Hitachi trains due to be rolled out on the Great Western Rail route.
Answered by Paul Maynard
To support the roll out of free Wi-Fi on trains on the Great Western Rail Route, the new rolling stock in the InterCity Express Programme (IEP) will be fitted with on-board servers that will be capable of using both 3G mobile signals and Wi-Fi services available along the rail route. The design also supports use of 4G and WiMAX (World Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access) communications as an option.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who is responsible for the mobile signal that train operating companies use for on-board WiFi.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The on-train Wi-Fi services being rolled out across passenger franchises uses the mobile signal provided by mobile network operators.
Asked by: Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the GRIP 2 studies required for the Peninsula Rail Task Force's survey will be available in order for the survey to be completed in June 2016.
Answered by Claire Perry
Department for Transport officials are working with Network Rail and the Peninsula Rail Task Force within the context of the changes that will come from Hendy re-profiling and the Bowe review to establish which further studies are required to inform the Peninsula Rail Task Force report of June 2016 and the funding that could be available to support this development work.