Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations of HMICFRS's July 2020 report, Roads Policing: Not optional - An inspection of roads policing in England and Wales.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The HMICFRS report Roads Policing: Not Optional was commissioned by the Roads Policing Review Governance Board which is jointly chaired by officials from the Department for Transport and the Home Office. Recommendations 1 to 3 and 7 were addressed to the Government. The remainder of the thirteen recommendations were for Chief Constables and the College of Policing.
In respect of Recommendation 1 that Department for Transport and Home Office produce a joint road safety strategy, the Government is going further. We will instead establish a cross Government Road Safety Strategic Board to engage all Departments in a strategic framework to reduce road casualties.
The use of statutory powers to require locally elected PCCs to include specific policing issues in their Police and Crime plans needs to be balanced with a proper regard for local autonomy and the will of local voters. PCCs are directly elected and must consult their communities in developing a Police and Crime Plan that reflects local circumstances. The Home Office is committed to working closely with the police and PCCs to consider what further improvements can be made to the effectiveness of roads enforcement in England and Wales and reduce road traffic casualties.
The Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) will set clear direction to policing on the contribution they need to make to respond to national threats including terrorism, serious and organised crime and child sexual abuse. It will highlight where police forces need to work together, using local and/or regional capabilities, to protect the public. Following the SPR review that we concluded last year, we are considering the national threats and policing capabilities, such as roads policing, that are included in the SPR. The revised SPR will be published in due course.
Recommendation 7 was that the Government should refresh Department for Transport Circular 1/2007. The Department for Transport is currently redrafting and updating the guidance in consultation with stakeholders and it is anticipated new guidance will be published in the summer.
The Home Office and Department for Transport will continue to work with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to monitor the progress made in respect of the recommendations relevant to them. This will be done in a manner that respects the operational independence of Chief Officers and the College of Policing.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the report on road safety targets which was commissioned by his Department in conjunction with WSP and Loughborough University.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The report will be published in full in due course.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and which highway authorities were notified that they could not bid for active travel capital funding for 2021-22 from Tranche 3 of the Active Travel Fund.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department made it clear to authorities that their performance with earlier tranches of active travel funding would be taken into account in allocating future funds. One council was not invited to bid this year and, for similar reasons, a number of other authorities will receive a reduction in their allocation, or if their bids are not of high enough quality, potentially no funding at all.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of steel used by Highways England in the construction and repair of the strategic road network is manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Highways England cannot currently determine what proportion of steel used in the construction and repair of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) is manufactured in the UK. Steel is purchased within the supply chain and not by Highways England directly.
Highways England is working with its suppliers to obtain deeper visibility of raw material sourcing and manage its supply pipeline effectively.