Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the arrangements for controlling air traffic with the UK's airspace, further to the recent disruption to the London Flight Information Region.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government regrets the recent air traffic control issues and the impact these have had on airlines and their customers. NATS has an outstanding aviation safety record and is regulated against service targets which are set by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It is important that we await the findings of the independent review which the CAA has announced into the technical failure which impacted NATS systems on 28 August 2023 and that any recommendations from this are responded to accordingly.
My officials have and will continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders to ensure robust plans are in place to mitigate any disruption to air traffic control services, recognising that the safety of the operation must always be the paramount consideration for air navigation service providers.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the meetings of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, what progress they have made with repairing Hammersmith Bridge; and when they expect the bridge will fully re-open.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Hammersmith Bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) and therefore responsibility for making decisions on its repair lies with the borough.
My Department and Transport for London (TfL) are working constructively with LBHF as it makes progress with its business cases for the project. The submission of these cases is a condition for the release of any Government or TfL contribution to the cost of repairing the bridge.
The works are split into two phases: stabilisation and strengthening. The completion of both phases will allow the permanent reopening of the bridge to all users.
LBHF is due to start the stabilisation phase of works in February. The timeline of the project to reopen the bridge fully is dependent on the engineering solutions chosen by LBHF.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are satisfied with the law which authorises statutory authorities to obstruct the highway for the purposes of repair and maintenance.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Utility street works and highway authority road works, are carried out within the framework of legislation set by New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and the Traffic Management Act 2004. The overall framework balances the need to ensure the essential repair and maintenance of roads, whilst reducing the disruption that such works can cause.
We have, in recent years, continued to improve the framework of secondary legislation and we have approved lane rental schemes, which allow local authorities to charge for works on the busiest roads at the busiest times to reduce congestion. We have also introduced the Street Manager digital service, which is now used by all local highway authorities and utility companies in England to plan and manage works, providing real time, open data on live and planned works.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect Hammersmith Bridge to be re-opened to vehicular traffic.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Hammersmith Bridge is owned by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) and therefore responsibility for maintaining the bridge, and making decisions on its repair, lies with the borough.
The Government has set out a clear commitment to support LBHF in finding a long-term solution for the bridge. As agreed in the Transport for London Extraordinary Funding and Finance agreement of 1 June 2021, the Government will contribute up to 1/3 of the total costs, but no more.
The next step to permanent reopening to motor vehicles lies with LBHF, which must submit a satisfactory business case to the Department for Transport. The submission of such a case is a condition for the release of any Government contribution to the cost of repairing the bridge. As the asset owner, it is up to LBHF to take the decision on its preferred engineering solution. The timeline of the project is dependent on the solutions chosen by LBHF.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of a single standard class rail ticket from London to Birmingham when HS2 opens.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A decision has not been taken on how fares will be set for High Speed 2 (HS2) at this stage. The business case for HS2 is based on the assumption that fares will be the same as the average for comparable services on the existing network.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 9 September (HL17697), what plans they have to review the legal framework under which public utility companies can obstruct the highway for urgent repairs particularly in the Greater London Authority; and which projects they are taking forward to modernise the current regime.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport is currently considering responses to a recent consultation on amending street works permit conditions relating to portable traffic signals and pavement working. We are encouraging the minority of authorities that have not yet moved to a permit scheme to do so as these are a more effective way of planning and managing street works. In 2018, the Government announced that authorities outside London and Kent, where pioneer schemes already existed, would also now have the option of operating a street works lane rental scheme to manage the impact of works on their busiest roads at busy times.
The Government has invested £10m in Street Manager, a new digital system for planning and coordinating street works, which will be used nationwide from April 2020. The Department is currently updating the technical guidance document, “Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways”, to bring it up to date and support innovation in the sector. Finally, the Department is starting to consider improvements to the street works inspection regime.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the authority that public utility companies have to obstruct the highway to carry out repairs and installations.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A range of legislation, statutory and other guidance applies to utility companies who carry out street works on the local road network to install, maintain and repair the infrastructure on which we all rely. These works are vital but that does not mean they should take longer than they should. My department constantly reviews the legal framework to reduce the impact works have on congestion and is taking forward a number of projects to modernise the regime.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the approximate quantity of steel rail required for the HS2 project.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As stated in the Working Draft Environmental Statement (p.136), the approximate total of steel required for the HS2 project is 1.94 million metric tonnes.
The procurements for contracts that will involve the purchase of steel have not yet concluded so no contract awards have been made. However, HS2 Ltd has already engaged with thousands of British businesses, to aid them in winning work on HS2. So far 98% of contracts for HS2, awarded directly and through the supply chain, have been won by British companies, with many more opportunities to come in the future. HS2 Ltd has let around £10bn worth of contracts and by the end of next year that will be around £20bn.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the nature of the work currently in progress on the A3 Southbound at Tolworth; and when they expect it to be completed.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and delivered by Transport for London (TfL). The A3 southbound at Tolworth is the responsibility of TfL.
I understand that TfL regularly monitors its road infrastructure to ensure that it is safe for people to use and that a recent inspection of this section of the A3 found that parts of the crash barrier needed replacement due to damage from collisions and corrosion. For safety reasons, until the barrier can be replaced, TfL has had to restrict access to the near side lane. TfL is working closely with its suppliers who are manufacturing a replacement barrier. It will be installed in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish their aviation strategy Green Paper.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government is intending to publish the Aviation Strategy Green Paper before the end of this year. The green paper publication will begin a 16 week period of consultation.