Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of recent steps taken by the Government of Ukraine to tackle anti-corruption; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Recent achievements have been the establishment of the ProZorro e-procurement system; the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the asset e-declaration system for all those drawing a public salary. There is still much more to do and the UK has growing concerns about attempts to undermine successful reforms, including these flagship achievements.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the Government of Ukraine's policies on (a) upholding the rule of law and (b) economic transition in that country.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is providing both political and practical support to this, while urging the Ukrainian authorities to maintain progress. In July 2017 the UK hosted the Ukraine Reform Conference and a meeting between leading global businesses based in the UK and Ukrainian cabinet ministers. They discussed the business environment in Ukraine and the obstacles, particularly in the judicial sector, which inhibit Ukraine's ability to attract further foreign investment.
As well as this political engagement, the UK is funding a range of technical assistance projects, including support to anti-corruption institutions, the establishment of an intellectual property rights court, and help to reform the Ministry of Finance, the management of public finances and Ukraine's tax system. The UK is also supporting small and medium sized enterprises in Ukraine.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support Thameslink Railways in its management of capacity on trains between Bedford and St Pancras as a result of East Midland trains not stopping at (a) Luton and (b) Bedford from May 2018.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a result of East Midlands Trains being unable to stop at Bedford or Luton at peak times, the Department expects approximately 1500 passengers from Bedford and 500 passengers from Luton to transfer to Thameslink services to London each day, from May 2018. However, passengers on this route will benefit from capacity improvements as a result of the Thameslink Programme which mean that GTR will provide around 2000 additional seats from Bedford and nearly 3000 extra seats from Luton, off-setting the extra demand.
In order to continue to provide some faster services between Bedford, Luton and London, GTR will remove some intermediate stops from a total of 4 trains in the morning and 6 trains in the evening. However, the improvements to capacity across the peak periods mean that GTR will still be able to provide more seats at intermediate stations than it does today.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department made of the effect on capacity of the Thameslink line between Bedford and St Pancras of East Midland line trains not stopping at (a) Bedford and (b) Luton from May 2018.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a result of East Midlands Trains being unable to stop at Bedford or Luton at peak times, the Department expects approximately 1500 passengers from Bedford and 500 passengers from Luton to transfer to Thameslink services to London each day, from May 2018. However, passengers on this route will benefit from capacity improvements as a result of the Thameslink Programme which mean that GTR will provide around 2000 additional seats from Bedford and nearly 3000 extra seats from Luton, off-setting the extra demand.
In order to continue to provide some faster services between Bedford, Luton and London, GTR will remove some intermediate stops from a total of 4 trains in the morning and 6 trains in the evening. However, the improvements to capacity across the peak periods mean that GTR will still be able to provide more seats at intermediate stations than it does today.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level overcrowding on Thameslink trains between Bedford and St Pancras during peak times.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes statistical information on levels of overcrowding on an annual basis. These statistics represent overcrowding levels during a typical autumn weekday peak and are available by train operator for central London stations and major cities in England and Wales.
The table below shows the average passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) for Thameslink services arriving and departing St. Pancras International in autumn 2016, the latest period for which data are available.
Passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) for Thameslink services at St. Pancras International; autumn 2016
AM peak arrivals (07:00-09:59) | PM peak departures (16:00-18:59) |
4.3% | 4.3% |
Passengers in excess of capacity, or PiXC, shows the percentage of standard class passengers above a service’s capacity at its busiest point. For example, a train with a capacity of 90 carrying 100 standard class passengers has 10 passengers in excess of capacity, and its PiXC percentage is 10% (that is, 10 passengers out of 100 are over the train’s capacity).
Further disaggregation of this data i.e. for particular services or routes are not published as they are deemed to be commercially confidential.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the feasibility of improving disabled access to platforms at Flitwick station; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to improving station accessibility and have continued with the Access for All programme which has delivered more than 160 accessible routes at stations. We will be making further funding available in the next Rail Control Period (2019-24) and will confirm the way in which we will deliver this as soon as possible.
For schemes such as Flitwick to be considered for this future funding it will need strong support from the industry. A proportion of third party funding would also help to weight the station’s business case.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers travelled to London from Bedford during peak hours on East Midlands trains in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no published information on the number of passengers travelling between Bedford and London.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average spare capacity was on Thameslink trains from Bedford to St Pancras during peak hours in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no published information on the average spare capacity on Thameslink trains between Bedford and London St Pancras.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the future of the EU sanctions regime against Russia; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The UK strongly supports the EU’s strategy for resolving the Ukraine crisis through diplomacy underpinned by sanctions pressure. Sanctions on Russia are an important way for the EU to support a peaceful resolution of the crisis through full implementation of the Minsk agreements. As the European Council made clear in March 2015, sanctions against Russia must remain in full until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented.Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the strength of German-Russian relations and their (a) effect on European energy security and (b) implications for the UK.
Answered by David Lidington
Germany’s relations with Russia like those of all other EU Member States, have been significantly impaired by Russia’s aggressive behaviour in recent years. Germany has adopted all measures agreed by EU and NATO Member States in respect of their economic and political relationship with Russia.
It is an overriding principle that in their dealings with Russia, all EU Member States ensure that they fully comply with EU legislation, including internal energy market legislation and competition law. This legislation provides a clear and stable framework that enables the delivery of sustainable, secure and competitive energy and supports long term investment in Europe’s and the UK’s energy market.