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 recent political developments in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
Ukraine has been in a political crisis since the resignation of the Economy Minister in February . Our message to Ukraine’s leaders during this time has been to stay focused on delivering reform, especially tackling corruption. The President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet of Ministers and Parliament (Rada) have a shared responsibility to work together on this.
On 14 April Volodymyr Groysman, the Rada Speaker, was appointed Prime Minister together with a new Cabinet. We hope this will give the Government of Ukraine the stability it needs to deliver the security and prosperity which the people of Ukraine demand.
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 improve the travel experiences of blind and partially sighted people; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Government plans to publish an accessibility action plan (AAP) to improve the travel experience of disabled people, including blind and partially sighted people. We are working with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to assess what information should go in this publication and how to update any other Departmental guidance to make it used and useful to visually impaired people and a wide audience. We plan for the AAP to be ready for wider consultation in the summer.
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 make travel on the Thameslink line more accessible for disabled passengers.
Answered by Claire Perry
On the Thameslink route, the new Thameslink trains currently being manufactured will enter service later this year. The full fleet will be in service by the end of 2018. The train specification was developed to meet the latest standards and is fully compliant with accessibility standards for heavy rail (the Persons of Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability – PRM-TSI).
To aid boarding and alighting, the Thameslink Programme is providing dedicated ramps at stations and on board the trains, in addition to raised platform areas at busy central London stations that will step free from street level to the new trains. The boarding positions will be clearly indicated for disabled users.
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 Govia Thameslink's ability to safely transport disabled passengers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
We expect Govia Thameslink Railway to demonstrate its ability to carry all passengers safely through its safety management system. The Office of Rail and Road issues safety certificates for passenger operators in its capacity as safety regulator and carries out any enforcement necessary for safety issues.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's policies to tackle bank fraud and scams; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government takes all types of fraud, including those targeted at banks’ customers, extremely seriously.
The Home Office is the lead Government department on crime, including fraud, and crime prevention overall. In February 2016, the Home Secretary announced a new Joint Fraud Taskforce. The Taskforce is a collaboration of banks, law enforcement and Government. This is the first time these organisations have come together to tackle fraud, and particularly to focus on those issues that have been considered too difficult for a single organisation to manage alone. The Taskforce seeks to identify the issues that will make the biggest difference to our collective fight against fraud.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women have died from primary cervical cancer at the age of (a) 20, (b) 21, (c) 22, (d) 23, (e) 24 and (f) 25 in each year since 2003.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to there being no trains available to operate services in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Claire Perry
In rail period 1608 (18 October – 14 November) there were 448 full and 403 part cancellations attributed to rolling stock fleet causes. These figures include cancellations made for service recovery reasons where the initial incident was caused by rolling stock failure.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to problems with the line infrastructure in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Claire Perry
The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes. The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to adverse weather conditions in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Claire Perry
The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes. The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes.
Asked by: Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to driver illness in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Claire Perry
Figures for driver attributed cancellations the whole of the TSGN franchise in the last four periods are below. This data represents the first four periods since Southern Railway joined Govia Thameslink Railway at the end of July. This data does not differentiate between cancellations due to driver shortage and operational issues.
Rail Period 1605 26/7-22/8 | Rail Period 1606 23/8-19/9 | Rail Period 1607 20/9-17/10 | Rail Period 1608 18/10-14/11 | |
Full cancellations | 1093 | 1331 | 723 | 706 |
Part cancellations | 458 | 410 | 406 | 411 |
Total | 1551 | 1741 | 1129 | 1117 |
The Department does not hold information on cancellations due to sickness.