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Written Question
Aviation: Armed Conflict
Monday 14th February 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of commercial airline passengers when flying over areas of conflict.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Individual States are responsible for issuing advice in relation to their airspace, including overflying conflict zones. These roles and responsibilities are set out in guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The UK Government works to identify threats to civil aviation globally, and where appropriate, issues additional security NOTAMs to UK airlines. This information is then used by airlines to conduct their own risk assessments and plan flight routings.


Written Question
Aviation: Armed Conflict
Monday 14th February 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the rules in place for commercial airplanes crossing areas of conflict; and whether his Department plans to amend those rules.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Individual States are responsible for issuing advice in relation to their airspace, including overflying conflict zones. These roles and responsibilities are set out in guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The UK Government works to identify threats to civil aviation globally, and where appropriate, issues additional security NOTAMs to UK airlines. This information is then used by airlines to conduct their own risk assessments and plan flight routings.


Written Question
Aviation: Armed Conflict
Monday 14th February 2022

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what rules are in place regarding the flightpaths of commercial airplanes crossing over areas of conflict (a) when guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against all travel to the nation whose airspace the flightpath crosses and (b) more widely.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Individual States are responsible for issuing advice in relation to their airspace, including overflying conflict zones. These roles and responsibilities are set out in guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The UK Government works to identify threats to civil aviation globally, and where appropriate, issues additional security NOTAMs to UK airlines. This information is then used by airlines to conduct their own risk assessments and plan flight routings.


Written Question
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Correspondence
Friday 25th September 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there is a backlog in (a) opening and (b) responding to postal enquiries at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The DVLA’s 6,000 staff are largely based at a single site in Swansea and to adhere to Welsh Government social distancing requirements the number of staff on-site had been greatly reduced. While there are not generally delays in opening paper applications, processing them may take longer as they have to be dealt with in person. The DVLA has reconfigured its accommodation to maximise staff numbers while meeting the requirement in Wales to maintain the two-metre social distancing and ensure it remains Covid secure.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a range of online services available which offer quick and easy ways of transacting. The DVLA’s online services have worked well and as normal throughout the pandemic. Between March and the end of August, the DVLA has issued nearly seven million vehicle registration certificates and three and a half million driving licences.

The DVLA has also accelerated the development of additional online services to further reduce the number of paper applications and supported the take up of these through a publicity campaign. In June, the DVLA launched a new service allowing vehicle keepers to change their address online. This service was developed and introduced at pace and has been very successful with more than 213,000 change of address transactions completed online by the end of August. Further digital service enhancements are underway.

Additionally, drivers with a licence that expires between 1 February and 31 December 2020 have been given an automatic extension from the date of expiry. This means they will not need to renew their entitlement to drive until 11 months after the original expiry date.


Written Question
Motor Vehicles: Hydrogen
Tuesday 8th September 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the role of hydrogen passenger vehicles in de-carbonising transport.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

In 2018, the Department for Transport published the outputs of the Transport Energy Model. The model provides a clear assessment of the relative environmental impacts of a range of fuel and powertrain options for cars, vans, buses and heavy goods vehicles over the period to 2050, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The Government’s approach to delivering greener transport is technology neutral and we have provided support for hydrogen as a transport fuel where the market favours its use. For road transport this includes support through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, the £23m Hydrogen for Transport Programme, £2m Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle support scheme and funding for the purchase of 62 hydrogen fuel cell buses. Across road, rail, maritime and aviation Government is supporting research and development into hydrogen technologies recognising its potential to be a key fuel on the pathway to zero emissions.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Iron and Steel
Wednesday 29th January 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of total cost of UK steel and steel tubes as a proportion of all steel procured by his Department in 2019.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

In DfT, steel is only purchased directly by Network Rail. Between Jun 2018-19 the value of their UK steel procurements was approximately 93% percent of the total value of their steel contracts. The next report will be on data from Jun 2019-20. Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Iron and Steel
Wednesday 29th January 2020

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of total cost of UK steel and steel products as a proportion of all steel procured by his Department in 2019.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

In DfT, steel is only purchased directly by Network Rail. Between Jun 2018-19 the value of their UK steel procurements was approximately 93% percent of the total value of their steel contracts. The next report will be on data from Jun 2019-20. Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Iron and Steel
Tuesday 4th June 2019

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK steel and steel products procured by his Department in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Answered by Andrew Jones

Network Rail purchase ninety-seven percent of their steel from Scunthorpe. Both Highways England and High Speed Two Ltd procure steel through their respective supply chains. Raw materials for non-infrastructure purchases e.g. Rolling Stock are purchased by the prime contractor.


Written Question
Transport: South Wales
Wednesday 3rd April 2019

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the need for UK Government investment in transport infrastructure in South Wales after the UK leaves the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Chris Grayling

The Government works closely with the Welsh Government on the specification and funding of Network Rail’s operations in England and Wales for each five year railway Control Period. The approach we are using to assess the need for investment into rail infrastructure in South Wales will remain unchanged after the UK leaves the EU. We will continue to consider rail investments in line with the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP). Network Rail’s Control Period 6 Strategic Business Plan, covering the period from April 2019 to 2024, states a total proposed investment of £1.34bn in rail across Wales and Borders.

Investment in road infrastructure is a devolved responsibility and would be a matter for the Welsh Government.


Written Question
Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions
Friday 29th March 2019

Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms to ensure legal compliance of car manufacturers with emissions targets.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Since 2015, the Department has more than quadrupled its resource investment in this area. It is continuing to build both its capacity and capability to test a wide selection of vehicles in order to ensure their continuing compliance with emissions standards.

In 2016, the Department established the Market Surveillance Unit (MSU), within the Driver Vehicle and Standards Agency (DVSA). The MSU works closely with the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) to check that new road vehicles placed on the UK market comply with the relevant legal obligations. The MSU publishes a yearly report of its findings, and its most recent report is at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691601/vehicle-market-surveillance-unit-programme-results-2017.pdf

New regulations were introduced in 2018 which make it an offence for a manufacturer to supply a vehicle to the UK market which contains a prohibited defeat device. The fines can be up to £50,000 per offence.