Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department has made on using geospatial data to support the expansion of the electric vehicle charging network.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Department uses geospatial data aggregated up to various output levels, which are published as Official Statistics. These can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-statistics. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) then uses this data as part of its policy decision making process.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage garage forecourt operators to introduce charging points for electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
As set out in the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, the Government is committed to making electric vehicle charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station.
Together, Government and industry have supported the installation of over 45,500 public charging devices across the UK, including many at petrol stations.
Government intervention is focused where an accelerated pace of rollout is most needed. This includes facilitating the deployment of rapid chargepoints at Motorway Service Areas along the strategic road network and transforming the availability of local on-street charging
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to hold the next market engagement day with potential train service operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Once market conditions allow, we intend to subject all contracts both private sector and those under the OLR, to competitive tendering.
We are working to develop new Passenger Service Contracts to enable a return to competition in the market to drive value for money for customers and the taxpayer.
As the Secretary of State reaffirmed in the George Bradshaw address, we will enhance the role for the private sector as we deliver reform across the railways. Competition is essential to unlock the growth, innovation and efficiency that is required to create a sustainable model which delivers for railway customers.
In the short term, we are working with the industry to introduce improved commercial incentives in existing contracts.
We will consult with the market to develop and design the detail of these new contracts, before launching competitions in due course.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timeline is in place for the transition of train operating companies contracts from emergency recovery measure agreements and national rail contracts to passenger service contracts.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Once market conditions allow, we intend to subject all contracts both private sector and those under the OLR, to competitive tendering.
We are working to develop new Passenger Service Contracts to enable a return to competition in the market to drive value for money for customers and the taxpayer.
As the Secretary of State reaffirmed in the George Bradshaw address, we will enhance the role for the private sector as we deliver reform across the railways. Competition is essential to unlock the growth, innovation and efficiency that is required to create a sustainable model which delivers for railway customers.
In the short term, we are working with the industry to introduce improved commercial incentives in existing contracts.
We will consult with the market to develop and design the detail of these new contracts, before launching competitions in due course.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timeline his Department has in place for reletting train operation contracts under the control of Operator of Last Resort.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Once market conditions allow, we intend to subject all contracts both private sector and those under the OLR, to competitive tendering.
We are working to develop new Passenger Service Contracts to enable a return to competition in the market to drive value for money for customers and the taxpayer.
As the Secretary of State reaffirmed in the George Bradshaw address, we will enhance the role for the private sector as we deliver reform across the railways. Competition is essential to unlock the growth, innovation and efficiency that is required to create a sustainable model which delivers for railway customers.
In the short term, we are working with the industry to introduce improved commercial incentives in existing contracts.
We will consult with the market to develop and design the detail of these new contracts, before launching competitions in due course.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to set out details of new Passenger Service Contracts with operators and potential operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Once market conditions allow, we intend to subject all contracts both private sector and those under the OLR, to competitive tendering.
We are working to develop new Passenger Service Contracts to enable a return to competition in the market to drive value for money for customers and the taxpayer.
As the Secretary of State reaffirmed in the George Bradshaw address, we will enhance the role for the private sector as we deliver reform across the railways. Competition is essential to unlock the growth, innovation and efficiency that is required to create a sustainable model which delivers for railway customers.
In the short term, we are working with the industry to introduce improved commercial incentives in existing contracts.
We will consult with the market to develop and design the detail of these new contracts, before launching competitions in due course.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that rail operations run by the Operator of Last Resort are subject to the same level of public transparency as contracts with private sector operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department regularly takes steps to ensure it complies with its transparency obligations across all train operator contracts and aims for consistency between publicly and privately owned operators in the relevant information it makes public, including in relation to train performance, customer experience and satisfaction.
The Operator of Last Resort (OLR) train operators are treated with equivalence to their private sector contractors in the way their contracts are managed, their performance assessed and addressed, the Department’s requirements of their business plans, budgets and any industry efficiencies expected. They are themselves subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and the provisions of the Environmental Information Regulations (2004) and will provide information under their own Freedom of Information Act (2000) publication schemes.
The Department publishes contractual and performance information relating to both National Rail Contract train operators and OLR train operators in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (2000) on the Rail Public Register.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department has taken to (a) advertise and (b) place information in the public domain on the use of the Energy Bills Support Scheme (Alternative Funding) for care homes.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department used a range of approaches to advertise the eligibility of partially or wholly self-funded care home residents for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. This included press notices, paid social media advertising targeting the family members and friends of those in care, roundtables with care sector stakeholders asking them to assist with advertising the scheme, and a request for local authorities to write to care homes in their area to encourage residents to apply for their support.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how frequently the delivery boards for (a) education investment areas and (b) priority education investment areas are provided with data on pupil outcomes in each area.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education Investment Areas (EIAs) do not have delivery boards. The subset of EIAs that are Priority Education Investment Areas do have local partnership boards, but these are advisory only. These boards were provided with data on pupil outcomes for their areas at the outset of the programme to help them advise the Department on the key issues to be addressed in each area and to identify local targets for pupil outcomes. They will continue to be provided with data on a regular basis, to help them advise the Department on the implementation and impact of the programme.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her policy that (a) education investment areas and (b) priority education investment areas should employ a special educational needs co-ordinator by 2024.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Education Investment Areas (EIAs), including the subset of them that are Priority Education Investment Areas, are places where the department is prioritising a package of activity to raise standards. EIAs are not public bodies and do not employ any staff. Local authorities in these areas are required to publish and maintain a clear, accessible local offer of services to support children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities and to support their families. A SEN coordinator (SENCO) is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a school's SEN policy.