Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) potential impact of uninsured tankers carrying Russian oil on the risk of oil spills and (b) adequacy of preparations to protect the UK (i) coast and (ii) marine environment in the event of an oil spill.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The UK, together with international partners, has implemented extensive sanctions against Russia following its illegal invasion of Ukraine. This includes sanctions which have targeted oil, Russia’s greatest source of revenue.
Illegal circumvention of those sanctions is unacceptable, which is why the Government is seeking multilateral action through the International Maritime Organization (IMO), such as the recent resolution on ship-to-ship (STS) transfers at sea by the dark fleet which was co-sponsored by the UK and other G7 nations to tackle the environmental risk. This resolution presents strong recommendations to improve awareness and monitoring of STS transfers in countries’ waters, stronger adherence to international regulations and conventions, and a greater awareness of the fraudulent and deceptive activities by vessels in the ‘dark fleet’. Through these actions, the Government intends to highlight on the global stage the illegality of Russia’s actions and reduce the pollution risk by outlining the strong response that will be delivered to violations of sanctions.
The UK has well-established plans/protocols for the response to an oil spill. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is the National Competent Authority for at-sea pollution response. The MCA Counter Pollution and Salvage (CPS), under the direction of HM Coastguard, are custodians of the national pollution response resources which comprise specialist oil containment and recovery equipment and dispersant. These are supported by manned aircraft for spill surveillance, verification and quantification and a suite of aerial dispersant spraying capability. Personnel and resources are in place 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year and provide an incident management and response capability anywhere within the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Regular exercises are undertaken to test national multi-agency spill response procedures.
The MCA does not have responsibility for pollution response on the UK shoreline; this is vested in the local authorities and devolved nations . However, the MCA CPS will support pollution response along the UK shoreline using the other nationally held containment and recovery capability held in the stockpiles. Incident management, specialist response teams, and liaison personnel are also available. As with at-sea pollution response, regular engagement with local authorities in response exercises is undertaken. The resources held by the MCA are those commensurate with a Tier 3 national response requirement as described within the National Contingency Plan for Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of penalties issued to people that modify (a) motorcycle and (b) vehicle exhausts.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government takes the impact of road noise on health, wellbeing and the natural environment seriously and recognises that proportionate and dissuasive penalties are an effective way to minimise it. The Department is continuing to research into whether noise enforcement can be automated using an acoustic camera system.
A review of the current penalties for all vehicles may need to be considered if acoustic camera systems prove to be a reliable and efficient way of enforcing noise limits.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support people who are deaf and rely on lipreading to communicate when travelling on public transport during the period where face coverings are mandatory on such transport during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is committed to ensuring deaf people can fully participate in society. We understand that mandatory use of face coverings will be difficult to adhere to for some. That is why there are exemptions to the rules for some disabled people and those with certain health conditions on public transport. You also do not need to wear a face covering if you are speaking with someone who relies on lip reading and facial expressions to communicate.
We are working closely with transport operators to make sure that their staff and passengers are aware that not everyone is required to wear a face covering. Our Safer Transport guidance includes a clear reminder to transport operators of the need to provide staff with disability equality and awareness training. In addition to this, the guidance also specifically provides warnings that conventional coverings can prevent many disabled people from accessing oral information and instructions. Our guidance for operators and more information on face coverings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators#face-coverings
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on proposals for the extension of the High-Speed 1 rail line from Ashford International Station to Hastings and Eastbourne via Rye.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
We have approved the entry of the Kent and East Sussex Coastal Connectivity Scheme to formally enter the Government’s rail enhancements pipeline. The Department and East Sussex County Council are funding the production of a Strategic Outline Business Case, due by the end of 2020. As well as exploring options to create a new link to High Speed 1, this programme is considering options for a range of upgrades to the Marshlink line between Ashford and Hastings.