Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what projects the full-time equivalent civil servants working on rail projects in the South West are working on; and what proportion of their time is spent on each project.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Civil servants working on rail projects in the South West are predominantly focused on supporting the South West Rail Resilience Programme, Mid-Cornwall Metro, Wellington and Cullompton stations, MetroWest Phase 1b, also known as the Portishead line, and Charfield station, with many other projects in the area being worked on as and when required. Resources are allocated flexibly according to business requirements.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent civil servants are working on the Dawlish Rail resilience programme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are four full-time equivalent civil servants working on rail projects in the South West, including the South West Rail Resilience Programme.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department has made on helping to improve Great Western Railway services on Sundays.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The recent performance of Great Western Railway (GWR) services on Sundays has not been good enough. Whilst many factors impact performance the recent increase in cancellations has been driven by the availability of traincrew. Officials are actively working with GWR and the wider industry to improve performance on Sundays.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to introduce mandatory insurance cover and compliance with IMO heavy fuel standards for oil tankers entering UK territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has implemented, and enforces, a range of mandatory environmental measures related to the use and carriage of oil, including heavy fuel oil, by sea. International standards are primarily set out in the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), to which the UK is a signatory. Annex I of MARPOL makes provision for the prevention of pollution by oil from ships and includes mandatory requirements such as construction standards for oil tankers, limitations on size and arrangement of cargo tanks, fuel and cargo tank protection, damage stability requirements and a robust survey and certification regime. Compliance with these requirements is enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) through surveys of UK registered ships and Port State Control inspections of non-UK ships when in UK ports. Non-compliance is managed through the detention of ships, prohibition notices and, where necessary, prosecution.
The MCA provides the UK’s representation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and is actively involved in the development of environmental measures related to the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in ships. In addition, the government has introduced provisions, known as ambulatory reference provisions, within the relevant merchant shipping legislation which aim to ensure that the UK stays up to date with the implementation of international environmental standard and is able to enforce those standards.
With regard to insurance, within certain tonnage limitations, UK ships and ships coming to or from the UK must have certificates to prove that they have the relevant compulsory civil liability insurance against oil pollution and liability insurance for the locating, marking and removing of wrecks in the event that the ship causes a pollution incident or is wrecked. Insurers must meet the UK’s criteria to provide appropriate cover and be approved by the MCA before a compulsory insurance certificate can be issued.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she has made on (a) rail and (b) station improvements in (i) Torbay and (ii) Devon.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Chancellor set out on 29 July a range of pressures on public spending, including £2.9 billion of unfunded transport specific spending. Following this, the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement on 30 July set out that the Department is undertaking an internal review of its capital spend portfolio. This will support the development of our new long-term strategy for transport.
The review will consider several projects under the former Restoring Your Railway programme.
Any decisions about the capital spend portfolio will be subject to broader discussions and fiscal decisions made at Budget and Spending Review.