Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with rail companies to support the safety of (a) passengers and (b)) rail staff during the current heatwave.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Train operators and Network Rail are keeping travel messages under active review and advising passengers through multiple channels, including National Rail Enquiries. In particular, they are advising passengers to follow public health advice and plan ahead for their journeys. Rail staff are also being encouraged to take regular breaks to remain cool and hydrated, while keeping aware of the signs of heat exhaustion. Air conditioning will be in operation on trains to reduce temperatures and improve ventilation throughout the hot weather.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2021 to Question 29872 on Public Transport: Ventilation, what the budget is for enforcement activities for ventilation in each of the last ten years for (a) buses, (b) trains and (c) other forms of public transport; what enforcement action has been taken in respect of ventilation on (i) buses, (ii) trains and (iii) other forms of public transport in each of the last ten years; and when he last met with industry bodies representing operators of (A) buses, (B) trains and (C) other forms of public transport to discuss ventilation.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Transport companies must make sure that there is an adequate supply of fresh air in enclosed areas and this has not changed during the pandemic.
The type of ventilation in use across vehicles on the UK public transport network, varies according to vehicle age and vehicle type. Some older rail rolling stock and almost all UK buses are reliant on opening windows and doors for passenger ventilation.
The Office of Rail and Road carries out health and safety enforcement of railway operators, but there is not a specific budget covering ventilation matters and the regulator does not hold records for specific ventilation enforcement activities. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the ORR has encouraged all train and station operators to review their risk assessments and is continuing to monitor duty holders’ safety management systems and risk assessment arrangements.
For vehicles with Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, the exact standard which the ventilation meets will be dependent on the standard in place when the vehicle was designed. Measuring ventilation rates is extremely difficult, with the need to consider stopping patterns, occupation rates and weather conditions in addition to the capability of any HVAC systems in place.
We are working with transport operators to identify areas of poor ventilation for improvement following SAGE and HSE guidance to further ensure that ventilation on public transport is adequate. Our recent safer transport guidance for operators includes measures to assess and address the risk of Covid-19.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure adequate ventilation in (a) trains, (b) buses and (c) other forms of public transport to reduce risk of covid-19 infection; what plans he has to issue guidance operators of public transport services on transport ventilation; what standards or criteria his Department advises are used to plan and measure transport ventilation; and whether his Department plans to make funds available to improve standards of ventilation on public transport.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Guidance on ventilation is included within the Department’s ‘Safer Transport Guidance for Operators’. It suggests operators consider how they can increase ventilation and air flow, and asks that wherever possible operators and businesses should ensure that a fresh air supply is consistently flowing though vehicles, carriages and transport hubs. The guidance sets out a number of ways in which this might be achieved including through the opening of windows, the use of air conditioning systems and through the use of filters. The Department’s public facing communications messaging asks that passengers open windows wherever possible and safe to do so.
The Department is also working with the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operating companies, to continue to develop guidance for operators on train ventilation. Operators are currently trialling the use of new high grade filters which are likely to offer further protection against airborne Covid transmission. Where trains are ventilated using an air conditioning system, the air in the carriage will be completely replaced every 6-9 minutes.
Buses typically rely on opening windows for passenger ventilation. Industry is using a range of methods to ensure that these windows are kept open, including through the use of window stickers, on-board announcement and the placing of small blocks in the windows which prevent them from being fully closed. Coach operators carry out risk assessments, with mitigations including enhanced ventilation and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) filters.
Aviation has high standards of ventilation and uses HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters as standard on passenger aircraft.
The Department is currently working with operators to understand scope for further ventilation improvements and to understand how we can best support industry moving forwards.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the risk to public health caused by people who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19 travelling together in an aircraft with high efficiency particulate air filters in use; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Vaccination greatly reduces transmission and two doses provide a very high degree of protection against serious illness and death. Air conditioning systems on modern aircraft filter cabin air every few minutes through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. These filters are very effective at capturing airborne microbes in the filtered air and, when coupled with the drawn in fresh air, can help to mitigate the longer-range risk of transmission.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they had made of proposals by Spanish bus and coach builder Irizar to modify air-conditioning systems to reduce passengers' inhalation of air-born droplets or micro-particles by ionising the air entering each system, and to use increased levels of oxygen in such systems to combat viruses via oxidisation; and in particular, whether such methods could be used on trains or trams to tackle pollen, fungal spores, bacteria and other microbes, as well as COVID-19 and other viruses.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have not made any assessment of the proposals made by Spanish bus and coach builder Irizar to modify air-conditioning systems. However, we are aware that the industry is looking at various options around modifying air conditioning to give greater protection.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employers in each industry category set out in the Government's Office of National Statistics Standard Industrial Classification system hold a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested is set out in the table below.
Industry sector | Number of Sponsors |
Accommodation | 199 |
Accommodation and Food Service Activities | 656 |
Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance activities | 69 |
Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies | 38 |
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities | 202 |
Activities of households as employers of domestic personnel | 1 |
Activities of households as employers; production activities of household for own use | 3 |
Activities of membership organisations | 286 |
Administrative and Support Activities | 1 |
Administrative and Support Service Activities | 227 |
Advertising and market research | 290 |
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 60 |
Air transport | 107 |
Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis | 240 |
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | 513 |
Civil engineering | 86 |
Computer programming, consultancy and related activities | 1,052 |
Construction | 313 |
Construction of buildings | 98 |
Creative, arts and entertainment activities | 352 |
Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities | 52 |
Education | 2,173 |
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 131 |
Employment activities | 166 |
Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas | 110 |
Financial and Insurance Activities | 922 |
Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding | 972 |
Fishing and aquaculture | 5 |
Food and beverage service activities | 1,389 |
Forestry and logging | 1 |
Gambling and betting activities | 21 |
Human health activities | 959 |
Human Health and Social Work Activities | 803 |
Information and Communication | 17 |
Information and Communications | 1,805 |
Information service activities | 298 |
Insurance, reinsurance, pension funding exc compulsory social security | 158 |
Land transport and transport via pipelines | 33 |
Legal and accounting activities | 380 |
Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities | 56 |
Manufacture of basic metals | 24 |
Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and preparations | 72 |
Manufacture of beverages | 26 |
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products | 75 |
Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products | 5 |
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products | 125 |
Manufacture of electrical equipment | 129 |
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery | 79 |
Manufacture of food products | 138 |
Manufacture of furniture | 17 |
Manufacture of leather and related products | 7 |
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. | 129 |
Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers | 38 |
Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products | 7 |
Manufacture of other transport equipment | 29 |
Manufacture of paper and paper products | 22 |
Manufacture of rubber and plastic products | 53 |
Manufacture of textiles | 35 |
Manufacture of tobacco products | 6 |
Manufacture of wearing apparel | 33 |
Manufacture of wood/cork/straw/plaiting (not furniture) | 5 |
Manufacturing | 978 |
Mining and Quarrying | 48 |
Mining of coal and lignite | 1 |
Mining of metal ores | 14 |
Mining support service activities | 22 |
Movies, video. & TV prog, sound recording & music publishing activities | 78 |
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities | 216 |
Other manufacturing | 251 |
Other mining and quarrying | 11 |
Other personal service activities | 305 |
Other professional, scientific and technical activities | 795 |
Other Service Activities | 2,296 |
Postal and courier activities | 14 |
Printing and reproduction of recorded media | 23 |
Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities | 1,440 |
Programming and broadcasting activities | 40 |
Public Admin and defence; compulsory social security | 34 |
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 115 |
Public Administration and Defence | 1 |
Publishing activities | 149 |
Real Estate Activities | 275 |
Remediation activities and other waste management services | 9 |
Rental and leasing activities | 25 |
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment | 49 |
Repair of computers and personal and household goods | 11 |
Residential care activities | 554 |
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 420 |
Scientific research and development | 187 |
Security and investigation activities | 30 |
Services to buildings and landscape activities | 39 |
Social work activities without accommodation | 182 |
Specialised construction activities | 48 |
Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities | 464 |
Telecommunications | 206 |
Transportation and Storage | 150 |
Travel agency, tour operator, reservation service & related activities | 150 |
Undifferentiated goods/services, activities of private households (own use) | 8 |
Veterinary activities | 63 |
Warehousing and support activities for transportation | 60 |
Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery | 21 |
Water collection, treatment and supply | 12 |
Water Supply, Sewerage and Waste Management | 1 |
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 30 |
Water transport | 63 |
Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 47 |
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 495 |
Wholesale and Retail Trade; Vehicle Repairs | 3 |
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 316 |
Total | 27,047 |