Every parliamentary written question tabled by Laurence Turner this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 61–80 of 95 · Department for Transport
With reference to Q16 of the oral evidence given by the Chair of Shadow Great British Railways to the Transport Select Committee on 22 January 2025, HC 554, how many people work in GBRX/Great British Railways Innovation (a) by headcount and (b) on a full-time equivalent basis.
GBRX at present has a core team of 10 people, all of whom are full time.
With reference to Q9 of the oral evidence given by the Chair of Shadow Great British Railways to the Transport Select Committee on 22 January 2025, HC 554, when her Department expects to publish Shadow Great British Railways' delivery plan.
Officials are working with Shadow Great British Railways to set out and agree what their organisations will deliver both individually and collectively to make a difference for rail customers ahead of the creation of Great British Railways. The Department intends to publish these plans in the Spring.
How many people work in the Great British Railways Transition Team on (a) headcount and (b) full-time equivalent basis.
The Great British Railways Transition Team, including resource for the Fares, Ticketing and Retail programme, currently has a headcount of 235 staff. This equates to 228.9 full-time equivalent.
What contracts (a) BFS Group Limited and (b) subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited hold with (i) her Department and (ii) agencies of her Department.
After a review of DfT central’s (DfTc) internal systems, we can confirm no contracts were identified with BFS Group Limited and subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited. Following a commission to DfTc’s Executive Agencies, we can confirm that Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) and Active Travel England (ATE) all confirmed they also had no contracts with BFS Group Limited and subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited.
What recent progress her Department has made on the preparation of a third cycling and walking investment strategy.
The Department’s officials are scoping out options for the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, and the Department will say more on this in due course. The Department will also consult stakeholders before the publication of the Strategy, as required by the 2015 Infrastructure Act, and will report to Parliament later this year on the delivery of the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.
What the net cost to the public purse was of Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 compensation to operators for disruption on the rail network in 2023-24.
Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 compensation transactions are primarily between bodies whose costs and revenues are included in the Department for Transport’s group budgets, therefore these have no net cost to the exchequer.
What payments her Department has made to Birmingham City Council in support of the Birmingham roads PFI contract in each financial year from 2020-21 to 2024-25; and what was the total value of payments to the primary contractor under that contract in each of those years.
The Department has paid Birmingham City Council (BCC) a little over £50 million a year, broken down into quarterly payments of £12.6 million, from 2020-21 to 2024-25 in support of its PFI contract for its local highways. Payments from the council to its primary contractor are a matter for BCC.
Pursuant to the Answer of 02 December to Question 15995, on Kings Norton Station, whether that £123m to design the first phase of the Midlands Rail Hub programme included any capital funding for (a) the reinstatement of the island platforms at Kings Norton Station and (b) track works for the purpose of extending Camp Hill services to Kings Norton station.
The funding for Midlands Rail Hub includes designs for the reinstatement of the island platforms at Kings Norton, which, subject to a future ‘Decision to Deliver’, could be constructed by the early 2030s. Camp Hill line trains will serve Kings Norton from their introduction, currently scheduled for late-2025.
With reference to Q44 of the oral evidence given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the Transport Select Committee on 4 December 2024, HC 437, what the average waiting time for driving tests is in Birmingham Northfield constituency.
The average car practical test waiting time for Driving Test Centres that serve the Birmingham Northfield constituency can be found in the table below:Driving test centreAverage car practical driving test waiting time (Nov 2024)Kingsheath24 weeksShirley22.8 weeksThe average waiting time for Vocational tests 3a and 3b, for Garretts Green test centre which serves the Birmingham Northfield constituency, can be found in the table below:Type of Vocational testAverage test waiting time (Nov 2024)Vocational 3a6.5Vocational 3b2.8With regards to part 2 and 3 approved driving instructor tests, these types of tests are not booked the same way as other types of tests, and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is not able to record how long waiting times are at any given test centre.
With reference to page 120 of Network Rail North West and Central's publication entitled West Midlands Strategic Advice, published in October 2022, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the proposed (a) Longbridge Interchange project and (b) extension of Camp Hill services to Longbridge railway station.
The Government funds rail upgrades through the 'Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline'. Network Rail, or a third party, such as Midlands Connect or West Midlands Rail Executive, can bring forward proposals and make the case for development funding through this process, and schemes are assessed on alignment with the Government's priorities, value for money, and affordability.
Pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 15053 on Roads: Suicide, if she will publish the operational data with a description of the data quality issues for each of the last ten years.
National Highways understand that suicide is not inevitable, it is preventable, with the vision that no one attempts to take their life on our roads. National Highways uses its Post Collision Fatal Reporting (PCFR) process to internally report fatal incidents, including suspected suicides on the Strategic Road Network. However, unless a coroner rules National Highways does not know if these numbers are correct and the coronial process can take many months to complete. National Highways therefore cannot be confident that every suspected suicide recorded was a confirmed suicide. Unvalidated operational data from PCFR covering the period of 2016 – 2024 is as follows: YearNumber of Suspected SuicidesComments201615From May onwards201731201841201940202039202159202259202359202456Up to November 28th
With reference to page 8 of the Network Rail publication entitled 2022 Delivery Plan Update: North West and Central, published in May 2022, what was the outturn proportion of investment milestones that were missed in that region in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24; and what were the investment milestones that were missed in that region by each item in (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24.
There were no milestones missed for (a) Financial Year 22/23. For (b) 23/24, the outturn as a percentage for missed milestones was 2%. The two missed milestones were: · Worcester Shrub Hill Canopies, which was the delivery of the scope of buildings work The programme was delayed by site access and safety issues, including visibility of signals and the scope of works was increased as the assets were in a worse condition than anticipated. · The Three Arch bridge between Cuddington and Delamere stations, which was a renewal of a 3-span bridge. Further inspection of the asset showed that it was not in as bad condition as expected and it was deemed an inefficient use of public funds to progress with the work.
Pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024 to Question 14413 on Road Traffic Control: Complaints, how many objections were made to Traffic Regulation Orders in (a) Birmingham, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Whilst the Department holds information on Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders, there would be a disproportionate cost to provide this information for the timeframes and the areas requested within the deadline set for answering this question.
With reference to her Department's consultation entitled Traffic regulation orders: changes to publishing requirements and special events order approvals, which closed on 17 April 2022, whether she plans to publish part 2 of the response to that consultation.
We hope to announce our response to changes to the process for making special event orders in due course. We will consider our response to the remaining changes proposed by the previous Government as soon as possible.
With reference to page 4 of the minutes of the meeting of Network Rail's Board held on 4 July 2024, whether the updated efficiency plan will be published.
The Control Period 7 (CP7) Delivery Plans for each of the regions and functions set out efficiency plans and targets. Part of Network Rail’s annual Business Plan update includes updated plans and trajectories for regions and functions. The next CP7 Business Plan update is scheduled for publication at the end of the 2024/25 financial year. The 23/24 efficiency performance has been reported by the Office of Rail and Road and is available on its website: Annual efficiency and finance assessment of Network Rail 2024 | Office of Rail and Road.
Whether capital funding was allocated to restore disused platforms at Kings Norton railway station before 4 July 2024.
Proposals to bring the island platforms at Kings Norton station back into use are part of the Midlands Rail Hub programme. In March this year £123m was allocated to design the first phase, which includes Kings Norton.However, the Chancellor has been clear about the state of the nation's finances and launched a multi-year Spending Review. This includes a thorough review of plans to ensure our transport infrastructure portfolio drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers.
What her Department's timetable is for the delivery of rolling stock for Phase 1 of HS2.
The rolling stock programme for Phase 1 of HS2 will support the target delivery-into-service of Birmingham Curzon Street to London Old Oak Common of 2029 to 2033.
Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 14142 on Roads: Suicide, and with reference to the Answer of 12 July 2016 to Question 42206 on Roads: Suicide, for what reason data on incidents logged as suicides or attempted suicides is no longer available.
This limitation is not unique to the Strategic Road Network (SRN) and is also the case for all UK roads. National Highways record incidents using operational data and plan interventions based on this. National Highways cannot be confident that every incident it records using operational data was a confirmed suicide or attempted suicide.
How many live bus service registrations there were in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2023-24.
The Office for the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) only publish data on a traffic area wide basis. In the West Midlands, the term traffic area wide would include the West Midlands conurbation, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.In 2009/10 the OTC reported that there were 2,262 local bus services registered in the West Midlands. In 2023/24 there were 633 registered with a traffic commissioner. However, it should be noted that this figure does not include services that operate wholly within the West Midlands Combined Authority as they hold delegated authority under their Enhanced Partnership to register local services.
Whether her Department holds information on the number of objections made to Traffic Regulation Orders.
I can confirm the Department holds information on the number of objections made to Traffic Regulations Orders and is able to supply it in respect of any defined time period in the last 5 years.