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1169265

registered interest
date	07/01/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Japanese Knotweed
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each of the last five years, (1) how many instances of infestation by Japanese Knotweed were recorded on Network Rail land and property, (2) how many complaints were received, and what was the cost to Network Rail of action taken to eradicate the species; (3) what action Network Rail takes in response to infestations and complaints about Japanese Knotweed; and (4) what action Network Rail takes in the event of this plant spreading from Network Rail land on to adjoining land and property.
tabling member printed	Lord Greaves
uin	HL121
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <ol><li><p>Network Rail are currently in the process of gathering data about historical Japanese knotweed instances, however there are currently 5138 distinct sites with active treatment of Japanese knotweed.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>The breakdown of complaints is as follows: 2019 – 25; 2018 – 62; 2017 – 42; 2016 – 72; 2015 – 73, not accounting for cases where a legal claim is made without a complaint. Some of these complaints developed into claims, with 170 claims made over the last 5 years. The total sum of these claim settlements amounts to £3.73m; this covers treatment costs as well as damages, investigation costs and legal costs. It was not possible to obtain figures for the overall expenditure on treatment, however it costs approximately £18-30 per metre square of knotweed to successfully treat it, over a period of 3 – 5 years.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>In instances where Japanese knotweed is discovered, the location of knotweed is recorded and mapped, followed by treatment activity tailored to whether it is affecting safe operation of the railway and/or creating biosecurity issues. Measures such as boot and tool cleaning are undertaken to prevent further spreading of the knotweed. In carrying out these actions, Network Rail complies with the Lineside Vegetation Management Manual and relevant legislation.</p></li><li>In the event of Japanese knotweed having spread to third party land, Network Rail complies with UK legislation and deals with complaints as quickly as possible. If knotweed growth is visible at the boundary, or on both sides of the fence, permission will be sought from the third party for treatment and, if obtained, a management plan will be jointly agreed. Only herbicides using the active ingredient glyphosate are used in these instances.</li></ol> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 20/01/2020 11:56:10 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	2569 label Biography information for Lord Greaves

1181428

registered interest
date	27/02/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Motorways
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 24 February (HL1571) and prior to their decision to conduct “an evidence stocktake to gather the facts about the safety of smart motorways”, (1) how many miles of smart motorways have been created to date, (2) what has been the total cost of that work, and (3) how many miles of such motorways had been planned.
tabling member printed	Lord Framlingham
uin	HL1998
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2020 answer text <ol><li><p>The SRN has been expanding and evolving since the 1960’s, and in 2018 was 4,513 miles in length. The last 25 years has also seen conversion of parts of the motorway network to become smart motorways:</p></li></ol><ul><li><p>Controlled Motorway (CM) - in 1995 the first mandatory variable speed limits used on the English motorway network were introduced on the M25 J10-J15. By the end of 2018, controlled motorways covered 137 miles of the network (around 3% of the SRN) and carried 7 billion vehicle miles of traffic (around 8% of total SRN traffic)</p></li><li><p>Dynamic Hard Shoulder Running (DHS) - in 2006 the first hard shoulder to be opened to traffic was put into operation on the M42 J3a-7. This pilot scheme was originally known as active traffic management. By the end of 2018, Dynamic Hard Shoulder Running motorways covered 66 miles of the network (around 1% of the SRN) and carried 3 billion vehicle miles of traffic (around 3% of total SRN traffic)</p></li><li><p>All Lane Running (ALR) - in 2014 the first ALR schemes went into operation on the M25 J5-7 and J23-27. By the end of 2018, ALR motorways covered 123 miles of the network (around 3% of the SRN) and carried 5 billion vehicle miles of traffic (around 5% of total SRN traffic).</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>The smart motorway evidence stocktake report and action plan was published on 12 March 2020 and is available on gov.uk.</p><p> </p><p>I will write to you to answer your questions 2 and 3.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 12/03/2020 17:54:00 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	134 label Biography information for Lord Framlingham

1314978

registered interest
date	17/05/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed Two: Trees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will require HS2 to publish (1) the number of trees they have removed, (2) the number of trees they have planted, and (3) the areas where these changes have been made.
tabling member printed	Lord Jones of Cheltenham
uin	HL278
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2021 answer text <p>(1) HS2 Ltd does not specifically record or count individual trees removed or required for clearance, as recording is undertaken on an area basis (measured by hectare).</p><p>(2) As part of Phase One alone, HS2 Ltd will plant up to seven million trees and shrubs. Over 700,000 of those trees have already been planted. The area of new woodland will be well in excess of that which is lost. HS2 is creating more than 3300 hectares (33 square kilometres) of new woodland, wildlife and river habitats alongside the line from the West Midlands to London.</p><p>(3) Woodland areas to be lost as a result of HS2’s construction, and also those sites to be used for woodland creation, are described in the relevant Environmental Statement, published alongside the relevant legislation for each phase of the project.</p><p>Further updates on HS2 Ltd’s environmental performance, including with respect to the loss of ancient woodland and associated compensation response, will be published in the autumn.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 01/06/2021 12:10:05 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	248 label Biography information for Lord Jones of Cheltenham

1438460

registered interest
date	07/03/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railway Stations
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 December 2021 (HL4859), which stations (1) on HS2 lines, or (2) elsewhere, will have platform heights of 1115mm above rail.
tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
uin	HL6659
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2022 answer text <p>(1) The following HS2 stations will have a platform height of 1115 mm: Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange, Curzon Street. Subject to Royal Assent of draft legislation currently before Parliament, Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly will have the same height.</p><p>(2) On the conventional network the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) standards specify a nominal height of 915mm. Platform heights may vary due to maintenance and historic reasons. Please note that the Crossrail central core and the Heathrow Express both have platforms at 1100mm to facilitate level boarding.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 21/03/2022 15:22:06 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

1148938

registered interest
date	14/10/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Arriva: Ownership
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes in the ownership of Arriva for the group’s operations in the UK (a) rail and (b) bus industries.
tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough
tabling member printed	Andy McDonald
uin	240
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>(a) Change of ownership will be considered in the normal way, as set at in the change of control policy statement <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-franchise-change-of-control-policy-statement" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-franchise-change-of-control-policy-statement</a>’</p><p>(b) The Department has made no assessment of this.</p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 22/10/2019 14:14:31 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4269 label Biography information for Andy McDonald

1361839

registered interest
date	20/10/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed Two: Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) amount spent by HS2 Ltd on helpline call centres in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021 and (b) number of calls dealt with by those centres in each of those years.
tabling member constituency	North Warwickshire
tabling member printed	Craig Tracey
uin	59867
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2021 answer text <p>(a) In line with the Government’s transparency agenda, HS2 Ltd publishes every payment over £25,000 and all payments over £500 using corporate purchasing cards.</p><p> </p><p>(b) This information is published in HS2 Ltd’s Community Engagement Progress Reports which are available on <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.hs2.org.uk/document_types/community-engagement-progress-reports/__;!!HEBAkwG3r5RD!plRjSbMNfGWhJndtlhxV8olkF2iRIfgjOXqq-4h0NGzd7Gba5-OnFbHp9zji8uZWKifOVdi_$" target="_blank">https://www.hs2.org.uk/document_types/community-engagement-progress-reports/</a></p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 28/10/2021 15:36:33 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4509 label Biography information for Craig Tracey

1290126

registered interest
date	25/02/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed 2 Line: Euston Station
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the total number of land and property acquisitions by High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd in connection with the development of London Euston station which were secured by (a) legal agreement with owners and (b) Compulsory Purchase Orders.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	158969
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2021 answer text <p>(a) Nine interests have been or are currently being acquired by legal agreement with owners.</p><p> </p><p>(b) Ninety-five interests have been or are currently being acquired by Compulsory Purchase Orders.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 05/03/2021 13:36:48 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands

1198048

registered interest
date	01/06/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed 2 Line: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on progress being made by (a) the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure and (b) other employer-led further education colleges in meeting the skills requirements of the HS2 rail programme.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
uin	51812
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2020 answer text <p>(a) Officials within DfT are working closely with their opposite numbers in DfE regarding NCATI. DfT are active members of the Steering Group overseeing the Structure and Prospects Appraisal (SPA) being led by DfE’s Further Education Commissioner to ensure its future model is sustainable and delivers on DfT Policy objectives.</p><p> </p><p>(b) HS2 Ltd and its supply chain continue to work with Further Education Colleges on a number of employer and college-led initiatives and programmes. The table below summarises the main activities:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Name of college</p></td><td><p>Initiative</p></td><td><p>Additional Information</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Buckinghamshire College Group (Aylesbury, High Wycombe &amp; Amersham)</p></td><td><p>CITB Construction Skills Fund</p></td><td><p>EIffage-Kier, Main Works Contractor, bid for and won CITB funded training through a number of training providers including Buckinghamshire College Group from May 2019 -present. Benefitted 180 individuals to date: of those, 153 completed Entry into Construction programme, 15 completed qualifications in both Institute of Environmental Management &amp; Assessment (IEMA) &amp; Institute of Occupational Safety &amp; Health (IOSH), plus a further 8 in IEMA and 4 in IOSH.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Buckinghamshire College Group</p></td><td><p>Careers Fairs</p></td><td><p>Eiffage-Kier and Align, Main Works Contractors, attended careers fairs to talk about career opportunities with young people between Feb 2018 – May 2019</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Derby College</p></td><td><p>Professional Construction Employers’ Group / T-Level Taskforce</p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd has been a member of the Professional Construction Employers’ Group since September 2019, and on the T-Level Taskforce since its inception in December 2019 to assist in development of the T level in Construction: Design, Surveying and Planning.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College</p></td><td><p>Mayor’s Construction Academy</p></td><td><p>The Mayor’s Construction Academy (MCA) is a London Mayoral initiative to deliver the skilled workforce needed to support London’s housing and infrastructure needs. Ealing, Hammersmith and West London run one of the MCA Hubs that is responsible for co-ordinating the provision of relevant training. HS2 Ltd, Skanska Costain Strabag (SCS Railways), Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra (BBVS) and Align sit on the Employer and Partnership Boards of this MCA Hub to ensure that the training that is delivered and co-ordinated meets HS2’s needs as far as possible.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Harrow College and Uxbridge College</p></td><td><p>Institute of Technology</p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd, BBVS and Align sit on the Employer Advisory Board for the Institute of Technology delivered by Harrow College and Uxbridge College, in partnership with Brunel University. This has included supporting a number of activities including an apprenticeship fair and speed networking event at Uxbridge College as part of National Apprenticeship Week in February 2020.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Newham College</p></td><td><p>Strategic partnership with the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure</p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd, Costain Skanska, SCS Railways, Mace Dragados, BBVS and Align are in active discussions about how we can support Newham College, linked to their strategic partnership with the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure. This includes the potential for specifically supporting the Institute of Technology they run in partnership with Queen Mary University. Other activities have been supported by HS2, such as an apprenticeship fair held at Newham College’s Stratford campus as part of National Apprenticeship Week in February 2020.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Northampton College</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd, Eiffage-Kier, and Flannery Plant Hire (Tier 2 supplier) have worked collaboratively with Northampton College and there are plans to expand on this work in the future (e.g. virtual careers events)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Solihull Council</p></td><td><p>Careers &amp; Apprenticeship Fair</p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd promoted our apprenticeship and graduate opportunities at the Solihull College 2020 Careers &amp; Apprenticeship Fair in March.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South &amp; City College, Birmingham</p></td><td><p>Women into Construction Project</p></td><td><p>South &amp; City College delivered the 2-week employability training element of the Women into Construction project in May 2019. Following the 2 weeks employability training, participants then completed a 4-week work placement on the HS2 programme. The project trained a total of 16 women that were previously not in employment. 8 women (50%) progressed into employment or further accredited training. The majority of the employment offers were within the HS2 supply chain.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Walsall College</p></td><td><p>Walsall Expo</p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd joined our Tier 1 Main Works Civils Contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV) at the Walsall Expo in March 2020. Walsall Expo is held at Walsall College and organised by Walsall Works which is funded by Walsall Council to support local people to find jobs, apprenticeships and access training, while also supporting local businesses that are looking to expand and invest in their future workforce. We were able to promote a number of live opportunities including our apprenticeship and graduate opportunities. BBV were also able to promote their Materials Testing opportunities as well as other live vacancies. In total approximately 1,700 jobseekers attended the event.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Walsall College</p></td><td><p>T Levels</p></td><td><p>Balfour Beatty Vinci, Main Works Contractor, is working with Walsall College to deliver their first T level in Construction: Design, Surveying and Planning.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Warwickshire College Group</p></td><td><p>Rail and Construction Industry Day</p></td><td><p>HS2 Ltd, Main Works Civils Contractors Balfour Beatty Vinci &amp; Eiffage-Kier along with Enabling Works contractors Laing Murphy &amp; Fusion attended the Warwickshire College Group Rail and Construction Industry day in March 2019. We provided information to college students on careers in the sector along with running workshops on Building Information modelling (BIM)</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 09/06/2020 11:57:26 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1228827

registered interest
date	28/08/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he will take to (a) improve response rates to calls to the DVLA and (b) ensure that key workers are able to book a driving test.
tabling member constituency	North Ayrshire and Arran
tabling member printed	Patricia Gibson
uin	82065
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2020 answer text <p>(a) The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has reconfigured one of its buildings to create additional space for contact centre staff and installed screens to maximise the number of staff answering calls. The contact centre’s opening hours have increased at weekends and will shortly be increasing during the working week.</p><p> </p><p>(b) The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is responsible for driving tests. It has added extra call taking capacity to improve response rates. The practical driving test service is now open to all driving test candidates including key workers.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 03/09/2020 14:57:53 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	4435 label Biography information for Patricia Gibson

1422926

registered interest
date	18/02/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve rest facilities for HGV drivers and (b) ensure the safety of lorries in refuge areas.
tabling member constituency	Southport
tabling member printed	Damien Moore
uin	125464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2022 answer text <p>(a) The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.</p><p>We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.</p><p>(b) Safety remains our top priority and our motorways are the safest type of road in the country.</p><p>On motorways where the hard shoulder has been converted to a traffic lane, there is a whole system of inter-related features, working together to help drivers. They include clearly signed and orange-coloured emergency areas set back from the road to provide greater protection than a hard shoulder and with telephones linking directly to our control rooms.</p><p>Emergency areas are available for when a driver has no alternative but to stop and it has not been possible to leave the motorway or reach a motorway service area. They are approximately 100 meters long (the average length of a football pitch) by 4.6 meters wide and set back from the left-hand edge of the motorway.</p><p>A Smart Motorway Driver Education Course was designed and developed jointly between National Highways and Logistics UK specifically for the freight sector. Its core objective is to help improve drivers’ understanding of smart motorways and how to use them. It is available free of charge and is recognised by JAUPT (the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training) as part of professional drivers’ formal accreditation. Since its launch in 2018 it has been supplied to more than 150 organisations with almost 400 courses delivered to more than 2,800 delegates.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 24/02/2022 10:08:35 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore