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1782593

registered interest
date	10/03/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Bats: Nature Conservation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of comments by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, reported in New Civil Engineer on 4 March, that spending "vast sums" on High Speed 2's bat tunnel is "ludicrous", why they have allowed construction to continue at a cost of £119 million.
tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
uin	HL5584
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2025 answer text <p>The cost of the Sheephouse Wood bat structure is £95m in 2019 prices. It has been designed and constructed to comply with species protection laws as they currently stand, and to fulfil the requirements of the licence issued by Natural England in 2023. Abandoning construction in advance of any changes to the relevant legislation would be a breach of the conditions under which the new railway can be legally operated, and a presumption of the will of Parliament. Furthermore, and in common with much of the civil engineering structures for HS2, construction of the bat mitigation structure is well advanced and forms part of an integrated design for the railway in the Calvert area. In such circumstances, decommissioning and removing the elements of the structure already built, and redesigning and then constructing an alternative scheme for this section of railway would - at this stage in the construction schedule - cost more than completing the existing structure.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 14/03/2025 11:26:45 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

1781249

registered interest
date	04/03/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	London North Eastern Railway: Fares
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Simpler Fare Pilot on London North Eastern Railway routes, and of how this pilot may feed into fare structures under Great British Railways.
tabling member printed	Baroness Pidgeon
uin	HL5469
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2025 answer text <p>We have conducted an interim review of the London North-Eastern Railway Simpler Fares Trial and a full evaluation is due to be completed this year.</p><p> </p><p>We will carefully consider passenger and revenue impacts before taking any further decisions, including in the context of transitioning to Great British Railways. The evaluation will be published in due course.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 11/03/2025 15:57:03 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	5366 label Biography information for Baroness Pidgeon

1781264

registered interest
date	04/03/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Driverless Vehicles: Safety
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of artificial intelligence powered self-driving cars; and what plans they have to introduce safety measures for self-driving cars.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL5484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2025 answer text <p>Following Royal Assent of the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act, we are pressing ahead with our world-leading work on the safe implementation of automated vehicles. The AV implementation programme is designed to prioritise the development of a regulatory framework that maximises innovation, public safety and strengthens public confidence. We are aware that different approaches are taken to self-driving technology. Our regulations will take an outcome-based approach.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this, we plan to run a suite of consultations to enable implementation of the regulatory framework, including our processes for assuring the safety of these vehicles throughout their lifetime. We are also playing a leading role in work to harmonise international rules on self-driving, which will enable our companies to export globally.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 11/03/2025 16:14:35 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1780678

registered interest
date	03/03/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed Two
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will name the accounting officers, officials and ministers with responsibility for HS2 from 2015 to present.
tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
uin	HL5398
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2025 answer text <p>Within the Department for Transport, the Permanent Secretaries and Principal Accounting Officers with responsibility for High Speed Two (HS2) from 2015 to present are Philip Rutnam and Bernadette Kelly. The Directors General and Senior Responsible Owners for the project during that time period are David Prout, Michael Hurn (acting), Clive Maxwell, and Alan Over.</p><p> </p><p>With respect to ministers, the Secretaries of State for Transport since 2015 bore ultimate ministerial responsibility for the project. In chronological order, they have been Patrick McLoughlin, Christopher Grayling, Grant Shapps, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Mark Harper, Louise Haigh, and Heidi Alexander.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Secretary of State for Transport, various ministers have shared ministerial responsibility for HS2 within the Department since 2015. In chronological order, they have been Robert Goodwill, Paul Maynard, Nusrat Ghani, Andrew Stephenson, Trudy Harrison, Kevin Foster, Huw Merriman, and Lord Peter Hendy.</p><p> </p><p>Within HS2 Ltd, individuals holding Chief Executive Officer and Accounting Officer responsibilities since 2015 have been, in chronological order, Simon Kirby, Roy Hill, Mark Thurston, Sir Jon Thompson, Alan Foster, and Mark Wild.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 11/03/2025 15:39:31 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

1780710

registered interest
date	03/03/2025
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government for what duration they estimate that services between London Paddington and Cardiff Central stations will be disrupted to facilitate the development of HS2; and from what date disruptions will begin.
tabling member printed	Lord Wigley
uin	HL5434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2025 answer text <p>The construction works at Old Oak Common are scheduled to take place in stages, with several planned possessions through to the early 2030’s, of which the most extensive will be over the Christmas periods. Network Rail’s current plans do not involve widespread weekend closures; while most of the construction work will take place during the Christmas period closures, it is expected only two of the four tracks will be available on the Great Western Mainline at times.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, Transport for London, and the train operating companies to minimise the impacts of disruption, synchronising the timing of works with other works planned on the route wherever possible and ensuring the continued operation of rail services.</p><p> </p><p>During the All-Line Blocks where no trains will be able to go to London Paddington, a limited number of services will be diverted to London Euston (to continue to provide service access into Central London), and other trains will terminate at Reading or Ealing Broadway (where passengers can use London Underground services to continue their journey to Central London). As the minister responsible for the delivery of HS2 Phase 1, I understand that minor and preparatory works for Old Oak Common will proceed in parallel with routine maintenance on the line, while I expect that the significant possessions required to bring Old Oak Common into use will not happen for several years.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 14/03/2025 11:25:56 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	547 label Biography information for Lord Wigley

1779571

registered interest
date	27/02/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Great British Railways
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what role they envisage for the Rail Safety and Standards Board within the new railway structure with Great British Railways.
tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
uin	HL5344
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2025 answer text <p>The independent Rail Safety and Standards Board acts as the safety, standards and research body for Great Britain’s rail network. We will review its exact remit to ensure it is able to fulfil a similar role within the new model.</p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 04/03/2025 12:53:04 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

1779594

registered interest
date	27/02/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Cycling: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by Sustrans Children's Walking and Cycling Index 2024, published 26 February, what steps they are taking to address the gender divide in children cycling.
tabling member printed	Baroness Pidgeon
uin	HL5367
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2025 answer text <p>The Government agrees that it is important to include a wide-range of groups in the policy making process, including children. On 12 February, Active Travel England published guidance to help councils engage with local communities in the development of new walking and cycling schemes. This includes reference to engaging with children in the design process of active travel schemes near schools.</p><p> </p><p>Active Travel England supports a range of programmes to help enable more active travel for children, including Living Street’s Walk to School Outreach, Modeshift STARS and Bikeability cycle training.</p><p> </p><p>The Government understands that perceived safety can be a barrier to more people choosing to walk, wheel or cycle. This is why the Department has recently announced almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6. The Department has also published guidance for local authorities on implementing School Streets, which help improve the safety of roads outside schools for cycling.</p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill grouped question UIN HL5368 question first answered 04/03/2025 12:56:03 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	5366 label Biography information for Baroness Pidgeon

1779595

registered interest
date	27/02/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Travel: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by Sustrans Children's Walking and Cycling Index 2024, published 26 February, what assessment they have made of the potential merits of including children in policy-making relating to travel.
tabling member printed	Baroness Pidgeon
uin	HL5368
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2025 answer text <p>The Government agrees that it is important to include a wide-range of groups in the policy making process, including children. On 12 February, Active Travel England published guidance to help councils engage with local communities in the development of new walking and cycling schemes. This includes reference to engaging with children in the design process of active travel schemes near schools.</p><p> </p><p>Active Travel England supports a range of programmes to help enable more active travel for children, including Living Street’s Walk to School Outreach, Modeshift STARS and Bikeability cycle training.</p><p> </p><p>The Government understands that perceived safety can be a barrier to more people choosing to walk, wheel or cycle. This is why the Department has recently announced almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6. The Department has also published guidance for local authorities on implementing School Streets, which help improve the safety of roads outside schools for cycling.</p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill grouped question UIN HL5367 question first answered 04/03/2025 12:56:03 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	5366 label Biography information for Baroness Pidgeon

1779078

registered interest
date	26/02/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Roads: Litter
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they take to ensure that local authorities clear litter on A roads within responsibility of those local authorities, and whether they keep this under review.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL5293
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2025 answer text <p>Roadside litter is not only unsightly but can be a threat to the environment. Litter-picking also diverts resources away from other essential road maintenance activities. The responsibility for clearing highway litter and sweeping carriageways is governed by the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Each individual highway authority is responsible for clearing litter on the roads for which it is responsible, including local authority A roads.</p><p> </p><p>Funding for local highway authorities to support them in the delivery of their highway maintenance responsibilities is provided by both the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (for revenue-funded operations including litter-picking) and by the Department for Transport (for capital-funded operations such as roads resurfacing). The Government has already announced that the Local Government Finance Settlement for the 2025/26 financial year will grant councils in England access to over £69 billion in funding, a 6.8% cash-terms increase on 2024/25. The Department for Transport has also announced a £500 million funding uplift for local highway authorities for the 2025/26 financial year which will enable them to deliver improvements to the condition of local highways.</p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 05/03/2025 15:23:17 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

1779105

registered interest
date	26/02/2025
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	China: Electric Vehicles
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are any restrictions being put in place to prevent Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles from accessing any critical infrastructure.
tabling member printed	Lord Robathan
uin	HL5320
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2025 answer text <p>The Government takes national security extremely seriously and the Department works closely with the transport sector and other agencies such as the National Protective Security Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre to respond to any security vulnerabilities.  This includes ensuring critical infrastructure is secure and resilient, and risks are managed proportionately.</p> answering member printed Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill question first answered 04/03/2025 12:52:31 answering member 4972 label Biography information for Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
tabling member	334 label Biography information for Lord Robathan