Land Transport Security - Scope for Further EU Involvement?

Land Transport Security - Scope for Further EU Involvement?
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 58
Release: 2013-03-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780215055330

Last year the European Commission published a staff working document that was principally concerned with extending the Commission's involvement in transport security matters. Land transport security measures seek to prevent acts of unlawful interference against passengers, freight or transport infrastructure in the road and rail sectors. Unlawful interference, as referred to in the Commission's document, includes anything from terrorism to relatively minor crime against passengers and transport operators. The conflation of such wide-ranging security issues is not helpful and the Government is urged to ensure that any future EU land security transport proposals are more focussed. Overall, the current risk-based approach to land transport security in the UK are working well and security measures deployed across UK transport modes are proportionate to the current threats that any given sector is exposed to. However, some weaknesses in the UK's current land transport security regime were identified, including, for example, procedures for dealing with multi-modal transport hubs at which different threat levels are applied to different modes; ensuring that staff had a consistent level of training and an understanding of potential threats, risks and preventative measures; and the difficulty of maintaining a high level of both staff and public vigilance. The principal recommendation is that the Government should participate actively in EU discussions to ensure that any detailed proposals are focussed and appropriate to the UK. Parliament should be keep abreast of developments so that we can continue to contribute to the shaping of policy in this area

HC 1135 - National Policy Statement on National Networks

HC 1135 - National Policy Statement on National Networks
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2014-05-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0215071875

The National Policy Statement on National Networks, published in draft for consultation (ISBN 9780108560071), sets out the policy against which decisions will be made on applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects on the strategic road and rail networks. The Committee has a number of detailed recommendations to improve the draft. The NPS should specify more types of transport scheme which the Government thinks are needed, such as enhancements to the rail network to promote east-west connectivity; better road and rail connections to ports and airports and to parts of the country which are currently not well served by those networks; and schemes to promote regional economic development. Criticisms of the DfT's road and rail demand forecasts should be addressed. Estimates of the impact on UK carbon emissions of building more road infrastructure are needed. Adverse impacts of major transport schemes on localities should be set out. The NPS should make explicit reference to the desirability of connecting HS2 to the classic rail network. Promoters of roads schemes must look to improve road safety (including for cyclists and pedestrians). The Government is seeking to accommodate increasing demand for roads by building more infrastructure rather than seeking to manage demand. Investment in the road network will require new funding streams, a challenge that must be addressed. However, a consensus would be required to introduce any road user charging scheme across the strategic road network as an alternative to road taxation.

Aviation strategy

Aviation strategy
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: Stationery Office
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2013-05-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780215057440

In this report the Transport Committee reject calls for a new hub airport east of London and urges the expansion of Heathrow where a third runway is long overdue. Building an entirely new hub airport east of London could not be done without huge public investment in new ground transport infrastructure, and there could be a substantial impact on wildlife habitat in the Thames estuary. The viability of an estuary hub airport would also require the closure of Heathrow - a course of action that would have unacceptable consequences. Adding new runways to expand a number of other existing airports will not, on its own, provide a long-term solution to the hub capacity problem. The report also rejects the notion of linking existing airports by high-speed rail to form a split-hub; the outcome from this would be highly uncompetitive in terms of passenger transfer times compared to competitor hubs overseas. Other recommendations cover: compensation for people affected by noise from expansion at Heathrow; a national strategy to improve road and rail access to major UK airports; ensure that the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail network serves Heathrow and develop dedicated rail services to serve Gatwick and Stansted; study how far Air Passenger Duty impacts on the UK economy; carry out an objective analysis of the impacts of introducing differential rates of Air Passenger Duty; promotion of airports in regions outside the south east and introduce an APD tax holiday for a 12-month trial period for new services from them.

Thirty-ninth report of session 2012-13

Thirty-ninth report of session 2012-13
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee
Publisher: Stationery Office
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2013-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215057273

House of Commons: Sessional Returns - HC 1

House of Commons: Sessional Returns - HC 1
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215062277

On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees. On title page: Returns to orders of the House of Commons dated 14 May 2013 (the Chairman of Ways and Means)

HC 257 - Investing In The Railway

HC 257 - Investing In The Railway
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2015
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0215081153

The Transport Committee welcomes record investment committed to the 'classic' rail network but calls for greater regional balance in spending. Network Rail must also regain the confidence of passengers following recent disruption. The Committee calls for the Government to take responsibility for rolling stock, to address general shortages and ensure there will be sufficient trains to run on newly-electrified lines. The Committee also concluded: (i) Record levels of funding show a welcome commitment to ’classic' rail but this should be set in a longer-term strategic plan for the rail network, which ties into a wider transport strategy; (ii) The overrunning Christmas engineering works were unacceptable; (iii) Network Rail must have adequate contingency plans. They must also work with Passenger Focus and train operating companies to improve communication with passengers when engineering works fail; (iv) In the light of the change of status of Network Rail the ORR must reconsider whether fining a public sector body remains an effective means for the regulator to exert control; (v) Greater transparency is essential around rail spending. Criteria used to allocate spending should be published.

HC 713 - Smaller Airports

HC 713 - Smaller Airports
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2015
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0215084071

Smaller airports are economic and social enablers. They facilitate vital national and international connections for people and businesses in the UK. The Committee found that Air Passenger Duty (APD) is the principal threat to the smaller airports sector. APD cannot be amended to support people, businesses and regional economies because of the operation of European competition law, while proposals to devolve it to the regions would serve only to spread a patchwork of market distortions across the UK. It was disappointing that the concerns the Committee raised about APD in their First Report of Session 2013-14 on Aviation strategy were ignored by the Treasury. The Committee urges Transport Ministers to pursue those recommendations and the important concerns raised by smaller airports with the Treasury. The Airports Commission will publish its final report on expanding hub airport capacity in the south-east shortly after the general election. The whole country will only be able to share the economic benefits if airlines secure slots to provide services to UK airports outside London. The DfT needs to assess how new slots might be allocated and whether slots could be ring-fenced for domestic services

HC 714 - Strategic River Crossings

HC 714 - Strategic River Crossings
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2015
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0215084217

The Committee examined a number of case studies during its inquiry including the Mersey Gateway Project, the Tyne Tunnels and proposals for new crossings in East London and the Lower Thames. The Transport Committee says a short-term approach to planning key infrastructure projects has left many estuary areas in the UK with inadequate transport capacity and poor connectivity: "A lack of cross-river capacity limits local and national economic growth so we call upon the Government to take a far more long-term approach when planning new bridges and tunnels. The Government must rectify that weakness as soon as possible. Important infrastructure projects, such as the Mersey Gateway Bridge, have the potential to generate economic growth by linking workers to jobs and consumers to retailers." The Committee welcomes proposals to build a package of new river crossings in east London and believes these developments are "long overdue."

House of Commons - Transport Committee: Access to Transport For Disabled People - Volume I: HC 116

House of Commons - Transport Committee: Access to Transport For Disabled People - Volume I: HC 116
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2013-09-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780215062307

In the UK some 11.5m people already live with a recognised disability and more than a fifth of them experience some difficulty when using transport networks. So it's essential that the Department for Transport delivers an ambitious Accessibility Action Plan. Changes made ahead of the 2012 Paralympic Games delivered access for disabled people to significantly more parts of the public transport network for the first time and highlighted the immense value of such improvements for all. Yet a year later, there is a risk that some of the momentum from London 2012 is being lost because further key accessibility improvements planned have been watered-down or abandoned. The Committee's recommendations include: imposing penalties on bus operators who claim to offer accessible routes but then fail to provide accessible buses; the phased introduction of audio-visual information systems on all buses over the next ten years; phasing out the need for disabled travellers having to book organised assistance in advance; financial incentives to encourage investment in fully accessible vehicles by taxi and private care hire vehicle operators; and a change to EU rules so that in future airlines are required to allow carers to travel free of charge when the airline judges a disabled person incapable of travelling independently. The Cabinet Office should convene a working group of ministers and officials to improve cross-government working on accessibility in order to secure the full benefits to be gained from widening disabled people's access to employment and training, healthcare and wider participation in all parts of society

House of Commons - Transport Committee: Access to Ports - HC 266

House of Commons - Transport Committee: Access to Ports - HC 266
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780215064646

In this report looking at policy for improving road and rail access to ports, the Transport Committee urges the Department for Transport (DfT) to become a keener advocate for UK ports. The Government should contribute to significant improvements to strategic networks which also deliver wider benefits - rather than simply expect port operators to pick up the entire bill for measures required to mitigate increased traffic due to port expansion. If the Government chooses to apply European Commission state aid rules in this area more strictly than other EU countries it should explain why it does so. Policy in this area should be applied consistently across the country. While some ports have contributed towards transport schemes to improve access, others have not and the differences in approach have not been explained or justified. Ports should also continue to contribute to local transport infrastructure improvements, following discussions with relevant local bodies. The Department for Transport should demonstrate whether port master plans have had any impact, highlighting good examples of such plans and of how they have influenced decision makers. Finally, the Government should devise a more effective successor to the Waterborne Freight Grant, to stimulate coastal shipping.