Ministerial appointments and roles have now been released. Rt. Hon. Patrick McLoughlin (MP for Derbyshire Dales) will remain in his position as Secretary of State for Transport at the DfT.
- Andrew Jones now has responsibility for road safety, national and local roads;
- Claire Perry continues with the main rail safety responsibilities;
- Robert Goodwill remains aviation minister; and
- Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon has aviation security.
The details.
The ministerial team includes two incumbent ministers:
- Robert Goodwill MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and MP for Scarborough and Whitby) but his responsibilities have changed. Robert Goodwill now covers high speed rail (HS2), aviation, Europe and international, maritime, devolution, and cycling and walking (but not road safety).
- Claire Perry MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and MP for Devizes). Claire Perry MP continues to have responsibility for rail franchising, rail commercial, rail fares, major rail projects including Crossrail, and accessibility.
Two new appointments to DfT have been announced:
- Andrew Jones MP (MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough) was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, with responsibility for Northern Powerhouse, including Northern and TransPennine Express franchises, environment, Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), connected vehicles, technology and innovation, freight and logistics, national roads and Highways England, bus policy, local roads, city growth deals, smart ticketing and road safety.
- Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport and Home Office, responsible for aviation security, transport agencies, corporate and better regulation, skills and supply chain, and London.
For more information see the Department for Transport website.
With the general election now over, Parliament will return on Monday 18 May and the State Opening of Parliament (the formal start of a parliamentary session) will take place on Wednesday 27 May 2015.
Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords sit for a few days ahead of the official State Opening. During this time the re-election or election of a new Speaker of the House of Commons takes place, and MPs and Lords take the oath or affirmation.
Once the Speaker is elected, the process begins to chose new Select Committee Chairs and committee members for the new Parliament. The party composition of the committees will reflect that of the new House of Commons. Elections for Select Committee Chairs are likely to be held on the evening of 10th June.
All-Party Parliamentary Groups, including PACTS, are required to re-register with the Commons authorities by 7th July. Under the new rules for APPGs, four officers are required but 20 qualifying members are no longer required.
PACTS is pleased to report that, of its current officers, Secretary Barry Sheerman and Co-chairs Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick were re-elected to Westminster. However, Co-chair John Leech was not returned. PACTS wishes to thank John for his support for PACTS and for road safety over many years.
For more information about the UK Parliament and Government following the general election, see UK Parliament.
