Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Highways England has used the community payback scheme in the last three years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways has collaborated with the National Probation Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, to provide opportunities for community service order candidates. In 2021 and 2022, National Highways was invited to make arrangements for litter picking trials and light maintenance at several motorways service areas including trial sites at Gloucester, Hartshead Moor, Chester and Leicester Forest East. In August 2023, National Highways also launched a project where candidates serving community service orders are assisting with graffiti removal and general maintenance in subways.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the terminology of road traffic accidents to crashes or collisions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Where possible, the Department no longer uses the word ‘accidents’. The appropriate terms to use are ‘crashes’, ‘collisions’ and ‘incidents’. We encourage others to do so, too.
However, the word ‘accident’ continues to be used in certain circumstances, for example where that is the term previously used in legislation.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what payments (a) have been made and (b) he plans to make to Avanti West Coast under the terms of the service quality regime agreed with that company.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
To date, no fees have been paid to Avanti West Coast under the Service Quality Regime (SQR). This is because the first period to be assessed to determine the Performance Fee under SQR relates to the scores achieved between April and October 2023, and the evaluation process for this period is still underway.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the brightness of LED headlights on local communities.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All types of road vehicle headlamps are designed, tested and approved to internationally recognised standards to help prevent undue glare on a broad range of roads and environments. However, the Government is aware of concerns raised by members of the public and we intend to commission independent research shortly.
While there are clear safety, security and economic benefits associated with the use of LED lighting, the scientific evidence base on its adverse effects is less advanced. The government is committed to improving the evidence base to ensure we understand the effects more fully before making further policy interventions.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to provide compensation to town and parish councils for time spent on (a) applications and (b) other work linked to sections of the HS2 that have been cancelled.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Policy changes are a common feature of Government and there is no mechanism or precedent for compensating local authorities or councils for abortive costs incurred as a result of changes in Government policy. Providing compensation in this instance would create wide-ranging and repercussive consequences for the taxpayer. Whilst abortive costs are unfortunate, they should be seen in the context of a broader package of support for local authorities that the Government is providing through Network North. For instance, a new £2.5 billion fund for local transport across all areas in the North outside the six city regions – smaller cities, counties, towns and countryside and as well as a new £3.3 billion fund for road resurfacing in the North.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve safety at the A5 Shotatton Crossroads.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The A5 Shotatton Crossroads is already subject to a 40 mile per hour speed limit to reduce accident risk, and this is enforced by fixed cameras. Accidents still do occur, most recently on 27 March. National Highways is currently undertaking a route safety study of the A5, from the A5/A458 Churncote roundabout, west of Shrewsbury as far as the Welsh Border near Chirk. This study will examine collision data and recorded safety issues along the route, with a view to providing a consistent safety approach for users of this route. National Highways expects the work to include improved traffic signage, edge markers/bollards, and road markings. At present, this study has not identified further safety measures, at the Shotatton crossroads junction but this may change as the study develops.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that ragwort is removed from (a) roadside and (b) other land for which the Highways Agency is responsible.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways recognises that ragwort poisoning can have a devastating effect on horses, as well as being damaging to cattle and other animals. However, in the right place, and where there is no risk to animal welfare, ragwort contributes to the biodiversity of the flora and fauna of the countryside.
On the strategic road network, where ragwort presents a high risk of poisoning horses and livestock or spreading to fields used for the production of forage, National Highways prevents ragwort spreading. National Highways policy for Common Ragwort control applies Defra’s ‘Code of Practice on how to Prevent the Spread of Ragwort’.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact upon national security of Chinese-made electric vehicles; and whether they plan to further investigate any risks that may arise.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT co-chairs the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) group that developed two new international regulations related to connected vehicles – one on cyber security and one on software updates. The cyber security regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber attacks.
The Government takes national security extremely seriously. The Department for Transport (DfT) works closely with the transport sector and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and other Government departments, including the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), to understand and respond to cyber vulnerabilities associated with all connected vehicles, including electric vehicles.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) on 18 March (17105), what discussions have taken place between the Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency regarding the Motorcycle Industry Association’s 'A Licence to Net Zero' campaign.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is committed to reviewing all aspects of motorcycle training and testing. It is working with key industry representatives, including the Motorcycle Industry Association, to plan the next roundtable meeting scheduled for 8 May 2024. The roundtable meeting will explore reforms to motorcycle training and testing, and licensing for L category vehicles as set out in the ‘A Net Licence to Zero’ action plan.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many businesses, or their obvious subsidiaries, have been granted a Special Order under section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to move an abnormal load, or loads, at a gross weight exceeding 150 tonnes in the most recent 12-month period for which the figures are available.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways, who manage motorways and major A roads in England, between April 2023 and March 2024 issued 20 hauliers with a Special-Order permit for vehicles with a S.O. weight exceeding 150,000kgs. Data for roads managed by local authorities is not held by the Department for Transport.