Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken by his Department to respond to a freedom of information request was in each of the last five years; how many and what proportion of such requests his Department did not answer within the target time in each of those years; and how many such requests to his Department had not been answered within the target time as of 1 May 2024.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department does not record the time spent in answering individual Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and is therefore unable to calculate an average time for answering such requests in any of the last five years.
Statistical information on the Department’s performance in answering FOI requests over the last five years is published by the Cabinet Office at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
These statistics, which cover all Government departments, include the number that were not answered within the target time. They are published by calendar year, with the latest year being 2023. The annual statistics for 2024 will be published in April 2025 but quarterly statistics may be available sooner.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of financially incentivising the use of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 25 April 2024, the government’s response to the second consultation on the UK SAF Mandate was published. This confirmed the final design of the scheme which, subject to parliamentary approval, will come into force on 1 January 2025.
The SAF Mandate builds upon the success of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RFTO), providing a long-term incentive to supply sustainable aviation fuel through a guaranteed level of demand.
As part of the SAF Mandate’s design, the government has published Cost Benefit Analysis documents that comprehensively present the possible costs and benefits of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the economy of industrial action on Network Rail.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Strikes by RMT among their members at Network Rail in 2022/23 typically resulted in average industry-wide service levels of around 20%.
These strikes have resulted in direct impacts on rail industry revenue and on the wider economy, for example due to people being unable to attend work. Given the move to flexible working post-pandemic, the impact of strikes on the economy is far lower, albeit the hospitality sector experiences particular impacts as set out by HospitalityUK.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
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 providing funding for an awareness campaign to help tackle negative perceptions over the long-term (a) viability and (b) reliability of second-hand electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Alongside government, industry plays an important role in communicating factual information on EVs and charging infrastructure to consumers. That is why in the Plan for Drivers, the Government committed to working with industry to address common misconceptions around electric vehicles (EVs) and communicate the many benefits of transitioning to EVs, both new and used.
In February, the Government published information on EVs, including used vehicles, and EV charging infrastructure. The Government is also taking proactive action to counter inaccurate information presented by the media on the subject of EVs, when this arises.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on assessing the Motorcycle Industry Association’s proposal for assessors from approved training bodies to carry out licence upgrades for vehicles up to 22kw.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is committed to reviewing all aspects of motorcycle training and testing, and is in the process of assessing the Motorcycle Industry Association’s proposals.
Officials met with key representatives of the motorcycle organisations on 4 December 2023 to discuss motorcycle safety. The next round table meeting, which is scheduled for 8 May 2024, will further consider the proposals and options including licence upgrades.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase the use of personal locator beacons on lifejackets in the fishing industry.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) recently published a new Marine Guidance Note and a leaflet on the use and wear of personal locator beacons.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending regulations to require that cycle helmets be worn when hiring an e-bike.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department looked carefully at the case for making helmet-wearing mandatory for all cyclists in a comprehensive Cycling and Walking Safety Review in 2018. The review is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/governments-response-to-the-cycling-walking-investment-strategy-safety-review.
The review concluded that helmets should continue to be strongly recommended for people who cycle, but that they should remain a matter of personal choice rather than becoming a legal requirement. This is because the benefits of mandating cycle helmets would be likely to be outweighed by putting some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits. The review did not specifically look at the case for mandating helmets only for those who hire e-cycles; but the Department expects the arguments for and against would be similar to the arguments for non-e-bikes.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time was for reissuing a driving licence following medical clearance in the last 12 months; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of that average processing time.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to make a licensing decision within 90 working days in 90% of cases where a medical investigation must be investigated before a licence can be issued. In the 2023/24 financial year, the average time to make a licensing decision in such cases was 55 working days.
The length of time taken to deal with an application varies depending on the medical condition(s) involved and whether further information is required from medical professionals. The DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from medical professionals before it can take any further action on an application.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the safety equipment installed on smart motorways has a high failure rate.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Smart motorways operate using a range of safety systems and are designed not to be reliant on one single piece of roadside technology for safe operation.
National Highways has worked hard to deliver a significant improvement in the performance of stopped vehicle detection (SVD), with all schemes now meeting performance requirements.
In their annual safety report published in December 2023, the ORR confirmed that SVD technology is now meeting performance requirements for detection rate, detection time, and false detection. The ORR will continue to monitor SVD performance closely.
Further, National Highways is investing more than £300m to maintain roadside technology and improve its performance during Road Period 2 (2020-2025). This includes £105m targeted at improving its systems and technology on All Lane Running (ALR) sections of smart motorway. Roadside technology on ALR smart motorways is given high priority.
National Highways has well-rehearsed contingency plans for both planned and unplanned outages. These include lowering speed limits, increasing patrols by its traffic officers, enhanced monitoring of CCTV, and using pre-positioned vehicle recovery to speed up attendance and clearance of stranded vehicles.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Centre for Economic Business Research entitled The pothole crisis is costing £14.4 billion a year in economic damage in England alone, published on 29 April 2024.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government agrees that, whilst local road maintenance is the responsibility of individual local authorities, more that needs to be done to improve the condition of roads across the country.
That is why we’ve committed £8.3 billion extra from savings as a result of cancelling HS2 Phase 2 to help local councils fill potholes and resurface roads.