Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued connected to the use of (1) trial e-scooters, and (2) private e-scooters, since the trials began.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of motoring offences in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. However, information on the type of vehicle issued with a motoring offence, including a fine or penalty points is not collected. The Department for Transport does not hold information on any fines issued by the courts. Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were replaced by Civil Injunctions and Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) in 2014. The Ministry of Justice holds data on CBOs.
Neither the Department for Transport nor the Department for Health and Social Care hold data on e-scooter accidents which have led to admissions.
The Department for Transport has made no assessment based on the Berlin data. Safety of this new mode of transport is very important and a key part of our trials and evaluation. The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme for the trials. A final report will be published in spring 2022. Any future rules for e-scooters may not be exactly the same as the rules in trials, but they will be based on the evidence gathered. This evaluation includes a range of data sources and approaches including data sharing arrangements with operators, surveys, interviews and focus groups with users and non-users and interviews with key local and national stakeholders. It will also take account of relevant international evidence.
Approximately three million journeys have been completed by trial participants. Local authorities are responsible for running the trials and information on customer service engagement is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many fines have been given out in relation to offences involving (1) trial e-scooters, and (2) private e-scooters, since the trials began.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of motoring offences in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. However, information on the type of vehicle issued with a motoring offence, including a fine or penalty points is not collected. The Department for Transport does not hold information on any fines issued by the courts. Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were replaced by Civil Injunctions and Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) in 2014. The Ministry of Justice holds data on CBOs.
Neither the Department for Transport nor the Department for Health and Social Care hold data on e-scooter accidents which have led to admissions.
The Department for Transport has made no assessment based on the Berlin data. Safety of this new mode of transport is very important and a key part of our trials and evaluation. The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme for the trials. A final report will be published in spring 2022. Any future rules for e-scooters may not be exactly the same as the rules in trials, but they will be based on the evidence gathered. This evaluation includes a range of data sources and approaches including data sharing arrangements with operators, surveys, interviews and focus groups with users and non-users and interviews with key local and national stakeholders. It will also take account of relevant international evidence.
Approximately three million journeys have been completed by trial participants. Local authorities are responsible for running the trials and information on customer service engagement is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether disabled persons' (1) railcards, and (2) bus passes, are only valid for use after 9.30am; and if so, (a) why, and (b) what assessment they have made of the impact of such time restrictions on the use of those passes to commute to work.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Unlike most railcards, the disabled persons railcard can be used before 09.30am, with no peak time restrictions on its use.
With regard to bus travel, the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme offers concessionary pass holders free bus travel from 09.30am on weekdays and all day at weekends and on Bank Holidays. The times of the concession were set out in the Transport Act 2000. This allows pass holders to take advantage of the increased operational capacity available after the morning peak travel time.
Under the Concessionary Travel Act 2007, local authorities in England have the power to offer additional local concessions, such as extending the hours of the concession, and three quarters of authorities already do so. This policy area is kept under review.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with Transport for London on plans for a Chelsea station on King's Road in proposals for Crossrail 2; and whether such plans are still included in the latest proposals.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Given current affordability constraints, TfL have confirmed that they are not in a position to prioritise investment in Crossrail 2. In the funding agreement reached with the Mayor and TfL on 31 October 2020 it was agreed to prioritise safeguarding activity for the project. The Department for Transport and TfL are now in discussion on updating the safeguarding of the route for the project.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Crossrail Limited and Transport for London about plans for a Chelsea station on the Kings Road in the latest Crossrail 2 proposal.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Department for Transport officials have regular discussions with Transport for London (TfL) about Crossrail 2 as joint sponsors for the project. No discussions have taken place with Crossrail Limited, who are a subsidiary of TfL and are responsible for delivering the Elizabeth line only.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to hold a full-route public consultation for the latest Crossrail 2 proposal.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The next steps for Crossrail 2 will need to be considered in light of the Government led review on TfL’s future financial sustainability and the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 16 September (HL7652) and (HL7653), when their review of Transport for London's future financial sustainability is due to report.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The review of TfL’s future financial sustainability has now completed and reported to Government. The outputs of this review are informing ongoing discussions between Government, TfL and the Greater London Authority.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made a decision on the Crossrail 2 Strategic Outline Business Case; and if not, when they intend to do so.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Crossrail 2 is a jointly sponsored project between my Department and Transport for London (TfL). We need to collectively ensure that Crossrail 2 is affordable before a decision can be taken about the future of the project.
Following the emergency funding package agreed with the Mayor in May 2020 a Government led review on TfL’s future financial sustainability is being undertaken. The next steps for Crossrail 2 will therefore need to be considered in light of this review and the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the role of the Department for Transport in (1) managing, and (2) setting the budget of, the Crossrail 2 project; and what other organisations will be responsible for the delivery of that project.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Crossrail 2 is jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL). Both organisations therefore fund the development of the project and as part of this agree annual budgets.
As joint sponsors DfT and TfL oversee an integrated project team tasked with the development of the project. This team comprises of TfL and Network Rail staff
In July this year, TfL published a revised budget. This acknowledged that there were some difficult choices on future major transport schemes such as Crossrail 2 and that they needed to be realistic about its affordability over the next decade. Government continues to discuss next steps for Crossrail 2 as a consequence.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 26 June (HL16465), what assessment they have made of the case for introducing a target time for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to (1) send out questionnaires to doctors to confirm the fitness of someone to drive after having received a request for a licence to be reinstated, and (2) make a decision once it has received a questionnaire back from a doctor, to ensure that the DVLA are delivering an efficient service.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
There are no plans to introduce additional target times for activities within the medical application process. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) dealt with around 750,000 medical cases in 2017/18 and aims to complete 90 per cent of these within 90 working days. In the financial year 2018-19 the DVLA completed 91.7% of cases within 90 working days.
The DVLA aims to deal with all cases as efficiently and as quickly as possible. The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition involved and whether information is needed from medical professionals.