Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the salary range for Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency-employed heavy vehicle testers who undertake tests at authorised testing facilities; and what travel allowances are available to them.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Standards Assessors (VSA) conduct heavy goods vehicle (HGV) tests at Authorised Testing Facilities (ATF).
The basic annual salary for a VSA is £21,167 plus a technical recruitment allowance of £2,590 per annum. In addition, they receive one of two payments dependent on their committed availability to be scheduled for testing as follows:
Option A:
An annual payment of £2,400 for being scheduled between 06:00 – 22:00 Monday to Friday and 06:00 – 18:00 Saturday
Option B:
An annual payment of £3,500 for being scheduled in line with Option A above plus:
06:00 – 18:00 Sunday
06:00 – 18:00 Bank Holiday
22:00 – 06:00 Monday – Friday
18:00 – 06:00 Saturday – Sunday & Bank Holidays
This means the financial package available to VSAs is between £26,157 and £27,257. This is subject to normal Civil Service pay review which, following TU negotiation, is effective from 1 October annually.
VSAs may have a lease car provided by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and can claim work relate mileage at the rate set by HMRC: currently this is 8p or 9p mile dependent on engine size. DVSA employees who use their own car for work purposes can claim either 25p or 35p per mile depending on the length of employment.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to relax the requirement for eyesight and medical testing of those applying to renew heavy goods vehicle and public service vehicle licences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
To keep bus and lorry drivers on the road, the Government has made temporary provisions to remove the requirement to submit a medical report, which includes questions about eyesight, when applying to renew a bus or lorry driving licence, until further notice. Provided they have no notifiable medical conditions, drivers will be issued a licence that is valid for one year instead of the usual five. This only applies if the licence expired after 1 January 2020 or is due to expire.
As is always the case, drivers must ensure they are medically fit to drive and they are legally obliged to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of the onset or worsening of any medical condition.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability of heavy goods vehicle drivers.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with representatives of the road haulage industry to understand the issues the industry is experiencing as a result of COVID-19. Estimates suggest that there is not currently a lack of HGV driver availability.
The Government has taken action to allow drivers whose Driver CPC expires between 1 March and 30 September 2020 to either take the training remotely or complete it after 30 September 2020. In addition, drivers whose licences have expired since 1 January 2020 or will expire in 2020 will be able to receive a temporary 1-year licence, providing they do not have any medical conditions that affect their driving.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to allow public service vehicle licence holders to drive two-axle, category C, heavy goods vehicles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no current plans to allow public service vehicle (category D) licence holders to drive any heavy goods vehicles (category C) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legislation requires the driver to have passed a test in the category of the vehicle being driven.
Although buses and coaches share many similar driving characteristics with lorries, there are significant differences in the handling, braking with a load, and automatic and semi-automatic transmission systems. Without specific training, bus drivers may not be familiar with these differences, which may have significant road safety implications.
The safety of vulnerable road users, including pedestrians or cyclists is a priority for this Government. Only those drivers who have undertaken appropriate training in the vehicle and demonstrated competence by passing a test can drive category C vehicles.
The Government will keep under review the availability of drivers to ensure critical supply chains are able to continue servicing NHS and supermarket food supplies during the pandemic.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial penalties train operating companies are subject to if a train is cancelled due to (1) a train defect, or (2) a lack of train crew, broken down by each franchise awarded since June 2010.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department holds all its franchised operators to account for their performance through a Franchise Agreement. Each operator’s performance is measured against a set of benchmarks, which includes cancellations; however, these are not disaggregated down to individual types of cancellations, such as train defects. Specific cancellation causes are not connected to set penalties; any expenditure we require operators to incur to improve performance for passengers is linked to their overall performance.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what statistics they have about tyre "blow-outs" or other tyre incidents occurring on the strategic road network to inform their policy about the maximum safe life of heavy goods vehicle and coach tyres.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Neither Highways England, nor the Department, holds the statistics requested. The Department recently launched a consultation on proposals to ban tyres aged 10 years or older on heavy goods vehicles, heavy trailers, buses, coaches and minibuses. I encourage all interested parties to provide feedback on the consultation.
Expert opinion from the Coroner’s inquests into two fatal road collisions and independent research commissioned by the Department provided evidence to support our proposals. The proposals in the consultation builds on existing roadworthiness guidance that advises against the use of tyres older than ten years on buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles, except on a rear axle as part of a twin wheel arrangement.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to their consultation Banning tyres aged 10 years and older, what evidence base was used to inform the conclusion of the impact assessment that the monetised benefits are the same if the ban is applied to all axles or to steering axles only.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As stated in the published impact assessment, the two fatal collisions identified by HM’s Coroner as having older tyres as a contributory factor provide the evidence base for the monetised benefits for the proposed ban.
The estimated reduction in fatal collisions due to older tyres being removed from use is used to calculate these benefits. In both the fatal collisions the tyres that failed were fitted on the steering axle.
The Department is not aware of any collisions that have occurred as a result of tyre failure due to its age for tyres fitted away from steering axles. In the absence of further evidence, the monetised benefits are estimated to be the same.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statistical risk of a heavy goods vehicle or coach tyre having a "blow out" for each of the first 20 years after manufacture; whether that assessment is based on any scientific study; and if so, what study.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In June 2019 the Department launched a public consultation seeking views on a proposed ban on tyres aged 10 years and older from heavy goods vehicles, heavy trailers, buses, coaches and minibuses.
At the same time, the Department published research that explores the link between age and tyre integrity. Although the research is not statistically conclusive, it suggests that corrosion, which can affect the tyre’s structure, is more likely to be found in older tyres. Investigations into two fatal collisions involving heavy vehicles concluded that tyre failure occurred as a result of structural deterioration due to age.
We are not aware of any scientific studies that specifically explore the statistical risk of tyre blow-outs for heavy goods vehicles or coaches in each year after manufacture.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 13 June (HL16129), what scientific studies, if any, were the basis for determining that the maximum safe life of a tyre on a heavy goods vehicle or coach is 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The revision to the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, introduced on 5 November 2018, included best practice guidance on managing the age of tyres fitted to heavy vehicles. It followed earlier Department for Transport advice, issued to bus and coach operators, in response to expert evidence provided to Her Majesty’s Coroner following the loss of three lives in a road traffic collision in 2012.
In parallel, emerging evidence from Department for Transport research, suggested that age does influence the properties of a tyre. This emerging evidence, together with expert opinion, supported the use of the precautionary principle for the changes to the roadworthiness guidance.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many heavy goods vehicles that are less than 10 years old have suffered a tyre failure incident on the M25 motorway in the last six-month period for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Neither Highways England, nor the Department, hold the detailed statistics requested. However, the Department recently launched a consultation on proposals to ban 10 year old tyres on certain vehicles, such as HGVs. I encourage all interested parties to provide feedback on the consultation.
The Department for Transport remains committed to improving safety on the Strategic Road Network and note that England’s roads are amongst the safest in Europe.