Asked by: Lord Borwick (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 16 May (HL Deb cols 19GC–29GC) regarding the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023, how many other regulations related to the provision of access for disabled people are in force in London but not elsewhere; and what plans they have to ensure that the regulations for disability access is identical in London and elsewhere.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Transport for London has adopted a proactive approach to improving the accessibility of its transport network, which exceeds legislative requirements. Direct comparisons with accessibility interventions outside London, which may or may not be required by law, are therefore likely to be misleading.
To level up accessibility across Great Britain, we have introduced the “REAL” cross-modal disability awareness training syllabus, relaunched the Inclusive Transport Leaders Scheme, and are requiring the provision of audible and visible information onboard local bus and coach services.
Disabled people should be able to use transport services easily, confidently and without additional cost wherever they travel. All transport authorities have an important role to play in supporting accessible services which reflect local need.
Asked by: Lord Borwick (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many vehicles have been stopped for reasons which include overloading in each region in England in the last 12 months; how many such vehicles have been tested for gross weight; and how many drivers have been arrested for being found to have overloaded their vehicle.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of its roadside enforcement checks the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has stopped 8,335 vehicles for reasons including overloading in England in the last 12 months. The DVSA does not hold data on the number of vehicles stopped for this reason in each region in England. Of the 8,335 stopped, the DVSA has issued 3,806 prohibitions to drivers where the vehicle has been deemed to be overloaded.
It is possible that a vehicle could have had multiple types of overloading offences so the data relates to vehicles weighed and vehicles that have one or more of these types of offences. Having a vehicle that is overloaded is not an arrestable offence and the DVSA does not have the power to arrest.
Asked by: Lord Borwick (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the number of cyclists regularly using lanes of London's roads intended for other traffic where an alternative route via a cycle lane or cycle superhighway is available.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No. This is a matter for the Mayor of London and for individual London boroughs.