Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of potential conflicts of interests related to alcoholic beverage company Diageo’s sponsorship of the new THINK! drink drive campaign.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
THINK! and Diageo have entered into a no-cost partnership to tackle drink driving over the festive period, following a successful partnership in winter 2021.
THINK! assessed that there would be no conflict of interest in this partnership due to its no-cost and educational nature.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the use of zero-carbon HGVs in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Transport Decarbonisation Plan, published in 2021, set out several commitments to increase the use, supply and manufacture of zero emission HGVs in the UK. This includes ending the sale of all new non-zero emission HGVs by 2040 at the latest, the continuation of offsetting the higher upfront cost of zero emission HGVs, and £200m of funding to expand the Department’s zero emission HGV demonstrator programme.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish the report on the e-scooter rental trials and the related regulations.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department will publish a full set of findings from our evaluation of the e-scooter trials in due course.
No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters. We will consult before any new arrangements come into force.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing penalty points for people who fail to wear a seatbelt.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Department for Transport knows that in 2021, in 30% of all car occupant fatalities recorded, seat belts were not worn. This is unacceptably high, and we have been considering options to tackle this including the potential merits of introducing penalty points. This might form part of the Department for Transports planned call for evidence on motoring offences.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to introduce legislative proposals to establish the Road Safety Investigation Branch and give it the necessary powers.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Road Safety Investigation Branch remains a legislative priority and the Department for Transport remains committed to finding the swiftest possible route to legislate when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the reasons for road casualties to have returned to pre covid-19 levels; and when her Department plans to publish a casualty reduction strategy.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
In 2021, road casualties showed signs of a return to pre-pandemic trends, increasing compared to 2020 when casualty numbers were low, largely as a result of periods of lockdown resulting in a reduction in road traffic. Over the second half of the year, both casualties and traffic returned to levels similar to those in 2019. Monthly changes in casualties during 2021 generally showed a similar trend to changes in motor vehicle traffic levels.
We announced in the summer of 2021 that we would devise a new Road Safety Strategic Framework which will include a new implementation plan to improve road safety. This will be published in due course.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has undertaken an assessment of the quality of service provided by Northern Trains Limited since DOHL took on the operation of Northern services on 1 March 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department uses a range of methods to assess the quality of service provided by Northern.
Rail operators are required to meet targets for standards of service quality at stations, on trains and in the quality and timeliness of information provided to customers. These standards are regularly inspected via Service Quality Regimes and rail industry surveys.
DfT and Northern have regular discussions about the performance against the standards and Northern take action as required to improve results. Northern regularly publish the results of these assessments on its website at:
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/about-us/customer/service-quality.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Guide Dogs UK Charity on the impact on partially sighted individuals of allowing the use of e-scooters; and if she will consult that charity when preparing the Transport Bill announced in the Queen's Speech 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Officials from the Department met with Guide Dogs on 18 August 2022 to discuss the recommendations in their Scoot Aware report. Reducing the impact of e-scooters on people with visual impairments, including their safe use and perceptions of safety, is a priority for the Department as we consider regulations for e-scooters.
We will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders representing the needs of blind and visually impaired people, including through a public consultation, before any new arrangements come into force.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the roadside vehicle noise measurement scheme to include measurements of air pollution and related harms.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department has commenced research to understand if the latest ‘noise camera’ technology can be an effective enforcement tool for police and local authorities. As the trials have not yet completed, it is too early to assess the potential merits of a wider roll out of ‘noise camera’ technology.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the roadside vehicle noise measurement scheme after its trial period.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department does not have plans to expand its ‘noise camera’ trials to include measurements of air pollution and related harms.
Government already has an extensive network of roadside air quality monitors, covering around 320 locations across the UK. In 2020 the Defra and Department for Transport Joint Air Quality Unit set up a new monitoring network (the UK Urban NO2 Network) to measure roadside NO2 concentrations. Many local authorities also undertake their own roadside air quality monitoring for the purposes of Local Air Quality Management (LAQM).