Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his oral contribution of 16 December 2021, Official Report, column 1138, when he plans to return to the House to provide additional information to operators on the bus recovery grant.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Bus Recovery Grant will provide £226.5m in support for operators and Local Transport Authorities until April 2022. The Department is consulting with the sector on its needs once the scheme ends, and the potential merits of providing further support.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on bus users of the expiration of emergency covid-19 funding for bus services.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has provided unprecedented levels of financial support to the bus sector during the pandemic. Through the Coronavirus Bus Service Support Grant, over £1.5 billion in emergency funding has been provided to operators and Local Transport Authorities. Since September 2021, an additional £226.5 million has been made available to the sector through the Bus Recovery Grant.
Together, this funding has played an important role in ensuring those who need to travel by bus have been able to do so. The Department is committed to seeing the sector return to financial sustainability, but recognises the ongoing challenges faced to maintain services.
The Department is working with the sector to understand the implications of recovery funding ending, including the effect this would have on service levels and passengers.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to improve enforcement of noise limit regulations for vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
On 2nd August, the Department published the results of research into enforcement of vehicle noise requirements using acoustic cameras. This research has shown that the technology has the potential to be used for enforcement, but that there are still difficulties in accurately measuring noise from individual vehicles in busier traffic conditions.
The Department intends to conduct further research into the use of acoustic cameras with the aim of enabling the wider use of the technology for the enforcement of vehicle noise requirements.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated from the £226.5 million covid-19 bus operator recovery grant (a) to each combined authority area and (b) in total from the commencement of that grant until 1 September 2021.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Bus Recovery Grant will support Local Transport Authorities and commercial operators to deliver bus services until the end of the current financial year. Allocations for each local authority will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to promote the climate advantages of public transport during COP26.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
A multifaceted transport plan is being developed to support the delegate experience at COP26 with public transport being a key element of the plan. The plan will encourage delegates, media, and civil society travelling to COP26 to consider low-carbon travel options such as rail as a way of entering the UK.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) advice he has issued to train companies on reducing station taxi rank fees for taxi and private hire vehicles during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has received correspondence from a number of train operating companies on reducing station taxi rank fees for taxi and private hire vehicles during the covid-19 outbreak. As the majority of drivers are self-employed, they are already largely eligible for the Government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (equivalent to the furlough scheme for salaried employees), as well as other Government sources of funding potentially, such as the deferral of VAT.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of train companies maintaining taxi rank fees at stations during the covid-19 outbreak on on the income of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has made no assessment of the effect of train companies maintaining taxi rank fees at stations during the covid-19 outbreak on the income of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to bring forward secondary legislation to require bus operators to provide accessible information to passengers in (a) audible and (b) visible formats on bus services in England, Scotland and Wales, as set out in section 17 of the Bus Services Act 2017.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We want disabled people to travel independently and with confidence. It is important to have enough information when travelling on buses for that to become the reality.
In 2018 we consulted on Accessible Information Regulations with plans to require the provision of accessible on-board information on local bus services throughout Great Britain.
We continue to consider the implementation options informed by the feedback received and will publish the response in due course.
In the meantime, we are supporting smaller operators to provide audible and visual information with £2 million of targeted funding.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the Government has not brought forward secondary legislation to require bus operators to provide accessible information to passengers in (a) audible and (b) visible formats on bus services in England, Scotland and Wales, as set out in section 17 of the Bus Services Act 2017.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We want disabled people to travel independently and with confidence. It is important to have enough information when travelling on buses for that to become the reality.
In 2018 we consulted on Accessible Information Regulations with plans to require the provision of accessible on-board information on local bus services throughout Great Britain.
We continue to consider the implementation options informed by the feedback received and will publish the response in due course.
In the meantime, we are supporting smaller operators to provide audible and visual information with £2 million of targeted funding.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) encouraging the use of canal towpaths and (b) the proposals of the Canal & River Trust for towpath improvement schemes to help increase levels of walking and cycling.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On 28 July the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking, with the aim that half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked by 2030. This includes a £2 billion package of funding for active travel, which will significantly increase the funding available for cycling and walking infrastructure in England, including on canal towpaths. Further details of funding for the different commitments in the Plan will be determined as part of the Spending Review process, and the Department will continue to discuss funding options with stakeholders including the Canals and Rivers Trust.