Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date his Department plans to restore Cross Country Trains to two services per hour between Oxford and Birmingham.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We would expect Crosscountry to propose the reintroduction of services in future where they are likely to be revenue generative and can be delivered reliably as appropriate for the level of passenger demand.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve cycle safety in Oxfordshire.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is investing £2 billion over five years to deliver safer and better cycling infrastructure in communities across England. I would be very willing to meet and talk about the work of Active Travel England.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of Bus Recovery Grant funding issued in (a) England, (b) Oxfordshire and (c) each local authority in Oxfordshire.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Bus Recovery Grant is a £226.5m scheme to support bus operators and Local Transport Authorities in England. Most of the funding available will be provided to commercial operators to support services, including those operating within Oxfordshire. The Department cannot provide a breakdown of the level of funding provided to operators in each area due to information being commercially sensitive.
I refer the Hon Member to a previous answer UIN 86153 which provides the Bus Recovery Grant funding allocated to Local Transport Authorities.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on extending the Bus Recovery Grant to (a) 1 October 2022 and (b) 31 December 2022.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Throughout the pandemic, the Department has worked closely with the bus sector to assess its financial needs. Officials are meeting regularly with bus operator and local authority representatives to understand the implications of the Bus Recovery Grant ending in April 2022 and are actively exploring the case for an extension of funding.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an impact assessment has been produced regarding the withdrawal of Bus Recovery Grant funding on bus companies.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Throughout the pandemic, the Government has provided unprecedented levels of financial support to the bus sector, with over £1.5bn in emergency funding and an additional £226.5m in recovery funding. The Department continues to work closely with the bus sector to assess its financial needs. Officials are meeting regularly with bus operator and local authority representatives to understand the implications of the Bus Recovery Grant ending in April 2022 and are actively exploring the case for any extension to funding. To further assist the sector in the short term, we are providing an additional £29m uplift to Bus Recovery Grant claimants this financial year.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the length of delays for road freight at the port of Dover.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department does not hold data on the length of time spent by hauliers waiting to board a ferry at Dover. The Port of Dover operates a ‘turn up and go service’ meaning HGVs will be placed on to the first available ferry when they arrive at the Port. There may be an occasion when hauliers have to wait which may be due to peak periods of traffic at the Port. The Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) is responsible for traffic management in Kent.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 September 2021 to Question 51863, what recent progress has been made on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's plan to recruit 300 new driving examiners; and how many and what proportion of the examiners recruited as at July 2021 were actively conducting practical driving tests on a full-time basis as at 8 November 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has an ongoing campaign to increase the number of examiners by recruiting around 300 driving examiners between 1 April 2021 and June 2022. As at 8 November 2021, 190 examiners have been recruited.
42 of these examiners that were recruited during this period were actively conducting practical driving tests on a full-time basis as at 8 November 2021. A total of 62 have completed training into driving test centres.
As a result of all previous recruitment campaigns, there are 75 people either attending, or booked to attend, their training between now and January 2022. There are 53 candidates who are at various stages of the pre-employment checks awaiting confirmation of start date.
A new exercise will launch w/c 15 November 2021 to recruit to maintain a continued pipeline of new entrants into training courses January / February 2022 onwards.
To support the recruitment campaign, the Agency is also exploring options to temporarily contract in experienced driving assessors from other road safety organisations to become driving examiners.
The DVSA has put a number of measures in place to increase practical driving tests and reduce waiting times. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help support learner drivers who have passed their theory tests and have been unable to book a practical test before the expiry of their theory test certificate.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a number of measures in place to increase the availability of practical driving tests. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).
The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. To support this campaign, the agency is exploring options to temporarily employ experienced driving assessors from other road safety organisations to become driving examiners.
Returning to seven tests a day per examiner in June allowed the DVSA to increase capacity across the national network by an average of 15,000 to 20,000 tests per month. The aim was to increase testing capacity as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.
The DVSA has also published and promoted the top 10 reasons for failing the driving test, giving tips to candidates and instructors on how to avoid these faults. The DVSA is asking instructors to encourage their pupils to rearrange their test for a later date if they regularly make these mistakes during their lessons or private practice. The DVSA is also encouraging learners to practise driving on a variety of roads and in different conditions, so they are better prepared for their test. Helping learners to be fully prepared will give them a better chance of passing, meaning they could potentially avoid their theory test expiring.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time for driving tests.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a number of measures in place to increase the availability of practical driving tests. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).
The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. To support this campaign, the agency is exploring options to temporarily contract in experienced driving assessors from other road safety organisations to become driving examiners.
After lockdown, the DVSA returned to six tests per day (rather than seven) to ease examiners back into the workplace and to allow additional time between tests for COVID-secure measures to be carried out. From the 14 June, and following discussion with Public Health England, the DVSA returned to seven practical car tests, per day, per examiner in England, Scotland and Wales.
Returning to seven tests a day per examiner will allow the DVSA to increase capacity across the national network by an average of 15,000 to 20,000 tests per month. The aim is to increase testing capacity as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.