Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has he made of the adequacy of the (a) provision and (b) availability of driving tests in North Wales.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Services Agency (DVSA) offers driving tests in Welsh at all 24 practical driving test centres (DTC) in Wales, as well as those outside Wales whose catchment area includes part of Wales. Customers can choose to take a practical test in Welsh at the time of booking. The DVSA has 13 Welsh speaking driving examiners (DE) who will be deployed to meet requests to deliver Welsh language driving tests.
The DVSA has a number of measures in place to increase practical driving tests, including North Wales. 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 and will shortly launch a specific recruitment campaign to increase the number of Welsh speaking examiners.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has he made of the availability of Welsh language driving tests.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Services Agency (DVSA) offers driving tests in Welsh at all 24 practical driving test centres (DTC) in Wales, as well as those outside Wales whose catchment area includes part of Wales. Customers can choose to take a practical test in Welsh at the time of booking. The DVSA has 13 Welsh speaking driving examiners (DE) who will be deployed to meet requests to deliver Welsh language driving tests.
The DVSA has a number of measures in place to increase practical driving tests, including North Wales. 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 and will shortly launch a specific recruitment campaign to increase the number of Welsh speaking examiners.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is offering to car and trailer test (categories B and E) providers affected by changes to driving test requirements for HGV drivers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government takes road safety very seriously and the UK has some of the safest roads in the world. Therefore, the Government will explore options for an industry-led accreditation that could offer a standardised non-statutory training approach. We plan to meet with key stakeholders including trainers and insurers to discuss this idea.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of (a) jobs and (b) apprenticeships supported by High Speed Two are located in Wales.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Whilst HS2 presents a significant opportunity for businesses of all sizes across the UK, HS2 Ltd does not track the proportion of HS2 jobs and apprenticeships that are located in Wales. As HS2 Ltd’s supply chain will consist of up to 400,000 contract opportunities, a smaller number of critical contracts are monitored and so far, there are 27 suppliers based in Wales delivering work on critical contracts. It is likely there will be many more jobs and apprenticeships created in factories and businesses in Wales from the HS2 project within the supply chain.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department has provided to the maritime sector in Wales since March 2020.
Answered by Robert Courts
Ministers and officials have engaged with their Welsh counterparts throughout the global pandemic on a wide range of issues. While financial support for the maritime sector in Wales is predominantly a matter for the Welsh Assembly, particularly where it relates to non-reserved harbours and ports, the financial support that the Chancellor has announced, including business support loans and the job retention scheme, is in place to support all parts of the economy including the maritime sector. My officials and I have worked closely throughout the pandemic with all parts of the maritime sector on the challenges they have faced and the support that they need.
The Department for Transport is also supporting Cabinet Office in the delivery of the £200 million Port Infrastructure Fund, helping ports to build and enhance vital import facilities. The Welsh ports of Fishguard, Holyhead, and Pembroke have been awarded grants totalling £2.8 million.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he had has with the Welsh Government on the adequacy of regulations on the use of e-scooters.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Department of Transport officials have met with their Welsh Government counterparts on several occasions to discuss e-scooter regulations, both prior to national trials commencing and subsequently. Meetings at a Ministerial level have not taken place.