Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if there has been an (a) increase or (b) decrease in the number of individuals achieving a full motorcycle licence since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In 2009 40,365 individuals were entitled to drive a motorcycle. As of 2021 (the most recent year for which full data is held) 39,349 individuals held the same entitlement.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if there has been an (a) increase or (b) decrease in the time and cost to the user to complete the motorcycle test since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) holds data on the number of accidents and near misses during the motorcycle test for four years. Therefore, it is not possible to determine if there has been an increase or decrease in the number of crashes during the motorcycle rider test since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
The DVSA is not aware of any analysis regarding the time and costs to the user to complete the motorcycle test since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there has been an increase or decrease in the number of crashes during the motorcycle rider test since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) holds data on the number of accidents and near misses during the motorcycle test for four years. Therefore, it is not possible to determine if there has been an increase or decrease in the number of crashes during the motorcycle rider test since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
The DVSA is not aware of any analysis regarding the time and costs to the user to complete the motorcycle test since the introduction of the new testing regime in April 2009.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to reopen the driving test centre in Hemel Hempstead; and will he make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no current plans to re-open a driving test centre in Hemel Hempstead. Previously, Hemel Hempstead was a part time test centre with a very low demand.
There is adequate testing provision at the surrounding centres in Luton, Watford and St Albans.
If the Council or local Government now have potentially suitable locations for the DVSA to operate a limited service from and share details of those with the agency, it will consider all options. Any potential location would need to broadly mirror the terms shared previously.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on its trial on the use of red flashing lights by recovery operators; what date the outcome of that trial will be published; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has finalised its work specification for the trials programme and will shortly seek tenders for the research on a competitive basis. It is anticipated the programme will include three elements: real-world scenario testing in a safe off-road environment; assessments of the effects of a proliferation of warning lamps on road user reactions and safety, and to develop guidance for road recovery operators on the use of lighting functions currently permitted by regulation.
The department anticipates the research to be 6-9 months in duration once contracted. A report of the trials and final guidance document will be published upon completion.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of non-recirculation mode for air conditioning in buses and taxis during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We published advice in our safer transport guidance for transport operators recommending that transport operators should ensure a fresh air supply is consistently flowing through vehicles. To achieve this, operators should consider that recirculating air systems may require adjustments to increase fresh air flow. Government guidance for drivers, operators and owners of taxis and private hire vehicles also states that the recirculated air option for the car’s ventilation system should not be used when carrying passengers.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to promote the availability of hand sanitiser in buses, taxis and other modes of public transport.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has outlined, through guidance to operators, ways they can help reduce the spread of Covid-19 on the public transport network and boost confidence in the traveling public. These measures include increasing cleaning particularly in high touch areas, encouraging good hand hygiene and providing hand sanitiser at building entry/exit points.
Hand sanitiser points are available at most of the busiest stations. Hand sanitiser points have also been maintained across the 300 most used train stations, as well as 1000 units across the London Tube and Surface Transport network.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had on the role decarbonising the maritime sector can play in reaching Net Zero by 2050; and will he make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy to legislate for a net zero domestic greenhouse gas emission target by 2050[1]. This target includes emissions from domestic shipping, making the case for supporting maritime decarbonisation even more urgent[2]. The Clean Maritime Plan, published in 2019, sets out an ambitious and bold plan to put the sector on a path to deliver this objective while securing growth opportunities for the UK.
The publication of the Clean Maritime Plan was underpinned by extensive stakeholder engagement with the UK maritime industry on decarbonising maritime, including through the Clean Maritime Council, which was established in 2018 to ensure strong collaboration between Government, industry and academia on this matter. This partnership continues today, supporting my Department’s action in tackling shipping emissions and ensuring that the whole transport sector delivers on the legislative objective to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-becomes-first-major-economy-to-pass-net-zero-emissions-law
[2] Whilst international shipping emissions are not formally included in the net-zero target at present, the Government is still required to take these emissions into account when setting carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the value of decarbonising the maritime sector in terms of economic growth.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2015, the Department published the Maritime Growth Study, which considered all aspects of the maritime sector and identified where action could be taken to generate growth[1]. Following the publication of Maritime 2050 in 2019, which builds on the findings of the Maritime Growth Study, the Department published the Clean Maritime Plan, which identified the potential for clean economic growth in the UK as a result of the transition to zero emission shipping[2].
Alongside the Plan, the Department published an assessment of the value of potential economic opportunities from low and zero emission shipping. This review provided a framework for assessing the scale of the opportunity generated by emission reduction technologies, including a mapping of the relevant supply chain, an assessment of the global uptake of these technologies, the economic footprint of the UK firms in the supply chain and the UK’s share of global export of these technologies[3].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maritime-growth-study
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had on the role decarbonising the maritime sector can play in reaching net zero by 2050.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The domestic maritime sector falls under the UK’s national net zero target, and in common with the wider economy will need to be decarbonised by 2050 in order to achieve net zero.
The Department has regular meetings with industry and civil society on the issue of decarbonisation, and has published extensive research on Gov.UK into the opportunities and challenges presented by the sector’s transition to net zero.