Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when local authorities will be invited to bid for Active Travel Fund 4.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department plans to launch Active Travel Fund 4 once future budgets are confirmed through the Departmental business planning process, following the Autumn Statement of 17 November.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Inclusive Transport Strategy, updated on 3 November 2022, what progress his Department has made on (a) creating a standard for accessible bus stations and stops and (b) in developing a toolkit to assist local authorities in improving the accessibility of bus stations and stops.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department has initiated the research procurement process that will enable us to understand the impact of bus station and stop design on disabled people and other users. This will inform future work on a potential accessible design standard and local authority toolkit.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with representatives of Eurostar on the re-opening of Eurostar stations at (a) Ebbsfleet, and (b) Ashford.
Answered by Kevin Foster
My officials and predecessors have engaged with Eurostar directly on this matter, as well as Eurostar’s recovery more generally since 2020, and continue to do so. The Government wants to see the reinstatement of services at Ebbsfleet and Ashford as soon as reasonably possible and when it is commercially viable for the company to do so.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has recently had discussions with the French Government on the operation of Eurostar.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government engages very regularly with French counterparts to discuss a range of issues related to the Channel Tunnel and international rail services, including Eurostar; and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bids were made as part of the Accelerating Existing Proposals category within the Restoring Your Railway Fund; and if he will publish a list of those bids.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The £500m Restoring Your Railway Fund is supporting over 45 promising schemes with the potential to level up areas and reconnect communities. We reopened the Dartmoor Line in November 2021. On 18 June 2022 we announced £15m of further development funding for nine schemes and published a Programme Update with an overview of all schemes, including Advanced Proposals and those which were part of the announcement.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 the Brentford to Southall rail scheme bid submitted to the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Brentford–Southall rail scheme bid was assessed as an Advanced Proposal as part of the Restoring Your Railway programme. I wrote to you, the co-sponsoring MP and the promoter with the outcome and feedback ahead of the announcement made on 18 June 2022.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many practical driving tests were booked via a third party agent for re-sale in 2022 as of 13 June.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
To prevent the booking and re-selling of driving test appointments, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has:
Practical driving test appointments are only assigned to individuals wanting to take their driving test. There is no facility to allow the mass booking of driving tests, neither are practical car driving test slots allocated to, or reserved for, private companies.
As practical driving tests are booked against individuals, the DVSA does not hold data on how many were booked via a third-party.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data the DVLA collects on mass booking of driving tests for re-sale by third parties.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
To prevent the booking and re-selling of driving test appointments, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has:
Practical driving test appointments are only assigned to individuals wanting to take their driving test. There is no facility to allow the mass booking of driving tests, neither are practical car driving test slots allocated to, or reserved for, private companies.
As practical driving tests are booked against individuals, the DVSA does not hold data on how many were booked via a third-party.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the DVLA has taken to prevent the booking of practical driving tests for re-sale by third parties.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
To prevent the booking and re-selling of driving test appointments, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has:
Practical driving test appointments are only assigned to individuals wanting to take their driving test. There is no facility to allow the mass booking of driving tests, neither are practical car driving test slots allocated to, or reserved for, private companies.
As practical driving tests are booked against individuals, the DVSA does not hold data on how many were booked via a third-party.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact on (a) passenger safety, and (b) security of allowing individuals with temporary airside passes to have unaccompanied access on airside locations in Airports in England.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The security measures in place at UK airports to protect airside locations are carefully assessed. All persons entering the airside area of an airport are security screened/searched to ensure they are not carrying or concealing a prohibited article. All persons with temporary airside passes are escorted at all times by a full security pass holder whilst airside.