Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
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 air quality of extending the DLR from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Transport in London is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL). This includes management of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and air quality policy in London.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any hon. Members were informed of the additional services on the Southeastern Bexleyheath line prior to the announcement at Transport questions on 2 March 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The decision was communicated to those Honourable Members who had met with me previously to discuss the matter, who were on the line of route and were not able to attend Transport Questions. All four Honourable Members on the line of route were sent the letter on 2 March, the same day I announced the decision in the House. The Honourable Member for Erith and Thamesmead was also sent the letter that day, at my request because, despite not being one of the four MPs on the line of route, I had also met her previously and wished for her to be updated as well.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Southeastern Railway’s timetable changes of December 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of adding additional off-peak services to the Bexleyheath line but not additional peak services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As announced last week, following a review of the new timetable, Southeastern will reinstate direct off-peak services to Charing Cross on the Bexleyheath line, Monday to Saturday from May 2023. Passengers using the Bexleyheath line in the peaks already benefit from direct services to Charing Cross as well as to Cannon Street and London Victoria.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Southeastern Railway’s timetable changes of December 2022, whether the recent announcement of additional services on the Bexleyheath line will be extended to cover the Woolwich line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are currently no plans to introduce additional services on the Woolwich line.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the level of overcrowding on train station platforms for Southeastern services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Network Rail and all train operators, including Southeastern, have plans in place to ensure that if any of their stations get crowded, they remain safe. Southeastern are constantly assessing demand and passenger flows and work alongside Network Rail and other train operators, to review and develop their plans, always with safety as a top priority. Following the crowding incident at London Bridge on 25 January Network Rail and Southeastern conducted a full investigation and several immediate actions have already been taken to reinforce the safety of customers both at platform and concourse level.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer on 7 November 2022 of Question 80959 on train timetable changes, how many rail operators were granted derogations from the requirement to consult on train timetable changes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, and (c) 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Operators have been working at pace to respond to changing passenger travel patterns since the pandemic, as it is crucial that the industry stays alert to fluctuations in demand and responds accordingly. While demand patterns remain unstable and operators need to remain agile in responding to changes, it is not possible to offer meaningful consultations.
Where operators do not have sufficient certainty, they may request a derogation from the requirement to consult. One operator requested a formal derogation from the requirement to consult and was granted it.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer on 7 November 2022 of Question 80959 on train timetable changes, how many rail operators requested derogations from the requirement to consult on train timetable changes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Operators have been working at pace to respond to changing passenger travel patterns since the pandemic, as it is crucial that the industry stays alert to fluctuations in demand and responds accordingly. While demand patterns remain unstable and operators need to remain agile in responding to changes, it is not possible to offer meaningful consultations.
Where operators do not have sufficient certainty, they may request a derogation from the requirement to consult. One operator requested a formal derogation from the requirement to consult and was granted it.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer on 7th November 2022 of Question 80959 on train timetable changes, for what reasons his Department grants a derogation from the requirement to consult on train timetable changes.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Operators have been working at pace to respond to changing passenger travel patterns since the pandemic, as it is crucial that the industry stays alert to fluctuations in demand and responds accordingly. While demand patterns remain unstable and operators need to remain agile in responding to changes, it is not possible to offer meaningful consultations.
Where operators do not have sufficient certainty, they may request a derogation from the requirement to consult. One operator requested a formal derogation from the requirement to consult and was granted it.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer on 7th November 2022 of Question 80960 on Southeastern Railway, for what reasons his Department agreed to grant Southeastern Railway a derogation from the requirement to consult on their December 2022 train timetable changes.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Rail operators, including Southeastern, have been working at pace to respond to changing passenger travel patterns since the pandemic, as it is crucial that industry stays alert to fluctuations in demand whilst delivering good value for the taxpayer and responds accordingly. Therefore, the Department agreed to consider requests from operators for derogations against the requirement to formally consult on timetable changes throughout 2022. Subsequently, on 5 August 2022 the Department issued Southeastern with a formal derogation against the requirement to undertake a consultation exercise in respect of its December 2022 timetable changes.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the shortage of practical driving tests in Erith and Thamesmead constituency.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
To help increase practical driving test availability, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain, including in the Erith and Thamesmead area. The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.
The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, with several measures in place to do this.
These include:
The DVSA has launched a ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign to improve learners’ understanding of how they can assess their own readiness for test. An open day was held on 16 October in Erith and Thamesmead for customers to meet driving examiners and find out more about being test ready.