Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 extending the two-year period for passing a practical driving test from the date of a successful theory test for people waiting to take practical driving tests during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The two-year validity period of the theory test certificate is set in legislation and the Government has taken the decision not to lay further legislation to extend it. The primary reason is that the two-year validity is in place to ensure that a candidate’s theoretical knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point they drive on their own for the first time. Extending the validity would provide less reassurance that this is the case. Those whose certificate previously expired and have since passed the theory test will now have a further two years in which to pass the practical test.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department uses for the establishment of travel corridors between the UK and other countries.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
I refer the honourable member to the Secretary of State for Transport’s Written Ministerial Statement on travel corridors made on 6 July 2020.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of improved warning signage for vehicle users on prominent cycling routes.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The provision of traffic signs is the responsibility of local highway authorities and as such the Department has made no assessment of signs on the network. All traffic signs and road markings placed on a public highway must be either prescribed in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, as amended, or authorised by the Secretary of State for Transport. The Department provides guidance to local authorities in the Traffic Signs Manual which can be viewed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve road safety for cyclists on rural roads.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In November 2018 we published the Government response to the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Safety Review which committed to update The Highway Code to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. One of the proposals under consideration is the inclusion of safe passing distances which would also benefit cyclists on rural roads.
In July 2019, the Government published the Road Safety Statement 2019: a lifetime of road safety. This includes a two-year action plan to address a range of road safety issues which will improve safety for all road users including cyclists, including establishing a working group to address rural road safety issues.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing for the provision of new local cycling routes.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On the 9th May the Government announced a £2 billion package of funding for cycling and walking over the next five years. £225 million will be available to local authorities this financial year for immediate measures including new cycle lanes, wider pavements and safer junctions. Indicative funding allocations from the £225 million have been published and funding will be provided in two tranches, subject to local authorities satisfying the Department that they have sufficiently ambitious and credible plans in place. Leicestershire has been indicatively allocated £300,000 for tranche one and £1,200,000 for tranche two.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the covid-19 outbreak on MOT testing.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The effect of COVID-19 on vehicle testing has been under constant review as the situation has developed. As announced on 25th March, vehicle owners will be granted a 6-month exemption from MOT testing, enabling them to continue to travel to work where this absolutely cannot be done from home, or shop for necessities.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to blue badge parking bays for people with disabilities.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Local authorities are responsible for the administration of the Blue Badge scheme and for the provision of disabled parking bays in their areas, ensuring for example that there are sufficient numbers and that they are located in the right places. Local authorities are also responsible for the enforcement of all parking regulations, including those regarding disabled parking bays on-street (the scheme only applies to on-street parking and not to off-street car parks). They will be making their own arrangements for business continuity to ensure appropriate on-street parking enforcement continues.
To support the role that local authorities play, the Department has issued non-statutory guidance to local authorities in England on how to administer the scheme. This includes advice on how to use the powers provided to them in legislation to enforce on-street parking bays.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to electrify the Midland Mainline from London to Leicester.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We are currently investing in the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it was completed in 1870. From December 2020, there will be faster journeys in the peak and more seats, with a fleet of brand new bi-mode trains starting service in 2022.
As part of the upgrade, electrification is currently planned to extend from London to Kettering in 2020, and subsequently Market Harborough, subject to design. Network Rail’s Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, currently being developed, will identify the other areas of the network likely to need electrification to decarbonise the railway.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of guidelines for the provision of pedestrian crossings.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
Provision of pedestrian crossings is a matter for local traffic authorities. In December 2019 the Department published updated guidance on pedestrian crossing assessment and design, in Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual. It is available to download from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the 2019 guidance on hidden disabilities and blue badge parking.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Transport will review the impact of the expanded criteria on the Blue Badge scheme 12 months after implementation.
In the first 3 months of the new criteria being in operation, 12,299 people in England who had applied using the non-visible condition criteria were awarded a badge.