Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department includes a requirement for operators to have robust policies on sexual misconduct in (a) its own policies on rail franchising agreements and (b) its advice to local authorities when letting their own public transport contracts.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The rail industry has an established work programme and sexual misconduct is a priority for British Transport Police. Our National Bus Strategy made clear that the highest safety standards will be upheld by the commissioners. Bus Service Improvement Plans should also demonstrate how Local Transport Authorities and bus operators will work together to ensure safety. In addition, taxi licensing authorities are completing reviews of their existing policies and the Department is supporting the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill through Parliament. The Department is working closely with the Home Office on the cross-departmental strategy to address Violence Against Women and Girls.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department includes a requirement for operators to block pornography through public WiFi on public transport and prohibit this activity through individual internet connection when letting rail franchising agreements.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In July 2018, Andrew Jones MP (former Minister for Rail) wrote to the Rail Delivery Group and urged train operators to sign up to the Friendly WiFi scheme to show they support blocking inappropriate material, including pornography, from being accessed while travelling on the rail network.
There are three companies who provide WiFi connectivity for trains, and in July 2019 we received confirmation that all three suppliers are signed up to the Friendly WiFi scheme.
There is no requirement for train operators to sign up to the scheme under franchise agreements.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure local transport authorities meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 in relation to bus services.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) are responsible for complying with the obligations under the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in particular. The Department’s role includes influencing, enabling and encouraging LTAs to provide good bus services for everyone. The guidance to LTAs on developing their Local Transport Plans is being revised and will remind LTAs that they must actively pay regard to the PSED in relation to the provision of bus services.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 7 July 2020 to Question 65974 on Motor Vehicles: Delivery Services, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with representatives of food delivery companies on the use of motorcycle and moped-based delivery drivers, including inappropriate use of (a) cycle paths, (b) barriers and (c) cycle boxes at road junctions intended for use by cyclists only.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has not had any discussions with food delivery companies on the use of motorcycle and moped-based delivery drivers.
Employers have a duty to manage the risks of their work activities, and employees have a responsibility to drive safely and with consideration towards other road users. Motorcycle and moped riders, like other road users, are required to comply with road traffic law and may be fined, given penalty points on their licence or disqualified from driving if they disobey the legal requirements. If they do not adopt a responsible attitude or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, they may be committing a number of offences.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of rising numbers of learner motorcyclists and scooter riders on the safety of cyclists.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
There is no means of establishing the number of Compulsory Basic Training courses that have been undertaken, and therefore the number of learner motorcyclists and scooter riders. However, the robustness of the driving test regime ensures that learner riders use the highway in a safe and considerate manner.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with those employing or contracting learner motorcyclists and scooter riders to make deliveries on the behaviour of their riders on the roads and in relation to pedestrians and cyclists.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Employers have a duty to manage the risks of their work activities, and employees have a responsibility to drive safely and with consideration towards other road users. Learner motorcyclists and motor scooter riders, like other road users, are required to comply with road traffic law and may be fined, given penalty points on their licence, or disqualified from driving if they disobey the legal requirements. If they do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, they may be committing a number of offences.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional learner motorbike and scooter riders started on the road in each month since January 2019 to date.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) sells Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) certificates in books, containing 25 certificates per book, to Approved Training Bodies (ATB). CBT certificates are issued by ATBs to successful candidates and are valid for two years.
Between 1 January 2019 and 31 March 2021, which is the latest publication date, the DVSA has sold 363,600 certificates. There is no means of establishing the number of CBT courses that have been undertaken since January 2019 to date.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people over the age of 70 are waiting for a decision on the renewal of their driving licence following the expiry of their existing licence who applied for that renewal after the Government’s covid-19 extension period expired on 31 December 2020.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Drivers whose licence expired between 1 February and 31 December 2020 have had their entitlement to drive in the UK automatically extended for 11 months. The extension started from the date the licence was due to expire. Drivers whose entitlement expires on or after 1 January 2021, are advised to renew their driving licence as normal.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services have been available throughout the pandemic and are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff being on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements and an increased demand for its services has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.
The number of paper applications awaiting processing fluctuates daily as driving licences are issued and new applications received. Currently, paper applications are likely to take six to ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed as part of a driving licence application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of funds have been disbursed from the Port Infrastructure Fund to successful applicants; and what the Government's timescale is for disbursement of remaining funds.
Answered by Robert Courts
Disbursal of funds is set to commence imminently, with several Grant Funding Agreements having been recently finalised following negotiations with awardees, and the remainder being finalised currently.
Funds will be disbursed to each awardee as staged payments, monthly. Following initial payments, the timescales for disbursing remaining funds to any awardee corresponds to that awardee’s project delivery timeline.
Projects are scheduled to be delivered in time for the full implementation of the new Border Operating Model.