Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proposals he has made to TfL on fares for under 18s to travel in London.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free travel for under 18s.
The Department is working closely with TfL on how the temporary suspension can be operationalised, whilst ensuring that any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still receive this. The Department is also completing an Equality Impact Assessment, which will consider whether there are further categories of children that should receive free transport.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what process his Department uses to monitor the effect of changes to streets to support social distancing on disabled pedestrians who are dependent on (a) tactile paving, (b) controlled crossings and (c) detectable kerbs.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
It is for local traffic authorities to decide what measures to install to enable social distancing, and active travel, and to monitor and evaluate these. In implementing measures, local traffic authorities must be mindful of the requirements of equalities legislation, ensuring, for example, that in redesigning and reallocating road space they take careful account of the impacts this may have on disabled people.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential reduction in demand on London buses that may result from removing free travel from under 18s in London.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free bus travel for under 18s.
The temporary suspension of free travel is necessary to ensure that there is capacity available on public transport for key workers and those who need to use it to support the critical restart of the economy, given reduced capacity as a result of social distancing measures. Before the Covid-19 crisis, around a third of journeys between 8-9am were made by young people travelling to school.
The Department is also working closely with TfL and the Department for Education to look at a range of additional measures to help manage demand for bus travel to and from school. These include considering staggered start times, using coaches and promoting active travel.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his oral contribution of 2 July 2020, Official Report, column 513, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a public consultation on proposed changes to free travel to educational establishments for 16 to 18 year olds in London.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free travel for under 18s.
The Department is working closely with TfL, the Department for Education and London Councils on how the temporary suspension can be operationalised, including the nature of any consultation with key stakeholders.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria is for eligibility for free school travel for children in London.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free travel for under 18s.
The Department is working closely with TfL and the Department for Education on how the temporary suspension can be operationalised. Any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still receive this. The Department is also completing an Equality Impact Assessment, which will consider whether there are further categories of children that should receive free transport.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Southgate and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) transport operators and (b) agents of transport operators on the legal powers available to them to enforce the mandatory wearing of face coverings on public transport.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The face covering regulations give operators new powers to deny access to their services if a passenger is not wearing a face covering, or to direct them to wear one or leave a service if they are not wearing a face covering. Operators have discretion over how they use these powers - they are not obliged to use them.
Government has published updated Safer Transport guidance for operators, which is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators
The guidance includes information for operators on how they can use their new powers to encourage passengers to comply with the face covering regulations. This includes a suggested six-step process for escalation, where operators lead on the following five steps: 1. Engage, 2. Explain and 3. Encourage passengers to comply with the regulation through communications or direct engagement; 4. Enable use. A face covering is covering of any type that covers the nose and mouth. As these can be made at home, the government does not expect access to them to be a significant issue. There is no requirement or expectation that operators would make face coverings available, though operators could consider doing so, for example for free and/or in vending machines; 5. Entry. Operators and their staff have new powers to prevent access to a public transport vehicle, or to direct a passenger to wear a face covering or leave a public transport vehicle, if they are not wearing a face covering. Operators have discretion over how they use these powers. The final step, led by the police, is point 6 - enforcement, where the above steps fail, the police and TfL have the power to fine a passenger if they continue to refuse to comply.