Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the regulation of rickshaw drivers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In England, outside of London, local authorities can regulate pedicabs as hackney carriages under existing legislation. The Government has committed to bringing forward measures that would enable TfL to regulate pedicabs in London through the upcoming Transport Bill. Should this Bill become law, it would be for TfL to determine the details of how any regulations would operate.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department has in place for rickshaw drivers; and whether he has plans to increase that support.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In England, outside of London, local authorities can regulate pedicabs as hackney carriages under existing legislation. The Government has committed to bringing forward measures that would enable TfL to regulate pedicabs in London through the upcoming Transport Bill. Should this Bill become law, it would be for TfL to determine the details of how any regulations would operate.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the timeliness of his Department's responses to casework enquires sent by hon. Members to the DVLA.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to answer correspondence from hon. Members within eight working days.
The DVLA has allocated extra resource to the teams that deal with these enquiries, and this is showing a continued improving picture. In May 2022, the DVLA answered 60.1 per cent of correspondence from hon. Members within eight working days. The DVLA also offers hon. Members a dedicated phone line which often negates the need for written correspondence.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what target his Department has for the time taken to reply to casework enquiries sent by hon. Members to the DVLA.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to answer correspondence from hon. Members within eight working days.
The DVLA has allocated extra resource to the teams that deal with these enquiries, and this is showing a continued improving picture. In May 2022, the DVLA answered 60.1 per cent of correspondence from hon. Members within eight working days. The DVLA also offers hon. Members a dedicated phone line which often negates the need for written correspondence.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate she has made of the average time taken by her Department to respond to casework enquiries sent by hon. Members to the DVLA.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to answer correspondence from hon. Members within eight working days.
The DVLA has allocated extra resource to the teams that deal with these enquiries, and this is showing a continued improving picture. In May 2022, the DVLA answered 60.1 per cent of correspondence from hon. Members within eight working days. The DVLA also offers hon. Members a dedicated phone line which often negates the need for written correspondence.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department are assigned to respond to casework enquiries sent by hon. Members to the DVLA.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a core of 63 members of staff who work on responding to correspondence and enquiries from hon. Members. This includes those staff who work on the dedicated telephone line the DVLA provides for hon. Members. More staff will be involved in this work from across the DVLA on an ad hoc basis, depending on the nature of the specific query.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure all public transport providers fulfil their duty under the Equality Act 2010 to be disability accessible.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government’s vision is for disabled people to have the same access to transport as everyone else so they can travel confidently and easily.
Most transport operators have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to access their services, and enforcement of this is a matter for the Courts.
Accessibility requirements and enforcement mechanisms vary by transport mode. Where government has responsibility for enforcement, it works proactively to identify and eliminate non-compliance. Where local authorities and/or regulators are responsible for enforcement, the government seeks to raise their awareness of the importance of accessibility, for example by publishing best practice guidance.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 14 March 2022 to Question 136656 on Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services, whether under the terms of the Service Contract between the Secretary of State, DOHL and SE Trains Ltd, he has given a mandate to the Directors of SE Trains Ltd in relation to Churchill’s pay arrangements.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department has not provided Southeastern with a mandate in relation to this dispute. Pay arrangements are a contractual issue between Churchill and its staff.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2022 to Question 134390 on Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services, if he will publish the outcomes of the meetings held between a Director of SE Trains Ltd and Churchill on 4 February and 11 March.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether under the terms of the Service Contract between the Secretary of State, DOHL and SE Trains Ltd, he has agreed a dispute handling policy with the Directors of SE Trains Ltd.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under the terms of the Service Contract, I can confirm that there is no provision to agree a dispute handling policy with Southeastern regarding third party contracts.