Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of answer of 13 October 2022 to Oral question 901608, Official Report column 235, and to his Written Statement of 9 March 2023 on Transport Update, HCWS625, what assessment he has made of the continued feasibility of his Department’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy targets.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government’s most recent assessment of progress towards meeting the targets in question was set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy report to Parliament in July 2022. A copy of the report is available in the House libraries. The Department will provide an updated assessment in its next report to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of car registration cloning were reported in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
If the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is notified of a suspected cloned vehicle investigations will be carried out and where appropriate, a replacement vehicle registration number will be issued. The table below shows the number of occasions where a member of the public contacted the DVLA about correspondence, fines or penalties they had received about vehicles they did not recognise or accept responsibility for. The table also shows the volume of replacement registration numbers issued.
Year | Number of contacts to the DVLA | Number of replacement registration numbers issued |
2020 | 7,400 | 143 |
2021 | 7,434 | 61 |
2022 | 7,769 | 101 |
In these circumstances, suspected cloning is just one potential reason why someone might receive such correspondence. It is likely that a proportion of these cases will have been the result of an error on the part of an organisation or their customer when requesting vehicle keeper details. Where a vehicle keeper believes their vehicle or number plate has been cloned, the correct course of action is to report this to the police for further investigation. The DVLA may also pass on any intelligence gathered to the police, who are responsible for enforcement.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of local authority rules in tackling the negative effects of jet ski usage.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
Local and harbour authorities have wide-ranging powers to introduce measures to respond to the negative effects of personal watercraft usage. They are best placed to decide how to ensure safety for all users in the waters they manage given significant differences in local geography and usage. Guidance, including case studies looking at effective management strategies, is available.
The Department for Transport is supporting these authorities through the introduction of new national legislation to further strengthen enforcement measures.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 (a) responsible and (b) irresponsible use of Jet Skis on (i) the marine environment and (ii) people including other water users and local residents.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
Most people ride personal watercraft, like jet skis, safely and responsibly and as a result serious issues are rare. There are a small minority of users who through their irresponsible actions put other people at risk.
Local and harbour authorities already have wide-ranging powers to introduce measures to respond to dangerous or anti-social behaviour. The Department is supporting them through the introduction of new national legislation to further strengthen enforcement measures.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of learners waiting for a practical driving test; and whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of measures taken to reduce the driving test backlog over the past 12 months.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a 24 week forward booking window and driving tests are not available to book beyond this.
As of 17 November 2022, there were 550,331 car practical tests booked.
Since April 2021, the DVSA has created 595,000 extra car practical driving tests appointments, to help reduce waiting times, by:
Measure introduced | Number of car practical driving slots created |
Recruiting new driving examiners | 245,000 |
Conducting out of normal hours testing through overtime, including at weekends and on public holidays | 165,000 |
Asking colleagues who are qualified to carry out driving tests, but do not do so as part of their normal duties, to do so | 105,000 |
Converting any unsold motorcycle tests and vocational tests to car tests 7 days before the test appointment | 55,000 |
Buying back annual leave from driving examiners | 20,000 |
Inviting recently retired driving examiners to return to work | 6,500 |
The cumulative total of the measures introduced (in the table above) has reduced the length of time forecasted for the DVSA to recover its driving test service by 20 months.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the validity of foreign driving licences beyond 12 months in the context of delays in obtaining practical driving test appointments.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
Holders of a valid driving licence issued by a country outside of the EU/EEA can drive small vehicles (cars up to 3,500kg and motorcycles), provided entitlement is shown on their licence, for 12 months from the date they become resident in GB. After this time, unless they have a licence from a country designated for driving licence exchange purposes, they are required to take a GB driving test.
The 12-month period is a concession that allows drivers who live and regularly drive in GB to continue to do so before having to demonstrate that they comply with the standards that apply to GB licence holders. There are no plans to change this requirement.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, with several measures in place to do this. The DVSA is recruiting more driving examiners to help increase driving test availability.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that train tracks can function as normal during heatwaves.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Network Rail has well-established operational measures it implements to protect infrastructure and manage services safely during extreme weather events, such as line speed restrictions, diversions and painting parts of the railway tracks white.
Looking ahead, we want industry to proactively prepare wherever possible, but also to explore new technology which could help improve resilience.
Network Rail launched a resilience task force in July to review the UK rail networks capacity to deal with extreme heat, which will be led by independent experts. It will make recommendations on how the railway can develop its approach to resilience during hot weather.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle motorists who add aftermarket mufflers to their exhaust systems in order to dramatically increase the noise produced by their vehicles.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Government takes the impact of traffic noise on communities seriously . Manufacturers of motor vehicles, including motorcycles and mopeds, are required to demonstrate compliance with strict noise limits before placing products on the market.
The police have powers to act if they suspect an exhaust has been modified to increase noise above these limits The Department is engaging with the police on the role of 'noise camera' technology in more targeted, efficient and effective enforcement