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 she is taking with (a) manufacturers and (b) other stakeholders to ensure that all motorcycles and mopeds do not exceed limits for vehicle volume.
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
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 put in place a new sustainable funding settlement for cycle training budgets in local authorities.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has provided a record £20million funding for Bikeability cycle training in English local authorities outside London in 2022/23. Funding for the Bikeability programme in subsequent years, as well as revenue funding settlements for local authorities which support a range of activities including cycle training, will be a matter for Active Travel England and will come from the £710 million provided for walking and cycling at the last Spending Review. Funding for Bikeability in London is a matter for the Mayor.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to provide advice to people who miss their flights as a result of airport disruption and delays.
Answered by Robert Courts
Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) provide air passengers information on what to do if something goes wrong with their flight. To further support air passengers, the Government announced as part of the Flightpath to the Future, that it will publish an Aviation Passenger Charter, developed in partnership with the sector and consumer groups, to ensure consumers are aware of their rights and responsibilities throughout their journey, including what to do if something goes wrong. The Charter will be essential for consumers, granting them clear and easily accessible information that they need when travelling by air.
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 he is taking to tackle airport staff shortages.
Answered by Robert Courts
The aviation industry operates in the private sector and therefore it is the responsibility of the industry to manage demands, recruit and roster staff, and have appropriate mitigations in place. However, we are working closely with the sector and airports to ensure resilience and services are as should be expected for passengers, and are pressing the sector to ensure their summer schedules are deliverable.
As set out in Flightpath to the future: a strategic framework for the aviation sector, published on 26th May 2022, skills retention for highly trained jobs needs to be a key element of the aviation sector’s recovery plan. That is why my Department launched the Aviation Skills Retention Platform and Talentview Aviation in February 2021 and November 2021 respectively to support skills retention and recruitment in the aviation sector.
In addition, we have introduced new legislation to allow certain training to be undertaken while industry background reference checks are completed. I have also permitted HMRC employment history letters to be used as part of the reference check. Both will help to speed up recruitment times.
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 discussions he has had with representatives of airlines on disruption and delays at UK airports.
Answered by Robert Courts
Since the beginning of the year, Ministers and Officials have been engaging extensively with the sector to gain a greater understanding of the issues facing the industry. We have taken action in a range of areas, including security alleviations, skills and recruitment to support the aviation industry. This includes the Secretary of State changing the law on the 29 April to alleviate pressures on industry background checks for new recruits going through training and has allowed HMRC Employment History letters to be used as part of the background check, with suitable safeguards in place. This will help speed up the recruitment process.
On 12 May Minister Hinds, Minister of State for Security and Borders and I, hosted a roundtable with leaders from across the aviation industry. This meeting addressed the upcoming increase in passenger demand for the May Half Term and Summer holidays as well as providing industry with a comprehensive update from Border Force on their preparations.
At the same time Senior Officials established the Summer Resilience Group ahead of the May half-term that brings together Operational Directors to work through key resilience issues, which continues to meet regularly in addition to regular bilateral meetings.
On 1 June, the Secretary of State and I chaired a meeting with airports, airlines and ground handlers in order to understand the specific issues they were facing over half term and the actions they were taking to result these.
An action from this meeting was to set up the Strategic Risk Group which I am now chairing on a weekly basis. This will bring together senior representatives of airlines, airports and ground handlers to focus on solutions that minimise disruption over the summer for the public.
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 discussions he has had with airport leaders on disruption and delays at UK airports.
Answered by Robert Courts
Since the beginning of the year, Ministers and Officials have been engaging extensively with the sector to gain a greater understanding of the issues facing the industry. We have taken action in a range of areas, including security alleviations, skills and recruitment to support the aviation industry. This includes the Secretary of State changing the law on the 29 April to alleviate pressures on industry background checks for new recruits going through training and has allowed HMRC Employment History letters to be used as part of the background check, with suitable safeguards in place. This will help speed up the recruitment process.
On 12 May Minister Hinds, Minister of State for Security and Borders and I, hosted a roundtable with leaders from across the aviation industry. This meeting addressed the upcoming increase in passenger demand for the May Half Term and Summer holidays as well as providing industry with a comprehensive update from Border Force on their preparations.
At the same time Senior Officials established the Summer Resilience Group ahead of the May half-term that brings together Operational Directors to work through key resilience issues, which continues to meet regularly in addition to regular bilateral meetings.
On 1 June, the Secretary of State and I chaired a meeting with airports, airlines and ground handlers in order to understand the specific issues they were facing over half term and the actions they were taking to result these.
An action from this meeting was to set up the Strategic Risk Group which I am now chairing on a weekly basis. This will bring together senior representatives of airlines, airports and ground handlers to focus on solutions that minimise disruption over the summer for the public.
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 progress he has made on tackling the backlog of practical driving test appointments.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their practical driving test following the suspension of routine driver training and testing during the pandemic.
The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this.
These include:
The DVSA is also launching a new national campaign to recruit an extra 161 examiners across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests. This is in addition to its previous campaign to recruit more than 300 additional examiners.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What discussions he has held with airlines on the practice of running empty or near-empty flights to retain landing slots at airports.
Answered by Robert Courts
My officials and I have had regular engagement with industry throughout the pandemic and have worked constructively together on many cross-cutting issues.
Targeted consultations have taken place with airports, airlines and industry bodies to discuss and gather evidence for what measures are appropriate. Our most recent consultation with industry took place between 15 November and 13 December which assisted us in our decision to continue with alleviation from normal slot usage rules for the Summer 2022 season.
Further consultation on whether alleviation is necessary for the Winter 2022 season and what form this might take will take place shortly.
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 take steps to stop UK airlines running empty or near-empty flights to retain landing slots at airports.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Government acted swiftly to tackle the risk of empty or near empty aircraft continuing to fly during the pandemic solely to retain their slots. The rules requiring airlines to fly 80% of their slots in order to retain them for the subsequent season were fully suspended for the Summer 2020, Winter 2020/21 and Summer 2021 slot scheduling seasons.
The Government secured more flexible powers through the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft (ATMUA) Act 2021. This allows the Government to amend the usual landing slot rules, where the evidence supports, preventing airlines operating empty or near-empty flights.
For the current Winter 2021/22 season, the Government has used the ATMUA Act 2021 to introduce a package of measures designed to support the recovery of the sector and protect air carriers from operating empty or near-empty flights. For the Summer 2022 season, further alleviation is planned which will support the recovery in passenger demand and give airlines the flexibility not to operate their slots where there are COVID-19 related restrictions.
We will consult with airlines, airports and aviation industry bodies shortly on whether further alleviation is needed for the Winter 2022 season and beyond.
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 bringing forward legislative proposals to make road insurance mandatory for e-scooter owners driving on roads.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
E-scooters are currently classed as motor vehicles under the Road Traffic Act 1988. This means users must comply with the requirements for motor vehicles, which includes having appropriate insurance. It is currently an offence to ride an e-scooter without insurance. The Department is now considering options for a new regulatory framework for e-scooters. This includes working with industry to consider whether to require insurance and, if so, what kind.