Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that UK seafarers impacted by the sanctions on Russia are adequately supported.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government has introduced a range of Transport Sanctions in response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. These measures are intended to ratchet up the economic pressure on Russia, signal our support to Ukraine, and to degrade the Russian shipping sector. We also recognise the importance of protecting seafarers and their welfare whilst achieving this goal.
The Government continually seeks to ensure sanctions measures are carefully targeted and avoid unintended consequences. Economic sanctions come under the remit and responsibility of HM Treasury and its Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). If a person or organisation is subject to financial sanctions and requires access to frozen funds in order to pay for goods and services, it is incumbent on them to seek a licence from OFSI. This includes the release of funds for the purpose of paying seafarers.
OFSI prioritises cases where there are issues of personal basic needs and/or wider humanitarian issues at stake which are of material impact or urgency, or which are deemed to be of particular strategic, economic or administrative importance. My Department has engaged regularly with OFSI on this matter to ensure cases of seafarer remuneration are considered and prioritised where possible.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on rail users of scheduled Manchester rail timetable changes due to take effect in December 2022.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Government set up the Manchester Recovery Task Force in January 2020 to address the unacceptable levels of train performance in the north west of England following the late change to the May 2018 timetable.
The task force, which includes Transport for the North and Transport for Greater Manchester, consulted on a number of options and took account of the more than 800 responses to identify the optimal service for users and the Northern economy.
Northern Trains and TransPennine Express, working with Network Rail and other train operators, used this assessment to develop the timetable which will come into force in December 2022 and which will improve performance significantly while still meeting the journey needs of the vast majority of regular travellers on lines into Manchester.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the financial impact on the (a) hospitality sector and (b) rest of the UK economy of the rail industrial action on 21, 23 and 25 June 2022.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Government regrets that the trade unions have chosen to go ahead with the strikes. These strikes are impacting local businesses and the ability of the general public to get to school, hospital and work.
The Government and rail industry, including Network Rail, have worked together and continue to work together to ensure plans are in place to minimise disruption allowing for freight and passenger services to remain operational where possible. The Civil Contingencies Secretariat is also convening ministers daily during the strike period to assess operational response and impact.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has estimated the cost to the economy of the three days of strike action to be at least £91 million: Rail and tube strikes to cause hit of at least £91m to the UK economy (cebr.com)
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that airline customers receive (a) fair and (b) considered compensation for cancelled flights.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
There is already a framework of legislation in place to protect consumer’s rights when travelling by air, including when and what compensation is due in the event of cancellations. It is of vital importance that passengers know their rights. Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority already provide to passengers on what to do if something goes wrong with their flight. To further support this, we are developing an Aviation Passenger Charter, alongside industry and consumer groups, to further support passengers to understand their rights, responsibilities and reasonable expectations when travelling by air, from booking to if something goes wrong, including flight cancellations.
We also recently consulted on a range of consumer policy reforms, including additional powers for the Civil Aviation Authority to enforce consumer rights, mandatory alternative dispute resolution for all airlines operating in the UK, to enable individuals to seek redress. We are currently reviewing all responses and will set out next steps in due course.
Air passenger rights remains a key priority for Government, which we recently reaffirmed in the Flightpath to the Future publication, which commits to ensuring consumers are protected and have the confidence to fly. We will continue to work with the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure consumer laws are being adhered to and consumers protected.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve electric vehicle infrastructure in the North West.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Government has committed over £1.6 billion to support charging infrastructure at homes, on the street, in workplaces, destinations and along major roads. We have published a landmark electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure strategy setting out our plans to accelerate the rollout of a world-class charging network across the UK. Our strategy sets out our vision and commitments to make EV charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station.
In addition, we have announced new regulations for public chargepoints to improve confidence in the charging network and make the user experience truly seamless. Drivers will benefit from simplified payment methods as well as the ability to compare prices and access real-time information about chargepoints. We will ensure there is a 99% reliability rate at rapid chargepoints. We will be introducing payment roaming to support the electrification of fleets. Chargepoints will need to have open data so that they are easy to find using maps and apps. We will lay legislation later this year.
To ensure that the transition to electric vehicles takes place in every part of the country, we are pledging at least £500m to support local chargepoint provision. As part of this, the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund will provide approximately £400m of capital and £50m of resource funding to support local authorities to work with industry and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. We have launched a £10 million pilot as a springboard for the development of the full fund.
This year, £20 million is available through the on-street residential chargepoint scheme to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints to their residents without access to private parking.
Local authorities have a key role to play as they are best placed to consider local needs. We encourage local authorities to apply for funding to provide chargers for their residents.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made the adequacy of pavement parking legislation.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department consulted on measures to address pavement parking in 2020 and received over 15,000 responses. These responses have been analysed and Ministers are carefully considering the options in the light of the consultation findings. We will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to remove covid-19 restrictions on international travel.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
From 4am on Friday 18 March, COVID-19 border restrictions will be lifted for all passengers entering the UK. This means that passengers arriving in the UK, regardless of their vaccination status, will no longer be required to complete a Passenger Locator Form or take any COVID-19 travel tests. That means we are the first major economy to get back to the kind of restriction-free travel we all enjoyed before COVID.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of waiting times for LGV C1 driving licence tests.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The waiting time is calculated for all vocational tests as a whole. As of 28 February 2022, the national average waiting time was 5.2 weeks for the module 3b (on-road) test.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve rest facilities for HGV drivers and (b) ensure the safety of lorries in refuge areas.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
(a) The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.
We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.
(b) Safety remains our top priority and our motorways are the safest type of road in the country.
On motorways where the hard shoulder has been converted to a traffic lane, there is a whole system of inter-related features, working together to help drivers. They include clearly signed and orange-coloured emergency areas set back from the road to provide greater protection than a hard shoulder and with telephones linking directly to our control rooms.
Emergency areas are available for when a driver has no alternative but to stop and it has not been possible to leave the motorway or reach a motorway service area. They are approximately 100 meters long (the average length of a football pitch) by 4.6 meters wide and set back from the left-hand edge of the motorway.
A Smart Motorway Driver Education Course was designed and developed jointly between National Highways and Logistics UK specifically for the freight sector. Its core objective is to help improve drivers’ understanding of smart motorways and how to use them. It is available free of charge and is recognised by JAUPT (the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training) as part of professional drivers’ formal accreditation. Since its launch in 2018 it has been supplied to more than 150 organisations with almost 400 courses delivered to more than 2,800 delegates.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of aligning the UK's mobility scooter speed rules with those in the EU.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has not made an assessment of aligning the UK’s mobility scooter speed rules with those in the EU. The safety of all road users is a key priority for the Government. The current speed limit for mobility scooters is based on both safety and mobility considerations, balancing the interests of all road users.