Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that guide dog owners are not unlawfully refused access to taxis and minicabs.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is unacceptable that some taxi and PHV drivers refuse assistance dogs carriage.
In December 2020, we launched a package of disability equality training to improve the transport sector’s confidence and skills in delivering inclusive journeys for disabled passengers.
The Government also remains committed to introducing mandatory disability awareness training for taxi and PHV drivers through new National Minimum Standards for licensing authorities when Parliamentary time allows.
On 28 March we published for consultation updated best practice guidance for local licensing authorities including a strong recommendation that taxi and PHV drivers are required to complete disability awareness training.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to speed up the HGV driver testing process to reduce the time period between a person seeking work as a HGV driver and qualifying.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Drivers must pass all four parts of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) tests to be issued with their Driver Qualification Card (DQC). There are no minimum waiting periods between each module. Most drivers take Module 1 (theory and hazard perception) and module 2 (case studies) together, complete their module 3 (practical test), and then take their module 4 (practical demonstration test) which can be completed with their training school.
Once module 4 is passed, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) send data to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) overnight. The DVLA target is to dispatch these cards one day after receiving the data. There are no delays to this service or in issuing the DQC which the driver should have within a week of passing their module 4 test. A driver can begin work as soon as they have their DQC card.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his oral contribution of 16 December 2021, Official Report, column 1138, when he plans to return to the House to provide additional information to operators on the bus recovery grant.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Bus Recovery Grant will provide £226.5m in support for operators and Local Transport Authorities until April 2022. The Department is consulting with the sector on its needs once the scheme ends, and the potential merits of providing further support.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on bus users of the expiration of emergency covid-19 funding for bus services.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has provided unprecedented levels of financial support to the bus sector during the pandemic. Through the Coronavirus Bus Service Support Grant, over £1.5 billion in emergency funding has been provided to operators and Local Transport Authorities. Since September 2021, an additional £226.5 million has been made available to the sector through the Bus Recovery Grant.
Together, this funding has played an important role in ensuring those who need to travel by bus have been able to do so. The Department is committed to seeing the sector return to financial sustainability, but recognises the ongoing challenges faced to maintain services.
The Department is working with the sector to understand the implications of recovery funding ending, including the effect this would have on service levels and passengers.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to improve enforcement of noise limit regulations for vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
On 2nd August, the Department published the results of research into enforcement of vehicle noise requirements using acoustic cameras. This research has shown that the technology has the potential to be used for enforcement, but that there are still difficulties in accurately measuring noise from individual vehicles in busier traffic conditions.
The Department intends to conduct further research into the use of acoustic cameras with the aim of enabling the wider use of the technology for the enforcement of vehicle noise requirements.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated from the £226.5 million covid-19 bus operator recovery grant (a) to each combined authority area and (b) in total from the commencement of that grant until 1 September 2021.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Bus Recovery Grant will support Local Transport Authorities and commercial operators to deliver bus services until the end of the current financial year. Allocations for each local authority will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to promote the climate advantages of public transport during COP26.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
A multifaceted transport plan is being developed to support the delegate experience at COP26 with public transport being a key element of the plan. The plan will encourage delegates, media, and civil society travelling to COP26 to consider low-carbon travel options such as rail as a way of entering the UK.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) advice he has issued to train companies on reducing station taxi rank fees for taxi and private hire vehicles during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department has received correspondence from a number of train operating companies on reducing station taxi rank fees for taxi and private hire vehicles during the covid-19 outbreak. As the majority of drivers are self-employed, they are already largely eligible for the Government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (equivalent to the furlough scheme for salaried employees), as well as other Government sources of funding potentially, such as the deferral of VAT.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of train companies maintaining taxi rank fees at stations during the covid-19 outbreak on on the income of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department has made no assessment of the effect of train companies maintaining taxi rank fees at stations during the covid-19 outbreak on the income of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to bring forward secondary legislation to require bus operators to provide accessible information to passengers in (a) audible and (b) visible formats on bus services in England, Scotland and Wales, as set out in section 17 of the Bus Services Act 2017.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
We want disabled people to travel independently and with confidence. It is important to have enough information when travelling on buses for that to become the reality.
In 2018 we consulted on Accessible Information Regulations with plans to require the provision of accessible on-board information on local bus services throughout Great Britain.
We continue to consider the implementation options informed by the feedback received and will publish the response in due course.
In the meantime, we are supporting smaller operators to provide audible and visual information with £2 million of targeted funding.