Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to support the introduction of electric vehicle charging points at motorway service stations in the North of England.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In May 2020, the Government published a vision for the rapid chargepoint network in England. To deliver this vision, the Rapid Charging Fund has been established to future-proof electrical capacity at motorway and major A road service areas in England, including the North, to prepare the network for a fully electric car and van fleet.
The Government expects the private sector to deliver chargepoints where they are commercially viable, but will intervene where there is a clear market failure.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has for the regulation of electric motor bicycles and electric scooters on public land.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Transport Bill announced in the Queens Speech, offers an opportunity to set out a new, adaptable regulatory framework for small, light electric vehicles.
It is our intention that the Transport Bill will create a Low-Speed Zero Emission Vehicle category that is independent from the cycle and motor vehicle categories. New powers in the Bill would subsequently allow the Government to decide which vehicles will fall into this category, and how they should be regulated to ensure safe use.
No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters. We will consult before any new arrangements come into force, and all interested parties will have a chance to shape the new regime.
Electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs) are regulated for in the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983. The Department undertook a review of the case for amending the current speed and power restrictions of EAPCs as part of the Future of Transport Regulatory Review Call for Evidence published in 2020. Having considered the evidence carefully, the Department’s position is that the safety disbenefits of doing so would outweigh the potential benefits.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the validity of driving theory tests for people who cannot book practical tests as a result of slots being fully booked before their theory test runs out.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring now will have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, they have been unable to take lessons and practice for long periods of time, and not at all during recent lockdowns. It is difficult to maintain knowledge and understanding of driving theory at the level required during that time without being able to put it into practice. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the preparation of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Learners will therefore need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to issue guidance to enable parents to hand over children that live between two parents in separate countries in an airport before returning to their own country during covid-19 travel restrictions.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Guidance for parents escorting children for overseas travel from England during the national restrictions is published on GOV.UK, at: https://www.gov.uk/travel-abroad.
Further detail is also available under the ‘Reasonable excuses for travel abroad’ section of the following GOV.UK site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-declaration-form-for-international-travel
Guidance is also available on GOV.UK for those travelling into the UK: https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae
A parent accompanying a child to England who will immediately return to their country of original should review transit guidance published on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-travellers-exempt-from-uk-border-rules/coronavirus-covid-19-travellers-exempt-from-uk-border-rules#transiting-through-the-uk
Different international travel rules may apply in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and individuals should follow the guidance of the relevant Devolved Administration.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to enable parents whose children live in the UK and another country to see those children during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The government has put in place measures to reduce the impact of border measures on families. For arrivals who have not been in a red-list country in the previous 10 days children are required to self-isolate, however they can do so in the family home and may also move between family homes during that period of isolation.
For managed quarantine facilities, family groups will be able to quarantine together as long as the hotel is able to accommodate them. This includes couples and parents with children.
The Global Travel Taskforce recently reported on “the safe return of international travel” and we will implement its recommendations in a way that is based on science while supporting the economy and allowing families and friends to reunite.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many officials in (a) his private office and (b) the wider Department have been allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
a) No officials in the Secretary of State’s private office are allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media.
b) Resource within the wider department allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media equates to approximately 11.15 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) in 2018/19, 11.4 FTE in 2019/20, and 12.65 FTE in 2020/21.
This resource can be broken down across two main areas, the central Communications team and separate policy and HR teams.
The central Communications team create and promote departmental social media content managing several corporate social media channels as well as some behavioural change campaign channels. For example THINK!, the critical road safety campaign to help reduce deaths and serious injury on roads; and ‘It’s everyone’s journey’ championing equal access on public transport. The number of officials in the central team, working across a range of disciplines including media and digital, equates to approximately 7.15 FTE in 2018/19, 7.4 FTE in 2019/20, and 8.15 FTE in 2020/21
These people are not solely focussed on the production and promotion of online content for social media although it forms the majority of their role alongside channel management, brand and design, accessibility, insight and evaluation and wider social media support including training.
HR and some policy teams across the department also own and manage their own social media channels. The number of officials across HR and the different policy teams equates to approximately 4 FTE in 2018/19 and 2019/20 and 4.5 FTE in 2020/21.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's report Gear Change, a bold vision for cycling and walking, when he plans open applications for local authorities to bid for funding to become (a) mini-Hollands and (b) zero-emission cities.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Funding for, and announcements on, long-term commitments in Gear Change, including for 'mini-Hollands' and zero-emission cities, is subject to the forthcoming multi-year Spending Review, expected later this year. Decisions on how local authorities will be able to register interest in taking part in the selection process, and how the selection will be made, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his July 2020 report entitled Gear change: a bold vision for cycling and walking, what assessment he has made of the (a) minimum acceptable and (b) ideal width of a segregated cycle lane.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Alongside the Gear Change plan, the Department published updated cycle infrastructure design guidance for local authorities to improve the quality, accessibility and safety of local cycle infrastructure schemes. The updated guidance is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-infrastructure-design-ltn-120 and it includes detailed advice on both of these points.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report published by his Department in July 2020 entitled Gear Change, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to fund cycle hire schemes in cities outside London; and what steps his Department is taking to solve the last-mile problem to enable low-carbon multi-modal journeys.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On 28 July 2020 the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking. This included a £2 billion five-year package of funding for active travel, the bulk of which will go to local authorities across England to support schemes, including potentially cycle hire schemes, in their areas.
The Spending Review in November confirmed that £257 million of dedicated funding would be made available next financial year to support cycling and walking schemes. Further details about how this funding will allocated will be announced in due course. Decisions on how best to support low-carbon last-mile journeys in their areas are matters for local highway and planning authorities.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to ensure that Compulsory Basic Training certificates can be renewed or extended during the covid-19 national lockdown.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The two-year validity period of a compulsory basic training (CBT) certificate is set out in legislation. It is in place to ensure learner moped and motorcycle riders can ride safely on their own, with L-plates, while they practise for a full moped or motorcycle test. The Government has no plans, on road safety grounds, to waive that two-year validity period.