Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 21 Mar 2022
P&O Ferries and Employment Rights
"My Garthamlock constituent Mark Stewart has gone from being a cadet to a chief officer on these vessels. Indeed, he, as a professional seafarer, has experience of working on vessels that are more than 20 years old. May I say to the Government, through my hon. Friend, that my constituent …..."David Linden - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 21 Mar 2022
P&O Ferries and Employment Rights
"Throughout the Brexit campaign we heard the Government talk about the importance of taking back control of our borders, our waters and our laws. Which part of the P&O debacle does my hon. Friend think shows that we are taking back control of our borders, our waters and our laws?..."David Linden - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 12th July 2021
Asked by:
David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question
to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his comments of 7 July 2021 on HGV driver shortages, if he will (a) make a statement on the steps his Department has taken to increase the number of driving tests available, (b) publish figures on the number of HGV driving tests carried out each year since 2016 and (c) publish the geographical distribution of those additional HGV driving tests by region.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is doing it all it can to increase the number of vocational tests available and has put in place a number of measures to do this. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing on public holidays and weekends. This has increased the overall number of vocational test slots made available to around 3,000 per week.
The DVSA will be launching a recruitment campaign to increase the number of HGV examiners. It will also continue its training programme to enable more examiners to conduct vocational tests.
The DVSA publish data for the number of large goods vehicle (LGV) practical driving tests and pass rates for each driving test centre on Gov.uk. DVSA continues to work with the driver training industry to understand demand, respond to geographical peaks.
Additional tests are added to each test centre as the resource becomes available and can vary on a daily basis. The number of tests conducted are published as Official Statistics.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 11 Mar 2021
Oral Answers to Questions
" We know that as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic, many driving students have had to double-pay fees for a driving test. When pressed on that, the Department said that the Road Traffic Act 1988 forbids refunds. Will the Secretary of State therefore support the private …..."David Linden - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Jan 2021
Covid-19: Extension of Driving Theory Test Certificates
"I want to start by thanking Mr Speaker for selecting this debate. This is an issue that adversely impacts tens of thousands of people right across the British Isles, and I know that the Minister will bear that in mind when she responds on behalf of the Government.
The covid-19 …..."David Linden - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Jan 2021
Covid-19: Extension of Driving Theory Test Certificates
"I have a huge amount of respect for the Minister, but she will be aware that it is possible for someone in this country to have taken a driving test, say, 20 years ago and never to have driven in that 20-year period, but they will still have a valid …..."David Linden - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Jan 2021
Covid-19: Extension of Driving Theory Test Certificates
"The Minister is being very kind in giving way once more. There is also this issue: if the Government are so insistent—as it sounds like they are today—on ensuring that people have to go back and resit an exam that they have already passed, will they at least waive the …..."David Linden - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 28 Jan 2021
Covid-19: Extension of Driving Theory Test Certificates
"If I understand things correctly, the Government are going to try to bring in other examiners. Given that this whole debate is about current knowledge, will the Minister clarify that the examiners who will be brought in will have their knowledge refreshed before they pass judgment on people?..."David Linden - View Speech
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Written Question
Monday 7th December 2020
Asked by:
David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question
to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the letter of 15 June 2020, reference DL6304, from the hon Member for Glasgow East.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department has no record of the correspondence being received. If copy can be provided a response will be prepared as a priority.
Written Question
Monday 15th June 2020
Asked by:
David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question
to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the letter of 30 April 2020 from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, ref DL5648.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
As you will understand, the Department is currently dealing with unprecedented volumes of correspondence due to COVID-19. The Department ensures that urgent cases raised by hon. Members are prioritised, and is taking steps to provide substantive responses in as short a time as possible.
All correspondence received from hon. Members is being reviewed and will be responded to as soon as possible.
A response to your letter of 30th April was sent on 11th June.