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Written Question
Speed Limits: Cameras
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to recommendation seven of the report entitled Roads Policing: Not optional - An inspection of roads policing in England and Wales by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services published in May 2020, what recent progress her Department has made with Cabinet colleagues on reviewing Circular 01/2007 on Use of speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing; and when he plans to publish the review.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department is currently preparing a revised draft of the circular in light of feedback from a range of key stakeholders, including local government and police force representatives, as to what the guidance should contain. We plan to further engage with interested parties on this revision, with a view to publishing in due course.


Written Question
Roads: Safety
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to respond to its consultation entitled, Roads policing review: future methods to improve safety and reduce casualties, which closed on 5 October 2020.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The call for evidence to which is referred saw 149 responses submitted, many of which were incredibly detailed. The Government intends to publish the response shortly, once it has given the responses full consideration.


Written Question
Motor Vehicles: Noise
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide an update on the noise camera trials announced in October 2022.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Roadside trials of noise camera technology commenced on 18 October 2022 and finished on 1 February 2023. The Department is reviewing the trial outcomes before considering next steps.


Written Question
Transport: Project Bank Accounts
Tuesday 17th May 2022

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's position is on the use of Project Bank Accounts throughout the supply chain, including for Tier Two and Tier Three contractors, for transport-related construction and infrastructure projects.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

DfT, including its Arm’s Length Bodies, follow the principles of the Construction Playbook which sets out options to mitigate the risk of potential supplier insolvency, one of these options is the use of Project Bank Accounts.


Written Question
High Speed 2 Line: Project Bank Accounts
Tuesday 17th May 2022

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with HS2 on the use of Project Bank Accounts throughout their supply chain following the insolvency of HS2 contractor Roadbridge.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

DfT, including its Arm’s Length Bodies, follow the principles of the Construction Playbook which sets out options to mitigate the risk of potential supplier insolvency, one of these options is the use of Project Bank Accounts.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Bank Services
Tuesday 18th May 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information he holds on the use of Project Bank Accounts by (a) his Department, (b) Government agencies his Department has responsibility for and (c) non-departmental bodies his Department has responsibility for.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Project Bank Accounts are used to ensure fair payment terms on Government construction contracts. As these are specific to construction projects, they are not used by the Department for Transport nor its Agencies. However, the Department’s large non-departmental bodies engaged in construction works do use them to improve cash flow, mitigate risk of payment delay and to reduce the risk of supply chain failure. Use of these provide transparency and assurance over payments to suppliers lower down the supply chain in particular.


Written Question
Blue Badge Scheme
Monday 27th June 2016

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discretion is available to local authorities to grant blue badges to disabled people who are in receipt of the enhanced mobility rate of personal independence payment other than through the moving around criteria; and what steps he has taken to monitor local authorities in their exercise of that discretion.

Answered by Andrew Jones

It is set out in the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended), that to qualify for a badge via a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award the applicant must score at least 8 points in the “moving around” activity of the mobility component. There is no discretion for local authorities to issue badges for other PIP awards.

However, where a person fails to qualify for a badge through PIP, they may still apply to their local authority for a badge under the other eligibility criteria; these include any permanent and substantial disabilities (including non-physical disabilities) which cause very considerable difficulty in walking.


Written Question
Blue Badge Scheme
Monday 27th June 2016

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an impact assessment of the potential effects of the provisions of his Department's Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England), published in October 2014, on people with autism, mental ill health and learning disabilities.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Department’s Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England) is non-statutory and non-binding. We therefore have no plans to commission an impact assessment. It is the statutory regulations – the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 – which local authorities are obliged to follow.


Written Question
Blue Badge Scheme
Monday 27th June 2016

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities that charge to issue blue badges to disabled people.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended) permit a local authority to charge up to £10 for the issue of a disabled person's badge. This contributes towards the administration and assessment of the application and the provision of the badge. In return the badge holder receives a package of parking concessions, including free parking in many cases, for up to 3 years. No estimate of the number of local authorities who choose to apply the charge has been made.


Written Question
Greenfield Station
Tuesday 10th June 2014

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers used Greenfield station in Greater Manchester in each year since 2010.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

Estimates of the number of passengers using each station on the rail network are published on the Office of Rail Regulation's website at the following link:

http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

The methodology for this data set has changed over time as improvements have been made, so the estimates from different years may not have been produced on a consistent basis. Details of the methodology changes made each year can be found in the accompanying reports.