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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.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 18 Mar 2015
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

"In relation to the distributional analysis, is the hon. Gentleman concerned that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has quite clearly shown that the situation for families on the lowest incomes has worsened, and that the Equality Trust has said that £39 billion has been taken out of the economy as …..."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 01 Dec 2014
Road Investment Strategy

"I, too, welcome today’s announcement, but I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) in his hope that we can work towards an integrated transport strategy. Given that one in 12 deaths is linked to poor air quality in some areas, reducing the average …..."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Road Investment Strategy

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.


Written Question
Rolling Stock: Greater Manchester
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, what recent discussions he has had with train operating companies in Greater Manchester on last minute reductions in train configurations.

Answered by Stephen Hammond

The franchise agreement between the Government and each individual train operator includes benchmarks in key performance areas. The Department monitors each train operator's overall performance against these areas every four weeks and there are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement should performance drop below what is expected. This regular monitoring includes monthly meetings with their senior management where performance figures are scrutinised and challenged.

Short-forming (last minute reductions in train configurations) is included in this monitoring, and therefore in the monthly meetings. It is the train operator that decides on whether a service is to be short-formed, and if contractual benchmark figures are breached, the Department does take enforcement action.

Some services in Greater Manchester are sponsored and specified by Transport for Greater Manchester, who also monitor the performance of the operators concerned.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 May 2014
Oral Answers to Questions

"10. What steps he is taking to ensure adequate provision of rolling stock in the north of England...."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 08 May 2014
Oral Answers to Questions

"The daily commute of many of my Saddleworth constituents is akin to that of sardines travelling in a can. On top of that, we now know that some of Northern Rail’s diesel stock may be transferred to TransPennine Express to supplement the gap left by the TPE stock transfer to …..."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 29 Apr 2014
Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles

"I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. He is talking about passenger safety, but I wondered whether, in addition to the other issues with the Deregulation Bill, increased deregulation also creates issues for driver safety. In Oldham, there is big concern about that. There has been a spate …..."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 20 Mar 2014
Oral Answers to Questions

"3. What steps he is taking to encourage his ministerial colleagues to make Government amendments to legislation in the House rather than in the House of Lords...."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 20 Mar 2014
Oral Answers to Questions

"That is a disappointing response from the Minister. The Government are increasingly bypassing this Chamber by introducing Bills in skeleton form and then pushing them through the House of Lords. The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill left this Chamber 29 pages long, and ended up with more than 200 pages …..."
Debbie Abrahams - View Speech

View all Debbie Abrahams (Lab - Oldham East and Saddleworth) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions