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Written Question
Travel: Concessions
Monday 28th October 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of extending the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme to peak-time travel.

Answered by George Freeman

No estimate has been made of the cost of extending the statutory English National Concessionary Travel Scheme to include pre-9.30am travel.

Concessionary travel legislation gives all local authorities in England the power to introduce local concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, including free or discounted travel before 9.30am.

This is the most commonly offered local concession – 69 of the 89 Travel Concession Authorities in England (outside London) offered free or discounted travel before 9.30am to pass holders in 2018/19.


Written Question
Vehicle Number Plates: Fraud
Monday 30th September 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle number plate cloning.

Answered by George Freeman

The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It is a legal requirement for suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that number plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied.

The DVLA visits number plate suppliers to monitor compliance with the legal requirements and works closely with the police and trading standards to share intelligence and support investigations and prosecutions of suppliers who do not comply.

Anyone who suspects that their number plate has been cloned should report this to the police, who are responsible for on road enforcement. Any fines or correspondence received for offences which have not been committed should be returned to the issuing authorities for investigation. Vehicle keepers can also contact the DVLA, to request issuing a new registration number for a vehicle where necessary.


Written Question
Luton Station: Access
Monday 22nd July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to improve accessibility at Luton station.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

Luton is one of the 73 stations announced in April that will benefit from the £300 million Access for All funding available over the next 5 years. The Access for All programme delivers a step free, accessible route into the station and to and between each platform.

Network Rail are working with Luton Borough Council to try to ensure that the Council’s proposals for a wider redevelopment of the station are integrated and allow the Access for All phase of development to commence as soon as possible.


Written Question
Railways: Electrification
Monday 15th July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of rail passenger journeys take place (a) wholly and (b) for at least 50 per cent of the journey by distance on electrified sections of the railway network in Great Britain.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The Office of Rail and Road publishes data on electrified rail routes in Great Britain. However, this includes routes open to passengers and freight and does not contain a breakdown for passengers only.

The length of network rail operated electrified route in Great Britain was 3,583 miles in 2017-18. This represents 36% of the total mainline railway route.

This data is available at the following link:

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/c35e0c28-324f-4168-81b9-be197963f251


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Charging Points
Monday 15th July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many publicly available charge-points for electric vehicles there were in (a) Luton, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) the East of England in each year since 2010.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The Government does not have figures on the total number of publicly available electric vehicle chargepoints. Members of the public and businesses are able to install chargepoints without government support, and information on these are not routinely collected. As at 10th July 2019 the private sector charging point platform Zap-map reported that there are 1,607 in the East of England. Figures for Luton and Bedfordshire are not currently available.


Written Question
Driving Offences: British Nationals Abroad
Monday 15th July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department plans to provide to UK nationals accused of (a) driving offences and (b) exceeding the speed limit when driving their UK-registered vehicle in the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Answered by Chris Grayling

All UK nationals must be aware and obey the local traffic laws of the country they are in when driving abroad. Information is available on www.gov.uk which we would urge drivers to read before they travel. If unsure, drivers can also refer to other sites or seek information from recognised driving associations or automobile clubs. The need to be aware and abide with the laws of another country is unaffected by any arrangements to leave the EU.

The Government does not currently provide legal support or advice to UK nationals accused of a traffic offence abroad and there are no plans to provide legal support or advice in the future.


Written Question
Railways: Luton
Friday 5th July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure a greater number of northbound East Midlands Railway trains stop at (a) Luton and (b) Luton Airport Parkway stations under the new franchise.

Answered by Andrew Jones

As detailed in the East Midlands franchise announcement on 10 April, a new express service will operate between London and Corby. This will provide two trains per hour northbound calling at Luton Airport, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough and Kettering. The current East Midlands timetable provides one direct train per hour northbound to both Luton and Luton Airport.These modern express trains will also deliver more seats for the passengers on this route.


Written Question
Railways: Luton
Thursday 4th July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with East Midlands Trains on northbound services that fail to stop at (a) Luton and (b) Luton Airport Parkway under the existing timetable.

Answered by Andrew Jones

Trains continue to call at Luton Airport Parkway in the peaks. The Department attends monthly Industry forums which discuss the future timetable development of passengers services on the Midlands Main Line, and the expected reinstatement of East Midlands peak service calls at Luton and Bedford.


Written Question
East-West Rail Link
Monday 1st July 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the level of greenhouse gas emissions of the decision to exclude electrification from the scope of the Western Phase of the East West Rail project.

Answered by Andrew Jones

The publicly available Environmental Statement which was prepared as part of the TWAO for the Western Section, includes a robust assessment of emissions from diesel trains during the operation of the Order Scheme, as well as construction and operational road traffic emissions.

Passive provision for electrification is being provided in the construction of the Western Section allowing electrification to be implemented in the future should it represent good value for money.

The East West Railway Company is continuing to work with government and other agencies to explore options for a local natural capital plan for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc as a whole, and to support the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan.


Written Question
Tyres: Safety
Thursday 20th June 2019

Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the re-sale of illegal second-hand automobile tyres; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Michael Ellis

The Government is committed to improving road safety, and ensuring the ongoing compliance of vehicles with safety regulations is important to reducing collisions and casualties.

The sale of part worn tyres is regulated by the Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994. Trading Standards has responsibility for enforcing these regulations and upon successful prosecution for failure to comply with the requirements, magistrates’ courts can impose penalties of up to 6-months imprisonment or an unlimited fine in England and Wales (or up to £5000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland).