Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of land owned by Highways England is in Wales.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Highways England have identified four land registry titles that are registered to them and are located fully within Wales. They have also recorded five land registry titles that are registered to Highways England but span the Wales-England border. This represents approximately 0.02% of land that is registered to Highways England with the Land Registry.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for setting up a UK aviation safety agency in the event that the UK cannot remain part of the European Aviation Safety Agency after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Grayling
The Government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have been clear that the preference is to remain part of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). However, as a responsible regulator, the CAA continues to undertake a significant amount of preparatory work for all potential outcomes of the EU exit negotiations. This includes a scenario that would see the CAA taking on some of EASA’s current responsibilities to ensure continuity of safety regulation in the near term.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency was to issue driving licence forms in the Welsh language when such forms were requested in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) service standards are the same for both English and Welsh languages. All driving licence forms in either Welsh or English are available to order online via the GOV.UK website. The forms can also be ordered by telephoning the DVLA’s contact centre. Forms are issued within seven to 10 days of the DVLA receiving the request. The Welsh language version of the D1 driving licence application form is also available at some Post Offices in Wales.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training his Department has provided to (a) general civil servants, (b) fast stream civil servants and (c) senior civil servants on devolution and inter-governmental relations; how many such courses have taken place; and how many civil servants have attended such training courses in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
All civil servants at the Department for Transport are able to access online and face-to-face training on Devolution and Intergovernmental Working via the Civil Service Learning (CSL) portal.
i) The online Devolution & Intergovernmental Working module is for all new and existing civil servants, launched in November 2016. Through four online tutorials, video interviews with senior civil servants, and ‘take back to the office’ activities, it explains how the different governments operating in the UK work together, covering devolution settlements, decentralisation, City Deals and intergovernmental relations, as well as the ‘Devolution Memorandum of Understanding and Supplementary Agreements’.
| Online Devolution & Intergovernmental Working |
2016 | 2 |
2017 | 25 |
2018 | 13 |
Total | 40 |
ii) The half day face-to-face Devolution & Intergovernmental Working workshop is also available to all civil servants. Building on the above online module, delegates learn from experienced professionals who have worked on a range of devolution matters about topics such as confidentiality, when to seek legal advice and the boundaries of devolution, where reserved and devolved powers meet.
| Face-to-face Devolution & Intergovernmental Working |
2016 | 0 |
2017 | 1 |
2018 | 0 |
Total | 1 |
Both the online and face-to-face workshops are included in the recommended learning for all civil servants working in a role related to EU exit. The online learning is included in the new EU Essentials for Policy Professionals programme, for those new to policy making or the civil service; and the face-to-face workshop is included in the EU Policy Practitioner Programme for those with more policy experience. These programmes were launched in April 2018.
iii) Also available to civil servants are the EU exit: devolution settlements and intergovernmental working events. Delegates hear the views of Permanent Secretaries, and other senior civil servants from the devolved administrations and territorial offices, on intergovernmental relations within the current political climate.
Fast Streamers at DfT are included in the central learning offer for the Fast Stream programme. Introduced in 2017 as part of Fast Stream policy learning, delegates take part in a Devolution workshop, which all brand new entrant centrally managed Fast Streamers attend as part of their Induction offer.
Fast Streamers are also required to complete the online 'Devolution and Intergovernmental Working' e-learning product as mandatory e-learning within their first year on the Fast Stream programme.
For the SCS, each nation of the UK leads and hosts an annual SCS conference to learn from each other and build networks across the Policy Profession. These have been held on 28/29 April 2016 in Cardiff, 20/21 April 2017 in Belfast (this included Irish Government Civil Servants too) and 26/27 April 2018 in Edinburgh. It will be for England to host in 2019.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Department for Transport and its Agencies, with the exception of the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), have published Welsh Language Schemes which include a commitment to reply with a signed letter in Welsh when someone writes to us in Welsh. The target times for replying to letters in Welsh are the same as for those in English.
The VCA translates information for the New Car Fuel Consumption and CO2 guide from English into Welsh using a suitably qualified third party supplier each year. Should the VCA receive any correspondence in Welsh from an MP or member of the public a translation would be arranged and the MP would receive copies of the response in both Welsh and English.
The Department for Transport uses the Crown Commercial Services translation framework to arrange translations.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency uses the Welsh Language Unit to arrange translations.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency engages the services of a specialist external service provider for translation services.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency uses a variety of external providers for translation services, depending on the size and nature of the task, and can also use cross-government frameworks.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department plans to spend on projects relating to the UK leaving the EU in the next five years; and if he will list the projects to which that funding has been assigned.
Answered by Lord Grayling
HM Treasury has already allocated departments nearly £700 million to prepare for Brexit: £412m for DIT, FCO and DExEU over the parliament at Autumn Statement 2016 and nearly £300m across a number of departments from the Reserve in 17/18 – The Department for Transport received £5.6m of this funding.
At Autumn Budget 2017 HM Treasury made another £3bn of additional funding available over 18/19 and 19/20 – £1.5bn in each year. We are currently working with HM Treasury to determine our allocation for 18/19 with the aim to agree this soon.
Departmental allocations for 19/20 will be agreed later on in the year and decisions on funding in 20/21 and beyond will be decided at the next Spending Review. This is because requirements in these years will be heavily affected by what is agreed in our negotiations with the EU.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made by the DVSA on complying with the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Welsh language standards.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
On 10 January 2018, the Welsh Language Commissioner approved the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s new Welsh Language Scheme.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the availability of Welsh language provision during the new sat nav element of the driving test.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes its responsibilities under the Welsh Language Act seriously, and considered the provisions of the Welsh Language Act 1993 when reviewing the changes to the car practical driving test.
Currently, while the theory test can be conducted in Welsh, there is no satnav manufacturer who offers an instruction in Welsh; as a result we cannot include a Welsh speaking facility on the satnav.
The Welsh Government has not raised any concerns, and the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Office has confirmed it is content with the DVSA’s approach of the use of the sat nav.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether people taking their driving test are advised in advance that the sat nav element of that test is not available in the Welsh language; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes its responsibilities under the Welsh Language Act seriously, and considered carefully the provisions of the Act when reviewing the changes to the car practical driving test.
The driving examiner does not decide until the test begins which form of independent driving, which may or may not itself include a satnav element, will be delivered.
Currently, the test candidate is not informed prior to the test that the sat nav element is not available in the Welsh language. There is no satnav manufacturer that offers an instruction in Welsh. As a result, the DVSA cannot include a Welsh speaking facility on the satnav. The driving test confirmation letter will shortly be amended to inform the test candidate prior to the test that the satnav element is not available in the Welsh language.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to review the driving test after the UK leaves the EU and is no longer subject to the European Driving Licence Directive.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
This country has an excellent national road safety record and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) regularly reviews the delivery of the driving test to ensure the test is relevant and appropriate to real life driving on Great Britain’s roads, irrespective of our membership of the EU.