Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour on buses.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The transport industry, local authorities, the police and others are already investing in and undertaking wide-ranging initiatives to improve the personal security of public transport passengers and staff and to keep our public transport systems as low crime environments.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current preparations for the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the road haulage sector.
Answered by Lord Grayling
The Department is undertaking a comprehensive and wide ranging programme of work to ensure we are prepared for numerous scenarios including, as a responsible Government, the UK leaving the EU without an agreement. The EU Commission has put forward a proposal on basic reciprocal market access for EU and UK hauliers which we have welcomed. If this was not secured then we are confident we would secure market access for hauliers through a combination of ECMT permits, bilateral agreements and unilateral arrangements. Such arrangements could also be used to supplement any EU-wide proposals on market access. We have also put in place plans on driver licensing, insurance, trailer registration and permit allocation to ensure UK hauliers can continue to operate in the event of a no deal.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the September 2018 report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and PHV Licensing; and whether he plans to bring forward primary legislation to implement that report’s recommendations.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Ministers are considering the recommendations made by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing. A Government response will be issued in due course.
Legislation to reform the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles will be brought forward if required.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the disruption caused by the Gatwick drone incident in December 2018.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Department for Transport has not made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the disruption caused by the Gatwick drone incident in December 2018.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his department has made of the cost to the public purse of creating a national database of all licensed taxi and PHV drivers, vehicles and operator, as recommended by the September 2018 report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Ministers are considering the recommendations made by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, including the establishment of a national licensing database. A Government response will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the deployment of hydrogen-powered trains in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department sets carbon trajectory targets in franchise agreements to encourage industry to deliver greener trains which could include hydrogen.
The Department has also challenged the Industry to report on the options for having no more diesel only trains on the rail network by 2040. The report is due to be published shortly and is likely to set out a number of alternatives including hydrogen.
With hydrogen being just one of a number of exciting technological opportunities for the future of the rail network, I welcome the work of Alstom and Eversholt Rail who have recently unveiled the design of a new hydrogen train for the UK market.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the proportion of journeys made by walking.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy of March 2017 sets out a range of aims and targets, including to increase walking activity and increase the percentage of 5-10 year olds walking to school. Almost £2 billion is projected to be invested over this parliament to 2021 to deliver increased levels of active travel, including through the Transforming Cities Fund and Local Growth Fund.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to ensure the maintenance of a skilled workforce in the rail industry after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Andrew Jones
On 6 December, Government and industry published the Rail Sector Deal to strengthen collaboration and improve the productivity of the sector. The Government will take steps to provide even greater certainty to the rail industry about the profile of future spending, to give enhanced confidence to the industry to invest in Research & Development, people and skills. The industry is committed to: refreshing the Rail Sector Skills Delivery Plan; running a pilot in the Midlands to encourage SMEs both to increase the uptake of apprenticeships in the rail industry and to test how shared apprenticeships can work; a schools engagement programme to better target the promotion and attraction that rail companies undertake; and conduct a feasibility study for a Digital Railway Academy. East Midlands Trains, part of the Stagecoach Group, has also become the first train operator to trial the UK’s first level 3 Train Driver Apprenticeship Programme as part of the National Driver Academy. This is a project which will recruit a new generation of drivers with the skills and management to provide passengers with better, more reliable journeys.
In 2016 DfT set ambitions through the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy to increase apprenticeships in road and rail bodies to help address skills shortages in the transport sector and ensure that the transport sector has the capacity and capability to deliver planned investment.
DfT works in collaboration with employers across the sector through an industry body, The Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT) to deliver these ambitions. Network Rail, HS2, the Rail Delivery Group, the National Skills Academy for Rail and TfL are members of STAT. So far, over 5000 apprenticeships have been created in road and rail bodies. Since 2017, The Department for Transport has used its procurement to drive apprenticeship numbers through contracts, including those within the rail industry.