Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of money spent from the public purse on transport per head of population in (a) Wales, (b) England and (c) Scotland.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Figures on public sector expenditure at a national level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics.
The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other government departments including devolved administrations.
Please note that much of the responsibility for transport in Wales and, in particular Scotland, is devolved to the Welsh and Scottish administrations. For example, responsibility for strategic roads and local roads in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government and Welsh local authorities respectively, who are therefore responsible for related funding decisions.
When comparing expenditure across regions a number of factors should be considered. For example, when expenditure is presented on a “per head of population” basis, it does not account for the pressure that large numbers of commuters and visitors from outside of a region can add to the transport networks. In addition, larger built-up areas tend to make greater use of mass public transport systems, and these will generate fares income which contributes to their operating costs.
Table 1: Public expenditure on all transport, by all public sector bodies in 2017-18 (£ per head of population)
(a) Wales | £410 |
(b) England | £475 |
(c) Scotland | £667 |
Source: Table A.15 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2018
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timescale is for tackling the issue of taxi drivers licensing in a local authority with less stringent standards to the local authority for their main area of trade.
Answered by George Freeman
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation.
The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to introduce minimum standards for taxis and private hire vehicles in England and Wales in accordance with the Government’s response to Report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing.
Answered by George Freeman
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation.
The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government’s response to the Report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licencing, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislation on restricting cross-border and out of area journeys by taxis.
Answered by George Freeman
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation.
The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his response to the September 2018 report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on restricting (a) cross-border and (b) out-of-area journeys by taxis.
Answered by George Freeman
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation.
The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his response to the September 2018 report of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on minimum standards for taxis and private hire vehicles.
Answered by George Freeman
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation.
The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps in the next 12 months to prevent taxi drivers obtaining a private hire licence in a local authority area with lower licensing standards compared with the local authority area in which they undertake the majority of their trade.
Answered by George Freeman
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are permitted to undertake pre-booked work outside of the area in which they are licensed. PHVs are subject to a triple licensing lock; the operator fulfilling the request, the driver and vehicle must all be licensed by the same authority. As set out in the Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing, which focused on the sector in England (as taxi and PHV policy is a devolved matter), the Government will consider how restrictions on out-of-area journeys might work in practice, with a view to legislation.
The Government response to the report stated that we will bring forward legislation, when time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum standards in taxi and PHV licensing. We encourage licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers to protect passengers.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of instances where a driver’s details have been released to a controlled third party by the DVLA in each year since 2010.
Answered by George Freeman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency routinely publishes information online on who it shares data with and the number of enquiries made. This is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/who-dvla-shares-data-with
The data is available from April 2015 and is updated every three months. Information from before April 2015 could only be provided at disproportionate cost as a scan of the relevant databases would be required to gather historic data.
The DVLA complies with all applicable data protection laws when processing personal information.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what level of funding his Department has allocated to contingency planning at the ports (a) Holyhead and (b) Pembroke Dock in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Contingency planning in relation to access to these Ports is a matter for the Welsh Government. However, the Department for Transport has provided analytical support, and along with Border Delivery Group and others, has liaised closely with the Welsh Government and the Wales Office on preparations.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of the investigations undertaken by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch since 2010 have involved people working under a zero hours contract.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The RAIB does not routinely record contractual terms as part of every investigation. RAIB investigations are guided by individual events, and their recommendations form part of a culture of learning and continuous improvement which has led to the UK having one of the best railway safety records in Europe.