Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential economic benefits of dualling the A16 and A17.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The A16 and A17 are the responsibility of local highway authorities – Lincolnshire County Council through South Holland and the Deepings, and neighbouring authorities where they run beyond the county council’s boundary. It is for those authorities to assess the benefits of improvements to areas of their networks, and to seek funding, if required.
Almost £20 million from the Levelling Up Fund has been allocated to improve the A16 corridor between Boston and Spalding, improving transport links for the food growth sector.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of electric vehicle charging points located in rural areas.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As of 1st April 2023, the proportion of charging devices and sockets located in rural areas in England was approximately 26%.
| Rural | Total |
Public Charging Devices | 5,700 | 34,203 |
Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) | 9,844 | 34,556 |
Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant (EVCG) | 354 | 1,615 |
Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) | 78,393 | 292,354 |
Domestic Recharging Scheme (DRS) | 10,546 | 35,187 |
This data represents those charging points paid for under government schemes, or recorded on Zapmaps, and likely underestimates the total amount of chargers.
Today, the majority of electric car charging happens at home and the Government expects home charging will remain central to the future charging behaviour of drivers. The full number of home chargers is not recorded.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on stopping people using false identities to take driving tests.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to increase driving test availability by recruiting more examiners, particularly at test centres that serve rural communities, such as Boston and Peterborough.
Since April 2021, the DVSA’s recovery measures, which include conducting out-of-hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and asking recently retired driving examiners to return, have created over one million extra car test appointments. On average, this has created approximately 40,000 extra car test appointments each month.
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the DVSA has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for drivers in rural areas to take practical tests.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to increase driving test availability by recruiting more examiners, particularly at test centres that serve rural communities, such as Boston and Peterborough.
Since April 2021, the DVSA’s recovery measures, which include conducting out-of-hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and asking recently retired driving examiners to return, have created over one million extra car test appointments. On average, this has created approximately 40,000 extra car test appointments each month.
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the DVSA has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rural bus services in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We recognise that the bus sector, particularly in rural areas, continues to face a number of ongoing challenges. That is why we have announced a long-term approach to support and improve bus services with an additional £300m to support services from July 2023 until April 2025. All local transport authorities have completed and published Bus Service Improvement Plans, determining what the needs of their rural residents are and how to best meet these.
Lincolnshire County Council has been awarded £2,120,280 under Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) in 23/24 and has been allocated a total of £1,606,568 in emergency and recovery funding since March 2020 to help maintain bus services.
Additionally, Lincolnshire County Council receives £535,302 every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to subsidise bus services.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department reviewed international comparisons when assessing the potential impact of closing railway station ticket offices.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As this is an industry-led process, and it would be for individual operators to undertake the relevant analysis as part of overall assessments.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on fixing potholes in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Local highway authorities, including Lincolnshire County Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. Local highway authorities do not routinely inform the Department of their spend on pothole repairs.
During the past five financial years the Department has provided over £207 million to Lincolnshire County Council for highway maintenance, including pothole repair. Note that local authorities are also able to use other funding streams, in addition, for highway maintenance.
Year | Highways Maintenance Block £m | Pothole Action Fund £m | Pothole Fund £m | Total £m |
2019/20 | 30.952 | 1.642 |
| 32.594 |
2020/21 | 30.952 | 1.608 | 19.301 | 51.861 |
2021/22 | 21.513 |
| 17.210 | 38.723 |
2022/23 | 21.513 |
| 17.210 | 38.723 |
2023/24 | 28.397 |
| 17.210 | 45.607 |
Total | 133.327 | 3.250 | 70.931 | 207.508 |
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds searchable IT archives (a) of Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to EU origin.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Regulatory Impact Assessments are the responsibility of the Better Regulation Executive in the Department for Business and Trade. However, the Better Regulation Executive do not hold information relating to the impacts of EU-sourced regulations.
Retained EU laws are currently being reviewed by each Department to consider whether it should be removed, kept or reformed.
The Department for Transport’s Better Regulation Unit records all Regulatory Impact Assessments conducted by the Department. This includes a breakdown of those Regulatory Impact Assessments that implement domestic policy, as well as international and European obligations.
The Department for Transport does not hold searchable archives relating to employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to EU origin.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to invest in rail infrastructure in Lincolnshire
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Investment will see us continue to support ambitious and transformative growth plans for our railways, particularly in the North and Midlands. The way people use the railway is changing and we are investing to make sure it supports passengers, freight and the economy for the future.
The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) commits to upgrading and improving line speeds and capacity on the East Coast Main Line, which will have benefits to services to Lincoln. We have provided Network Rail with early-stage development funding to begin consideration of how these ambitious route-wide plans can be delivered as efficiently as possible.
This IRP activity will build upon the £1.2 billion East Coast Enhancements Programme – a collection of infrastructure upgrades across the route, helping to deliver journey time, reliability and capacity improvements.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people were employed by his Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport employed 11.2 full-time employees in 2022 to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity, and 10.5 full-time employees in 2021.
Five of these employees work on inclusive travel and equalities in travel, for example in ensuring there is access for disabled people and those who share protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010.