Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) bus and (b) light rail services in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
On 23 May, the Government announced a further £283 million to help protect and increase bus and light rail services as we begin to restart our economy.
As part of the ‘Better Deal for Bus Users’ package £30 million of additional funding is also being provided to local authorities to improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed.
The Department will continue to work with both sectors to understand how services can adapt to any ‘new normal’ that emerges from the Covid-19 outbreak so that a sustainable long-term recovery can be made.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to use new technological solutions to improve the running of the railways.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Research, development and innovation to improve the running of the railway is primarily the responsibility of the rail industry. The cross-industry Executive Technical Leadership Group is chaired by Network Rail, and owns the current Rail Technical Strategy, which sets out a vision for rail and how technology can help meet the objectives of cutting carbon, reducing cost, increasing capacity and improving the customer experience. The strategy is currently being revised.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to (a) Stoke-on-Trent City Council and (b) Staffordshire County Council to increase the availability of road space for cycling.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
On the 29th May, indicative allocations to local authorities from the Emergency Active Travel Fund were published on gov.uk. The indicative allocation for Stoke-on-Trent City Council was £842,000 and for Staffordshire County Council £1,832,000. The Department will confirm allocations from tranche 1 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund as soon as possible, and will invite bids from authorities for tranche 2 of the fund shortly. Before receiving any funding, authorities must submit satisfactory plans to the Department, and the amount each authority receives will depend on it satisfying the Department that it has ambitious plans in place to reallocate road space to cyclists and pedestrians.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to enable (a) bus drivers and (b) lorry drivers to renew their expiring driving licences during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
To keep bus and lorry drivers on the road, the Government has made temporary provisions to remove the requirement to submit a medical report when applying to renew a bus or lorry driving licence until further notice. Provided they have no notifiable medical conditions, drivers will be issued a licence that is valid for one year instead of the usual five. This only applies if the licence expired after 1 January 2020 or is due to expire.
As is always the case, drivers must ensure they are medically fit to drive and they are legally obliged to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of the onset or worsening of any medical condition.