Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the DVLA holds data on the number of enquiries submitted by hon. Members during the month of January 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received 413 items of written correspondence from hon. and Rt hon. members in January 2023 and 396 in February 2023.
The DVLA also has a dedicated telephone service for MPs and this service received 100 calls in January and 91 in February.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many enquiries were submitted to the DVLA by Rt hon. and hon. Members in February 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received 413 items of written correspondence from hon. and Rt hon. members in January 2023 and 396 in February 2023.
The DVLA also has a dedicated telephone service for MPs and this service received 100 calls in January and 91 in February.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received representations on services at Altnabreac railway station from Network Rail.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Altnabreac railway station is managed by ScotRail. As ScotRail is a devolved operator, the Department would expect any Network Rail representations regarding services here to be made to the Scottish Government’s transport agency, Transport Scotland.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to sell land brought by HS2 Ltd which is no longer required following the cancellation of phase 2 of HS2.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Any land and property that is no longer required will be sold, and a programme is being developed to do this.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with railway station operators on parking charges at railways stations; and whether he plans to take steps to encourage railway station operators to reduce parking charges.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Charging for car parking is a commercial decision for Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and Network Rail, and TOCs are responsible for considering the equalities impacts of operational changes on issues such as this. The Rail Delivery Group published the Station Car Parking Good Practice Guide for Train Operators in 2018, which sets out that station operators should consider each station’s needs and customer base when making decisions on charging at the car parks they manage.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with (a) Network Rail and (b) train operators to help support the use of public pianos within railway stations.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Where stations are owned by Train Operating Companies, the installation of public pianos are a matter for the operator. Network Rail is supportive of the use of pianos at its stations, subject to any local safety and security issues being addressed and ultimately signed off by their station teams.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had recent discussions with the West Midlands Combined Authority on their proposals to extend the Midlands Metro to the Borough of Solihull.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
As part of Network North, the Government announced indicative funding allocations for the second round of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements covering 2027/28 - 2031/32. West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has an indicative allocation of £2.648 billion for this period, which includes an uplift worth over £1 billion.
CRSTS provides eligible mayoral combined authorities with considerable opportunities to deliver transformative local transport projects based on local priorities. West Midlands Combined Authority could choose to use CRSTS funding for mass transit in East Birmingham and Solihull.
The Department for Transport is in regular discussions with WMCA regarding delivery of their CRSTS programme.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held discussions with the insurance industry on taking steps to help reduce motor insurance costs for young drivers in the context of increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
My officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry and discuss issues as they arise. However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
That said, analysis suggests that leaving the EU and removing the impacts of the Vnuk decision from UK law, is likely to have saved motorcar policyholders an increase of around £50 in their premiums.
The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Civil Aviation Authority spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Civil Aviation Authority is not able to disaggregate fully the total amount spent on equality and diversity training in 2022-23.
It has identified £8,350 in specific expenditure on equality and diversity training. Any additional spend that may have been made on such training during that period would be included in the aggregate Corporate Training budget, which covers a wide range of training activities and had a total spend of £239,364
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Crossrail International spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Nothing.