To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund
Tuesday 20th February 2024

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 6204, what his planned timetable is for the 2024 review of the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund progress tracking takes place regularly. This includes reporting from local authorities who receive LEVI funding, which they are required to provide to the Department.

Alongside this regular monitoring, the first evaluation activities relating to the LEVI Fund commenced in late 2023, in the form of engagement with Capital Fund applicants. Upcoming evaluation activities include interviews with stakeholders and a follow up survey with Capital Fund applicants, Pilot and Capability Fund recipients. A final report later this year will summarise findings and will be published in accordance with the GSR Publication Protocol.


Written Question
Driving Licences
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the waiting time is for replacement driving licences.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The average waiting time to process digital applications is typically around one day, if the transaction is successful, and casework or medical enquiries are not required. The average waiting time to process a straightforward paper application is around a week. For example, in December 2023, a replacement driving licence was issued within five working days.

Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, for example doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a decision can be made on whether to issue a licence.

It is important to note that the majority of applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they have not been told not to drive by a doctor or optician.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicles: Fuels
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is to respond to his Department's consultation on Increasing the weight limit for fuel tankers.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is working to publish its response to the consultation on increasing the weight limit for fuel tankers. After the consultation closed, officials undertook further evidence gathering activities to better inform the response. This has led to some delays. Work is well-advanced and the intention is to publish the response before the Easter recess.


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Infrastructure
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's timetable is for making an assessment of the extent to which the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund has achieved its funding objectives.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund has plans in place to track progress and ensure that the Fund is achieving its objectives, both during delivery and after completion of the programme. Local authorities that receive funding from the LEVI Fund are required to provide quarterly progress reporting. Two evaluations of the fund are also planned to assess whether it has achieved its funding objectives. One will take place in 2024, with the second expected to take place later in the decade, once the majority of local authorities have completed their projects.


Written Question
Driving: Health
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of drivers who were advised that they had a medical condition that affects their ability to drive safely about which they should notify the DVLA who did not notify the DVLA in each year since 2020.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is unaware of the number of medical conditions it ought to be notified about but have not been notified of. This is because we are not notified of them.

In terms of notifications relating to this matter, the Department received the following numbers. However, it is not possible to say whether they came from drivers or medical professionals without incurring disproportionate cost in answering this question:

Year

Number of notifications

2020

91,560

2021

106,433

2022

118,695

2023 (to 11 December 2023)

136,884


Written Question
Driving: Health
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many notifications of any injury or illness that would have a likely impact on safe driving ability the DVLA has received from (a) doctors, (b) other healthcare professionals and (c) drivers in each year since 2020.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is unaware of the number of medical conditions it ought to be notified about but have not been notified of. This is because we are not notified of them.

In terms of notifications relating to this matter, the Department received the following numbers. However, it is not possible to say whether they came from drivers or medical professionals without incurring disproportionate cost in answering this question:

Year

Number of notifications

2020

91,560

2021

106,433

2022

118,695

2023 (to 11 December 2023)

136,884


Written Question
Road Traffic: Finance
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department (a) has provided to local authorities to help reduce congestion on local roads in each of the last two years and (b) plans to provide to local authorities for this purpose in each of the next five years.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

During the financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24 the Department has provided a total of over £2.1 billion of highway maintenance support to local authorities through the Highways Maintenance Block, Potholes Fund, and the additional funding from the Network North announcement. It has also provided £340 million for small scale transport improvements through the Integrated Transport Block to eligible local authorities. All of this will help enable smoother, safer journeys. In addition to this, Combined Authorities receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements receive a settlement that incorporates funding for similar improvements in their areas. The Department is also providing £70 million in 2023/24 for a new traffic signals upgrade programme, which will help traffic flow more freely.

As for future years, the Department has already announced an £8.3 billion uplift for local highway maintenance over the years 2023/24 to 2033/34 as part of the Network North programme. Further details of this are available on gov.uk. In 2024/25 the Department will provide £1.065bn of Highways Maintenance Block and £170 million of Integrated Transport Block funding to eligible local authorities. The profiling of funding in the years beyond 2024/25 will be subject to a future Spending Review.

The Department has also supported various local road schemes across the country through the Major Road Network and Large Local Major programmes, the details of which are available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/network-north.


Written Question
Driving: Health
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of vehicle collisions which resulted in an injury that were (a) caused and (b) partly caused by a medical episode experienced by a driver.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

DfT reported road casualty statistics reports numbers of personal injury road traffic collisions in Great Britain that were reported to the police using the STATS19 reporting system.

STATS19 does not record the causes of collisions. However, attending police officers can record up to six factors that they believe contributed to collisions as part of the STATS19 dataset. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the collision before allocating factors, usually using professional judgement about what they can see at the scene.

In 2022, there were 1,930 road collisions for which police assigned ‘Illness or disability, mental or physical’ of a driver or rider as a contributory factor towards the collision.

This contributory factor ‘Illness or disability, mental or physical’ is defined as a driver or rider either suddenly overcome by illness (e.g., fit or blackout) or generally affected by illness (e.g., cold or flu), or suffering from a permanent disability, which contributed to the collision. This also includes where a driver or rider sneezing or coughing contributes to the collision, as well as poor mental health (e.g., depression).


Written Question
Avanti West Coast: Contracts
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 26 October 2023 to Question 204030 on Avanti West Coast: Contracts, what the (a) time constraints and (b) market conditions were that meant open competition for the contract was considered unviable.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

A competition for a contract of this nature can take 2 to 3 years once a contract and procurement process has been agreed.

When emergency agreements ended there was significant market instability arising from the ongoing impacts of covid and industrial action, meaning a competitive tender was unlikely to deliver value for money. When options for West Coast Partnership’s latest contract were considered, these factors informed the decision to make a direct award rather than compete.


Written Question
Avanti West Coast: Contracts
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's News story of 19 September 2023 entitled Avanti West Coast awarded long-term contract after significant improvements for passengers, whether there was a (a) requirement to award and (b) formal tender process for that contract.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

When considering its available options, the Department assessed these against the relevant criteria. Open competition was considered but was unviable due to time available and market conditions, and it would not have been possible to deliver a contract which represented value for money for the taxpayer. A direct award was considered the appropriate course of action. It is the Government’s intention to return to competition as soon as it is feasible to do so.