Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to help increase the number of people working in the HGV sector.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has put in place 32 specific measures to deal with the shortage of HGV drivers. These include funding for apprenticeships, 11,000 places on Skills Bootcamp training backed by £34 million, increasing the supply of vocational driving tests, prioritising vocational driving licence applications, and investing £32.5 million in roadside facilities for HGV drivers. These are listed on gov.uk.
Our measures are working. The number of available HGV driving tests has increased by 90% compared to pre-pandemic levels and currently stands at 3,200 tests per week. Test capacity now exceeds demand and the provision of vocational tests is not a barrier to people becoming HGV drivers. Despite the increase in vocational driving licence applications and licence renewals, there are no delays in processing and all new applications are being processed within five working days, unless further medical checks are required. Recent assessments by industry bodies such as Logistics UK suggest that the shortfall in drivers has started to reduce.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the condition of England’s roads.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In addition to investing £1.7 billion in 21/22 into local roads plus an unprecedented £27 billion into the strategic road network through to 2025, the Department is working towards the creation of a common data standard for the monitoring of road condition. This will aim to drive innovation and flexibility in monitoring local roads and enable authorities to target defects in their networks more quickly. Further information, including a Departmental position paper, will be published shortly.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made in introducing flexible rail season tickets.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As announced on 20 May alongside the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, the Government is introducing new flexible season tickets across England this year, with the new tickets going on-sale on 21 June, and becoming available for use on 28 June. A new season ticket calculator is available for passengers to check the best value option for their travel plan.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve cross-UK transport links.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Sir Peter Hendy is carrying out the independent Union Connectivity Review, which will report later this year.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to implement the policies set out in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government is committed to delivering passenger benefits as quickly as possible, including the introduction of new flexible season tickets, auditing accessibility of stations, a 30-year strategy for the rail industry, and replacing franchising.
This is the biggest change to the railways in three decades and transformation on this scale will not happen overnight. Government is setting up a Rail Transformation Programme within the Department for Transport and working with the rail sector to ensure a common understanding of our vision for the railway, working collectively with the sector to design how this major project will be delivered. The Government will make further announcements on next steps in relation to implementation in due course.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake of electric vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government had already committed £1.5 billion to support the early market and remove barriers to zero emission vehicle (ZEV) ownership. We are now going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emission at the tailpipe. Alongside these new phase out dates we have pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and motorists to make the switch. To underpin our ambitious phase out dates, this year we will publish a delivery plan, an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy and Green Paper on Co2 emission from transport.