Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of illegal car registration plates.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The law requires anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK to be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It is a legal requirement for suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that number plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied.
The DVLA visits number plate suppliers to monitor compliance with the legal requirements. The DVLA also works closely with both the police and trading standards to share intelligence and to support investigations and prosecutions of suppliers who do not comply with the legal requirements.
Enforcement of the law relating to the display of number plates is a matter for the police. The police can issue a fixed penalty if a vehicle is displaying an illegal number plate. When notified by the police that an offence has been committed, the DVLA will write to the registered keeper of the vehicle concerned. This letter will notify the keeper that the registration number must be correctly displayed or it will be permanently withdrawn.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the equity of the level of funding for public transport throughout the UK.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department has not made an assessment of the equity of the level of funding for public transport throughout the UK.
The Department does not allocate funding to transport on a ‘per head of population’ basis. Decisions are made based on a rigorous and fair appraisal process that ensures spending goes to the projects and programmes where it is most needed and delivers greatest value-for-money for both taxpayers and passengers.
Data from the HM Treasury Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) provides figures for total public expenditure on transport and how this varies across regions. The latest publication is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2017.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of whether there is a need to increase funding for public transport in the North East.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government is providing significant levels of funding to support public transport across the North East. For example, we have committed to provide £337 million towards the cost of replacing the entire rolling stock fleet on the Tyne and Wear Metro. My Department has also provided both revenue and capital funding to the Metro since its inception in 1980, and currently provides £55 million a year towards day-to-day operational costs and an Asset Renewal Programme.
We are also taking steps to improve rail connectivity in the North East. The Northern franchise will see a new high quality Northern Connect service operate at least 10 times per day between Middlesbrough and Carlisle via Newcastle, with Hexham and the MetroCentre becoming Northern Connect stations with staff, WiFi and catering outlets. The Transpennine franchise will see the introduction of a new hourly service between Newcastle and Edinburgh, along with an increase in the frequency of trains between Newcastle and York/Leeds/Manchester from one to two trains per hour.
The North East will also benefit from the £250 million being paid this year to support bus services in England through Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG). Around £40 million of this BSOG funding is paid directly to local authorities, rather than bus operators to help deliver bus services. The Government also provides almost £1 billion of funding for the concessionary bus pass every year, and remains committed to the scheme.
In addition, we have recently announced that the Tees Valley Combined Authority will receive a per capita allocation of £59 million from the new £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund to improve intra-urban connectivity. Other cities in the North East without a Metro Mayor may be able to benefit from the competitive part of the Fund, which will be launched shortly.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve bus links in North West Durham constituency.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions on subsidised bus services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
However, my Department provides around £40m of Bus Subsidy Operators Grant (BSOG) directly to English local authorities for local bus services, of which Durham receives around £347,000. BSOG plays an especially important role in protecting services in rural areas by helping extend the bus network, providing residents with vital links to local services.
The Bus Services Act 2017 introduces a number of new tools to help local authorities improve local bus services in their area. Through partnership arrangements we have enabled local authorities and bus operators to work constructively to provide better services for passengers.
Asked by: Laura Pidcock (Labour - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the feasibility of reinstating the train station in Consett; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department does not have any plans to reinstate the train station in Consett.
In line with our devolution policies, it is for the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and local transport authorities in this area to decide what are the priority projects to support economic development and to secure appropriate funding - including drawing on that made available by Government for example through the Local Growth Fund - to take them forward.
Proposals for new stations need first to secure the support of a local promoter, normally the local transport authority, to undertake studies of the potential additional passenger demand, train service options, economic benefits, capital and any operating subsidy requirements before the addition of such services to a franchise agreement could be considered.