Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) current and (b) projected future capacity of the A6 road corridor between Hazel Grove and Whaley Bridge.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government is committed to renewing national infrastructure, improving England’s road network and driving growth as part of its Plan for Change. It has been clear that any funding decisions will be part of a long-term infrastructure strategy for this country, as stated within the manifesto. Decisions on funding more generally beyond 2025/26 is a matter for the forthcoming Spending Review.
Any assessment of the adequacy of the current or projected future capacity of the A6 road corridor between Hazel Grove and Whaley Bridge is a matter for the local highway authority.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to prevent third-party websites from misleading members of the public by imitating the DVLA online services.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) advises customers to use GOV.UK as the official and only website when seeking information or completing applications. All DVLA literature directs customers to the official GOV.UK website. The DVLA also uses its external communication channels, including social media, to publish advice and to remind motorists that GOV.UK is the only website for government motoring services.
The DVLA investigates reports of organisations which act illegally or are actively misleading users about their services. Where appropriate such sites can be and are taken down promptly.
DVLA officials have regular discussions and briefings, with the National Cyber Security Centre, to assess and prevent a range of risks. The DVLA is also a longstanding user of the National Cyber Security Centre active cyber defence services and regularly uses the Netcraft takedown service for removing malicious websites.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to increase the £2.50 fee charged by private parking companies for each V888/3 application to access vehicle keeper data from the DVLA to use in issuing parking charge notices.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The £2.50 fee is set to recover the cost of providing the information and ensures that the cost is borne by the requester, not passed on to the taxpayer. In line with Managing Public Money, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency reviews its fees regularly to ensure that fees are set to recover the costs of providing the service.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Using speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: deployment, visibility and signing, published on 31 January 2007, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the criteria for the placement of fixed speed cameras in reducing (a) speeding and (b) road accidents.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport has not made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the criteria for the placement of fixed speed cameras in reducing (a) speeding and (b) road collisions. While the speed camera guidance does include criteria for placement which the police and traffic authorities may consider using, it invites authorities to set their own criteria, depending on local needs and priorities.
The guidance notes that while the primary objective for camera deployment is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries, cameras can also be beneficial where there is community concern. The guidance is not mandatory; there are no Department for Transport rules preventing traffic authorities from installing speed cameras.
To note, my Department uses the terms 'collision' or 'crash' rather than 'accident'.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to update guidance on the deployment of fixed speed cameras to allow their proactive use.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Measures to address speeding will be considered for inclusion within the forthcoming road safety strategy.
The Department for Transport guidance on ‘Using speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: deployment, visibility and signing’ notes that while the primary objective for camera deployment is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries, cameras can also be beneficial where there is community concern. The authority can set its own criteria, depending on the local needs and priorities. There are no Department for Transport rules preventing traffic authorities from installing speed cameras.
The Departmental guidance is not mandatory, and non-compliance does not provide any mitigation of, or defence against, any alleged offence under UK law.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce safeguards to help tackle (a) errors and (b) delayed updates by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in (i) cases where initial penalty charge notices are issued and (ii) other cases.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is a legal requirement for the keeper of a vehicle to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any changes to details on the vehicle record including a change of address or when someone has bought or sold a vehicle. This can be done by sending a notification by post or the online channel at GOV.UK. The DVLA aims to issue a revised registration certificate within four weeks.
The DVLA is not responsible for the issue of a penalty charge notice. These are generally issued by local authorities or Transport for London in relation to parking offences or congestion charging, for example. The DVLA is responsible for issuing Late Licensing Penalty or Out of Court Settlements to the keeper of untaxed vehicles or Fixed Penalty Notices to the keeper of an uninsured vehicle. Any penalty issued by the DVLA will be sent to the keeper held on record at the time of the offence.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing increased powers to local councils to help them ensure that utility companies adhere to agreed timescales for completing emergency works on critical highway networks.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government continues to review how works are planned, managed and communicated and how this can be improved. The Government announced in December that we will be clamping down on disruptive works by doubling fixed penalty notices for utility companies who fail to comply with rules and extending charges for works that overrun into weekends.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending sections 1 to 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to extend dangerous driving offences to include incidents causing the (a) death and (b) serious injury of (i) dogs, (ii) other domestic pets and (iii) other animals.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government has no plans to consider amending the Road Traffic Act 1988 in the way suggested.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to launch a public awareness campaign to promote pedestrian and cyclist visibility on roads by encouraging the use of light or reflective clothing.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
THINK!, the Government’s flagship road safety campaign, aims to reduce those killed and seriously injured on the roads in England and Wales by driving awareness of key road safety issues and encouraging attitude and behaviour change among high-risk road users.
We encourage the use of bright or reflective clothing for pedestrians and cyclists through our THINK! social channels, including at key moments such as around school term times, when the clocks change and darker mornings and evenings in the winter.
This advice is also shared via THINK! education resources, which are used widely by schools and other teaching intermediaries to support road safety education for children, and the THINK! campaign works closely with road safety charities and partners to share road safety advice and resources.
The primary audience for THINK! paid campaign activity is young men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over. To maximise the impact of our paid campaigns, these focus on the road safety issues which contribute to the highest numbers of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, such as speeding and drink driving.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to tackle delays arising from block booking of driving tests; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that such tests can only be booked (a) by and (b) on behalf of an individual.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is not possible to block book car practical driving tests. A driving licence number can only be assigned to one car practical driving test at a time. A survey by The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) suggests that only 10% of learner drivers use third parties to book their tests. Most either book appointments themselves or through their approved driving instructor (ADI).
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests. Such apps or bots are not approved by DVSA. They make it harder for candidates to get a test and can also result in people paying more for a test. DVSA will continue to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system, which are having a positive impact.
DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for instructors and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors.
In January 2023, DVSA changed the terms and conditions for using the booking service to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since then, DVSA has issued 283 warnings, 746 suspensions, and closed 689 businesses for misuse of its booking service.