Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving responsibility for Transport Focus in Scotland to the Scottish Government.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government has no plans to review the position of transport Focus in Scotland. The Scottish Government already has an important role in Transport Focus through the member of Transport Focus’s Board who is appointed by Scottish Ministers. Transport Focus also has well established links with the Scottish Government and ministers, Transport Scotland, and with a number of other Scottish transport bodies, who it works closely with as it advocates for transport users.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the Rail Ombudsman to commence operations.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Rail Delivery Group is finalising the procurement of a specialist ombudsman provider to run the Rail Ombudsman. The identity of the successful bidder is expected to be announced shortly, following which the timetable for the commencement of the scheme will be clearly established. However, we have been clear we are expecting it to be up and running by the end of the year.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made in expediting compensation to vehicle owners affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal since the debate in Westminster Hall on 20 April 2017 on emissions and vehicle type approval; whether such compensation will match that given to vehicle owners in the the US; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the heightened incidence of breakdowns and mechanical failures reported by the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum after updates have been completed.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government continues to take Volkswagen’s actions in relation to diesel emissions extremely seriously and is working hard on behalf of UK consumers. Following pressure from the UK Government, Volkswagen Group now offer a ‘Trust Building Measure’ for all consumers that have had, and will have, the technical measure applied. This commits Volkswagen to respond reasonably and appropriately to every complaint which relates to the implementation of the service action. Officials have met with the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum to hear their concerns and plans for a further meeting in January 2018 are being finalised.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to reduce the drink-drive limit to 50mg.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government currently has no plans to lower the drink drive limit. Our approach in tackling drink driving is through rigorous enforcement, tough penalties, and changing the social acceptability of drink driving.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the DVLA's system for reporting medical conditions.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) continually monitors and looks for ways to improve the performance and effectiveness of its processes for notifying medical conditions and making licensing decisions.
The DVLA introduced an online service in October 2016 which now allows motorists to notify over 200 medical conditions online. This service has already won two awards including the Digital Public Service Innovation of the Year at the Digital Leaders 100 Awards in June 2017.
In addition to the online service, the DVLA has made a number of other improvements in this area, including recruiting additional medical and administrative staff. These changes have had a positive impact on the time taken to deal with medical cases. The average time taken to make a licensing decision in the financial year 2016/17 was 37 days, down from 53 days in the 2015/16 financial year.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of manual processing on paper that it carries out and to make such processing digital.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department has aligned its Digital Strategy with the Government Digital Strategy and the Government Transformation Strategy.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals to accept applications for a reduced rate of vehicle tax online and at Post Office branches.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The law requires the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to check that a customer is entitled to the standard rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) before a vehicle can be licensed at the reduced rate of vehicle excise duty.
The DVLA does not receive information from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about those entitled to the standard rate of PIP so is currently unable to offer an online service to those customers. Customers who wish to apply for a reduced rate of vehicle excise duty because they are in receipt of the standard rate of PIP must therefore send their application to the DVLA. The DVLA is working closely with DWP on how data can be shared securely and appropriately between the two departments to help facilitate an online and Post Office service for customers entitled to the reduced rate of vehicle excise duty.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) financial and (b) accessibility implications for disabled drivers of the process of applying for a reduced rate of vehicle tax.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Her Majesty’s Treasury carried out an equalities assessment on DLA reform and Personal Independence Payments. In addition, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) completed an Equality Analysis report ahead of the introduction of the standard rate of Personal Independence Payments. The analysis recognised the benefits of an online system but accepted that such a system would be dependent on an electronic data interchange between the DVLA and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The DVLA and DWP are working towards providing such a service.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reapplications to the DVLA for driving licences following medical conditions have taken more than 8 weeks to assess in each of the last two years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has made major improvements in this area, including introducing an electronic service which allows drivers to notify the DVLA online about certain medical conditions. The DVLA has recruited 100 extra casework staff as well as more doctors to deal with complex cases. Three nurses have also been employed to help deal with certain cases and further recruitment is underway.
A dedicated team has been put in place which is responsible for continuous improvement of medical driver licensing services and communications. Letters to customers and medical professionals have been improved, helping to ensure that the DVLA receives the information it needs as quickly as possible.
These changes have had significant and sustainable improvements. Information specifically about the time taken to assess re-applications for a driving licence following notification of a medical condition is not available. Since 1 April 2016 the DVLA has dealt with 645,841 medical cases. Of these, 72% received a licensing decision within eight weeks.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to (a) consult on and (b) publish new guidance for the Civil Aviation Authority on Environmental Objectives Relating to the Exercise of its Air Navigation Functions.
Answered by John Hayes
We expect to consult early next year with a view to publishing revised guidance by summer 2017.