Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve assisted travel for disabled people across public transport.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy, published in July 2018, summarises the various steps the Department is taking to make it easier for disabled people to travel by public transport. Among the commitments in the Strategy are that in 2019, the Department will launch a major campaign in England to raise awareness of disabled passengers’ rights when using the transport system and to promote a supportive travelling experience for disabled people. The Department will also develop and launch an accreditation scheme for transport operators to recognise those which show leadership in improving disabled passengers’ experiences, including through providing appropriate disability awareness training.
The Department will also work closely with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to ensure the successful roll-out of a new Passenger Assist application to enable customers to book assistance through a single click. The RDG plan a full roll-out across the rail network from January 2020.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will accompany a person with disabilities on public transport in order to gain first-hand experience of the difficulties disabled people can face when accessing public transport.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Department is committed to ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport and opportunities to travel as everyone else. Throughout my time as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State responsible for this matter, I have regularly met with disability organisations and disabled people to gain a better understanding of the barriers that can make travel by public transport more difficult than it should be. These meetings, and the Department’s engagement with a wide range of disability groups and other stakeholders, helped shape the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy, which was published in July 2018.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals on drones.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In May this year, the Government amended the Air Navigation Order to restrict drones from flying above 400ft and within 1km of an airport boundary. These measures came into effect in July this year. The amendments also introduced the registration of all drone operators with drones of 250g and over, as well as competency tests for remote pilots of drones of 250g and over. These will come into effect in November 2019.
The Government is currently consulting on measures to be included in a draft Drones Bill such as greater police powers against the misuse of drones and proposals for regulating and mandating the use of safety ‘apps’ and counter-drone technology. A draft Drones Bill is due to be published shortly.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to support logistics and transportation infrastructure around fish landing ports as part of the Seafood 2040 Strategy.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Department for Transport has recently published a port connectivity study (PCS):
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/better-connections-to-ports-to-help-business-growth.
The PCS sets out the wider economic importance of ports, and how effective, efficient movement of freight to and from ports supports many other parts of the economy, including the logistics sector and port based industries. Such improved connectivity can boost productivity, lower costs and provide access to international markets, and the study identified significant existing funding for road and rail access to ports, as well as how port connectivity is being factored into future investment planning. The principles, connectivity benefits, and transport infrastructure projects detailed in the PCS are applicable to fish handling ports as they are other ports. Seafood 2040 is an industry led strategy. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs will work with the industry through Seafish and the proposed Seafood Industry Leadership Group to deliver the those recommendations to which the Government has made a commitment.