Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the British Transport Police on tackling county lines.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers and officials at the Department meet with the British Transport Police on a regular basis to discuss the work the force are doing to ensure the railway remains a safe environment for the public and rail staff.
The BTP’s County Lines taskforce are undertaking excellent work to tackle County Lines activity on the railway. The taskforce is an intelligence-led proactive unit, focused on tackling drug supply and child exploitation, working across the whole rail network in England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) insurers, (b) technology developers, (c) investigators and (d) other key stakeholders can access essential AV data for (a) real-world performance monitoring and (b) post-collision analysis.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport is working to implement the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act 2024, which includes provisions to enable appropriate access to AV data.
As part of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles’ AV Act Implementation Programme, work is ongoing to ensure that key stakeholders can access the data they need to support the safe deployment of self-driving technologies. This includes a recent call for evidence on the Statement of Safety Principles and consultation on protecting marketing terms, with the aim of delivering the regulatory framework in the second half of 2027.
At the international level, the UK continues to contribute to the work underway at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on harmonised rules for automated driving systems. This includes provisions for a regulation on a data storage system for AVs, which will ensure that AVs record and store the key data points required for performance monitoring and post-collision analysis.
The AV Act allows for conditions to be set in secondary legislation to require the sharing of data and information (including with public bodies and insurers) where it is necessary to support the safe operation of AVs. It requires arrangements to be made for monitoring and assessing the general performance of AVs, with an annual report produced. The Act also makes provisions for the investigation of incidents, ensuring that incident inspectors have the powers to access all data needed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) prevent and (b) disrupt modern slavery.
Answered by Mike Kane
The DfT works collaboratively with delivery bodies to tackle modern slavery in supply chains. A DfT modern slavery working group has been in place since 2020, to help embed modern slavery commercial policies, including Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Notes and share best practice.
DfT has invited a number of suppliers to complete the Modern Slavery Assessment Tool (MSAT), including its strategic suppliers. This seeks assurances from our suppliers on the policies and procedures they have in place to help protect their workforce.
The Commercial Function within DfT continues to raise awareness and build knowledge of modern slavery, through training opportunities and events. The Group Commercial Director is the DfT Anti-Slavery Advocate and is committed to developing and promoting policies and programmes to address modern slavery in commercial activity.
DfT also continues to highlight the importance of this work with its suppliers, using events as a platform to remind suppliers of the government’s commitment to mitigate modern slavery in supply chains, examples of this are through supply chain management meetings and supplier engagement opportunities.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to publish an Outcome Delivery Plan for 2025 to 2026.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Outcome Delivery Plans are co-ordinated through the Cabinet Office and we are awaiting confirmation on whether they will be published for this year and the process and timing of this.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require transport authorities to integrate reporting tools for (a) gendered violence and (b) anti-social behaviour into transport apps.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. Achieving this means concerted work on prevention and overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes. The Department for Transport is working with partners across government and the transport industry to play its part in achieve this mission.
We know that consistency of reporting is an important issue and we intend to look at this in more detail. However, we would always encourage victims of violence and anti-social behaviour to report these incidents to the police in the usual way.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to expand public awareness campaigns that encourage reporting of sexual harassment on public transport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. Achieving this means concerted work on prevention and overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes.
The Department for Transport is working with partners across government and the transport industry to play its part in achieve this mission.
This includes working with the British Transport Police to encourage reporting via the 61016 text reporting number. We are also supportive of the Rail Delivery Group’s ‘Zero Tolerance Campaign’ which raises awareness of sexual harassment and encourages reporting and bystander interventions when safe to do so.
We are also bringing forward measures in the Bus Services (No. 2) mandating training for staff in the bus industry on how to recognise and respond to incidents of violence against women and girls, as well as anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Car Insurance Taskforce made of the potential impact of fraudulent insurance claims made by people who stage road traffic collisions to gain compensation on levels of car insurance premiums.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government committed in its manifesto to tackle the high costs of motor insurance. To deliver on this commitment, the UK Government formed a cross-government Taskforce on motor insurance, co-chaired by the Department for Transport and His Majesty’s Treasury.
The Taskforce which met most recently on 28 April has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums. It will look at the increased insurance costs on consumers and the insurance industry. The Government will provide updates on the Taskforce in due course.
Regarding fraudulent insurance claims, the Government is committed to tackling this threat and has worked in collaboration with the UK insurance sector to publish an insurance fraud charter. This is a voluntary agreement which aims to raise the visibility of insurance fraud, improve victim support and better detect and prevent scams, such as crash-for cash.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the bus fare cap on passenger numbers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing over £150 million to deliver the new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025 to help keep bus fares affordable. Under the plans of the previous administration, the £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain a cap on bus fares beyond this point.
The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap was published on 12 February. An evaluation of the £3 fare cap is due to be commissioned in due course.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help increase the capacity of the West Coast Mainline between Crewe and Manchester.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to improving rail connectivity across the North and working with local leaders, as set out in our manifesto.
While we will not reverse the decision to cancel Phase 2 of HS2, we recognise concerns about connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester and continue to review the position we inherited on rail infrastructure. We will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on private financing options for the second phase of High Speed Two.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s current focus is the safe delivery of High Speed Two (HS2) between Birmingham Curzon Street and London Euston at the lowest reasonable cost. While we will not reverse the decision to cancel Phase 2 of HS2, we recognise concerns about connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester and continue to review the position we inherited on rail infrastructure.
The Department is currently reviewing options to collaborate with the private sector on the delivery of the HS2 Euston station. As part of this, officials are engaging with stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the available private finance options that could deliver value for money for taxpayers.
Minister Hendy met with Mayors Burnham and Parker last November, following the publication of the Midlands North-West Rail Link plan; the Mayors’ plan involved leveraging private capital to build a new Birmingham to Manchester railway line. The Department is currently reviewing a range of options for enhancing northern rail infrastructure while ensuring value for money for taxpayers.