Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many collisions there have been at Junction 7 on the M11 in each of the last three years; and what has been the nature of those collisions.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The number of reported personal injury road accidents on junction 7 of the M11 for the past three years can be found in the table below.
Reported personal injury road accidents on junction 7 of the M11, 2016 to 2018 | |||
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Year | Fatal | Serious | Slight |
2016 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
2017 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
2018 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Source: DfT, STATS19 | |||
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on meeting the 2.3 per cent public sector apprenticeship target; and when his Department will meet that target.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As of 31 March 2020, the Civil Service has achieved a total of 2.1% of its total workforce as apprentices against the legislative target for the public sector of 2.3% by March 2021. Department for Transport (DfT) has currently achieved 1.3% of the total staff employed within the department for 2020/21. Given this target is a percentage of the total workforce, the percentage changes in line with workforce fluctuations over time therefore making it challenging to predict when a department will meet it. The data for 2018/19 can be found here. The data for 2019/20 will be released on gov.uk by the end of September 2020. Due to the diverse nature of our work, the central department (DfTc) and our executive agencies (DfT Group) have developed localised strategies to allow us to continue towards the Government target. In September 2020 DfTc additionally transitioned to a cohort-based model of recruitment for apprenticeships; further strengthening our ambition for apprenticeship recruitment, and providing economies of scale to improve quality of provision and overall employee experience for the apprenticeship community.
Departments are committed to increasing the number of apprentices across the Civil Service and continue to work towards the 2.3% target. The impact of the current pandemic has slowed recruitment due to priority work and logistics. With the current strategy and targets coming to an end in April 2021, the Civil Service is already focusing on how to continue to support the apprenticeship agenda and drive forward apprenticeship recruitment, pulling on the Plan for Jobs initiative and considering the current economic situation.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support people who had their driving tests cancelled as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Practical car driving tests in England resumed on 22 July 2020. From 16 July 2020, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) began inviting candidates by email, who had a test cancelled and put on hold owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, to choose their preferred location, date and time. For those candidates whose email address failed, the DVSA sent them a text message, where the agency had a mobile number for them.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to meet the public sector apprenticeship target.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains fully committed to the Government’s apprenticeship agenda and is actively encouraging both the recruitment of apprentices externally, through proactive outreach and the utilisation of apprenticeships to develop internal capability and strengthen talent pipelines.
Due to the diverse work of the department, DfT core and each of its executive agencies (DfT Group) have developed localised strategies to support ongoing work against public-sector apprenticeship targets, and improve the overall quality of the apprentice experience.
For mainstream recruitment, we have embedded a process standard across DfT Group requiring vacancy holders to consider recruiting apprentices as the default resourcing option to fill vacant roles. This is alongside work with the policy, HR, project delivery, finance and other technical operational professions to actively encourage apprenticeship uptake to support skills and capability growth and talent retention.
From Autumn 2020 we plan to move to volume-based recruitment and apprenticeship management. Alongside this, we will continue to focus on developing our corporate support offer for apprentices and their line-managers, and strengthening supplier engagement to drive quality of provision.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance he has issued on when driving instructors can return to work as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As the health and safety of staff and customers is key, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working closely with the Department for Transport to prepare for a safe return to testing. It will announce details of resumption in due course.
In the meantime, approved driving instructors (ADI) should continue to limit driving lessons to critical workers who are preparing for an emergency driving test.
The DVSA’s priority remains to protect the public and save lives. Driving lessons and tests have not yet been able to restart because the risk of transmission of the virus in vehicles is higher.
On 15 June 2020, the DVSA’s Chief Executive wrote to all ADIs updating them on the planning it is doing to help return to life that is as close to normal as possible, as quickly and fairly as possible, in a way that avoids a second peak of infections. That letter can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-letter
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend the duration of provisional driving instructor licences during the covid-19 outbreak to ensure that those licenses do not expire while trainee driving instructors are unable to undertake training.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
There is no provision in legislation to extend the period of a provisional driving instructor trainee licence beyond six months.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will extend the validity period of learner driver theory test certificates to ensure learner drivers who cannot take a practical driving test as a result of the outbreak of covid-19 do not have to retake the theory test.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport is aware of the issue of theory tests that are about to expire shortly. We are currently considering options on this matter. People can still apply for an emergency practical driving test if their work is critical to the COVID-19 response.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total amount of funding from the public purse given by his Department to (a) civil society and (b) campaigning bodies in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department does not categorise its suppliers by this type of sector so we are unable to extract information relating to which suppliers may fall into the categories of either civil society or campaigning bodies.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatal accidents have occurred on the Junction 7a section of the M11 in each year since 2010.
Answered by George Freeman
The number of reported fatal road accidents between junctions 7 and 8 of the M11 from 2010 to 2018 can be found in the table below.
Reported fatal road accidents between junctions 7 and 8 of the M11¹, 2010 - 2018 | ||||||
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Year | Fatal accidents |
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2010 | 0 |
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2011 | 0 |
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2012 | 0 |
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2013 | 0 |
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2014 | 1 |
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2015 | 0 |
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2016 | 0 |
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2017 | 0 |
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2018 | 0 |
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Source: DfT, STATS19 |
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1. Not including slip roads or roundabouts |
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Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many apprentices have been employed by the House of Commons since 2010.
Answered by Tom Brake
The House launched the first apprenticeship scheme in 2012. Since then 10 apprentices have been employed per year. We have extended this to 12 apprentices for 2019.
Apprentices are asked to submit diversity data. This does not include if they consider themselves to be from a disadvantaged background. Therefore, the House does not hold this information. We work closely with both our providers and the House of Commons recruitment team to ensure vacancies are published to as broad an audience as possible.
As it would be possible to identify the ethnicity of some of the apprentices – the intake comprising too few individuals to ensure confidentiality – we are unable to answer the question as to what proportion of apprentices currently employed by the House of Commons are from minority ethnic backgrounds.