Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there has been a review of the safety of air conditioning systems in commercial aircraft to reduce the risk of those systems spreading covid-19 among passengers.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Air conditioning systems on modern aircraft filter cabin air every few minutes through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. These filters are very effective at capturing airborne microbes in the filtered air, and when coupled with the drawn in fresh air, can help to mitigate the longer range risk of transmission. A review is being undertaken for the other known routes of transmission.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question 3859 on Cycling and Walking: Finance, what funding has been allocated to the £350 million cycling infrastructure fund; and whether and that fund has (a) tendered for bids and (b) received applications for funding from that fund; and whether any cycling schemes have been allocated financial support from that fund.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
No funding has yet been allocated to the new Cycle Infrastructure Fund. This will be considered as part of forthcoming fiscal events. Further details, including on matters such as the fund’s eligibility criteria and application process, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291096 on Cycling and Walking: Finance, what additional funding will be allocated for (a) walking and (b) cycling to meet Government targets for levels of activity in those areas.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The levels of funding for cycling and walking in future years will be matters for the forthcoming Budget and Spending Review, further details of which will be announced in due course. The Government is committed to investing in cycling and walking to achieve the aims set out in the 2017 statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS), and the manifesto included a commitment to create a new £350 million cycling infrastructure fund.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 285402 and the 2019 Spending Review, what additional funding will be allocated for (a) walking and (b) cycling to meet Government targets for levels of activity in those areas.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government remains committed to the aims of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). The Department will confirm shortly with local authorities and others what funding will be available in 2020/21 for various Government-funded walking and cycling schemes. Longer-term funding decisions will be a matter for the autumn Budget and the 2020 Spending Review.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to increase the level of funding allocated to (a) walking and (b) cycling to meet Government targets for levels of activity in those areas.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Decisions on future funding for cycling and walking will be made as part of the multi-year Spending Review, now planned for 2020.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the planned expansion of Heathrow does not contribute to an increase in air pollution.
Answered by Grant Shapps
In regards to air quality, following designation of the Airports National Policy Statement, it is now down to an applicant for development consent to undertake a detailed assessment of the air quality impacts of its scheme, including during construction, and put forward an appropriate package of mitigations that address air quality impacts and demonstrate compliance.
In order to grant development consent, I would need to be satisfied that, with mitigation, the scheme would be compliant with legal obligations.
Separately, my Department will also be working to speed up the research, development and adoption of low and zero carbon aviation technology.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential environmental benefits of permitting use of light electric vehicles on (a) roads and (b) public paths.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Department has made no assessment of the potential environmental benefits of light electric vehicles, however cycling and walking do offer active travel benefits. The Future of Mobility regulatory review will address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future. This is a broad programme of work, and we expect to publish an initial consultation in autumn this year.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the document entitled, Bus Services Act 2017:Bus Open Data Consultation Response, whether his Department has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require audio-visual equipment be installed on local bus services.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government understands the importance of clear, accessible information in helping bus passengers to make informed journey decisions and to travel with confidence, and in Summer 2018 consulted publicly on plans to improve the availability of open data and to ensure that accessible information is provided onboard local bus services across Great Britain.
We continue to analyse responses to the accessible information consultation and expect to announce our next steps regarding the making of Regulations and publication of guidance later in the year.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the removal of non-national language voice-overs for the theory driving test on the ability of refugees to live and work in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The focus of the driving test is to help to ensure that all drivers have the knowledge, skills and understanding to use UK roads safely and responsibly. Since the language support change in 2014, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has introduced a new practical driving test and is currently working on a new driving theory test for the early 2020s. The DVSA is taking into account, as part of planning the new theory test, candidates for whom English is a second language.