Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what processes are in place to ensure that the Medical Advisory Panel on driving and diabetes mellitus consults regularly with a broad and representative range of stakeholders.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State’s Honorary Medical Advisory panels are made up of medical experts who are recognised in their respective fields, supported by lay members. The panels are not responsible for carrying out formal consultations. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency consults with key organisations to inform reviews of medical conditions in relation to driving. The results of these reviews are shared with the panels.
The key organisations consulted include medical experts, charities, road safety groups and industry groups. For diabetes, this includes the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists, Diabetes UK, the Independent Diabetes Trust, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, BRAKE, the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the stakeholders that his Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on driving and diabetes mellitus consults with to inform its reviews of the current guidance.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State’s Honorary Medical Advisory panels are made up of medical experts who are recognised in their respective fields, supported by lay members. The panels are not responsible for carrying out formal consultations. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency consults with key organisations to inform reviews of medical conditions in relation to driving. The results of these reviews are shared with the panels.
The key organisations consulted include medical experts, charities, road safety groups and industry groups. For diabetes, this includes the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists, Diabetes UK, the Independent Diabetes Trust, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, BRAKE, the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the DVLA has as part of its review of guidelines on driving and diabetes to ensure that drivers with diabetes use the most accurate blood glucose meters available.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on driving and diabetes mellitus, has sought views from stakeholders on the proposed new guidance and is considering the responses received.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Honorary Medical Advisory Panel is considering the use of Mean Absolute Relative Difference (MARD) as an accuracy measure for blood glucose monitoring devices as part of the review of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency guidelines on driving and diabetes.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Diabetes, is reviewing its guidance to provide advice for medical professionals and drivers on the use of interstitial glucose monitoring systems in the context of driving.
The DVLA is currently considering views of stakeholders, some of whom have suggested using a Mean Absolute Relative Difference accuracy measure for interstitial glucose monitoring.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much compensation was paid by each train operating company that operates a passenger charter or delay repay scheme in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
2015/16 and 2016/17 compensation figures have already been published and can be found on the gov.uk website at:
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles will be affected by the proposed changes to Sections 19 and 22 of the Transport Act 1985.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Department does not record this information centrally. However, it is currently consulting on how Regulation 1071/2009 applies to users of section 19 and section 22 permits under the Transport Act 1985, and this serves as a call for evidence as to the impact of these clarifications on community transport operators.
The Government's response to the consultation will be accompanied by a full impact assessment.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent from the public purse through the Access to All fund to make improvements to railway stations in each years since 2006.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Since 2006, spending through the Access for All programme is as follows:
(£m)
2006/09 | £102.1 |
2009/10 | £57.89 |
2010/11 | £43.67 |
2011/12 | £54.1 |
2012/13 | £52.18 |
2013/14 | £105.28 |
2014/15 | £47.96 |
2015/16 | £43.19 |
2016/17 | £42.6 |
2017/18 | £15.4 |
Note that funding isn’t allocated on a specific annualised basis. Projects get developed and built over several years, so in some years more is spent, in some years less. We have committed to continuing Access for All in CP6.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, of what factors Network Rail and his Department take account in deciding on allocations of Access to All funding.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
For the last tranche of funding, stations were selected based on their annual footfall, weighted by the incidence of disability in the area. We also took into account the priorities of the industry, the availability of third party funding and local factors such as proximity to a hospital, together with consideration of geographic spread across the rail network.
Although details of how we will select stations for future funding has yet to be finalised it is likely to be broadly similar to the process used for earlier tranches of the programme.
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what public funding other than Access to All funding is available for improvements to accessibility at railway stations.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Aside from the dedicated Access for All funding, two funds are partly dedicated to improving accessibility - each of the franchised operators has around £100,000 to £600,000 to spend annually in making accessibility improvements at stations as part of the Minor Works Budget; and the Station Improvement Fund introduced in the Northern Rail and West Midlands Railway franchises can also be used to make stations accessible.
In addition, there are five other funding streams which may help deliver accessibility improvements insofar as any upgrades delivered under them would have to comply with current accessibility standards – the National Stations Improvement Programme, the Station Commercial Project Facility, Customer and Community Investment, Designated Community Rail Development Fund and Major Projects works (as per the redevelopment of Reading station for example).
Asked by: Ruth George (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which railway stations have received Access for All funding in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Access for All funding is allocated in 5 year Control Periods. For 2014-19 a further 68 stations were selected for the programme. Details of all of the stations which have received funding since 2006 are available on the Network Rail website at:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/passengers/station-improvements/access-for-all/