Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the lessons learned from the implementation of pavement parking restrictions in (a) Edinburgh and (b) London.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has been carefully considering the responses to the consultation that took place in 2020 and is currently working through the policy options. There will be a full impact assessment of the policies to be implemented, which will consider a wide range of issues including lessons from other parts of the country. Departmental officials are in contact with the Scottish Government and London Councils. As soon as the Government has decided its preferred way forward, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential role of technology in the decarbonisation of the transport sector.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Technological solutions will play a critical role in decarbonising transport across all modes, including through accelerated electric vehicle rollout and low carbon fuel deployment in shipping and aviation. Government will produce a plan later this year for reducing emissions from all sectors, including transport, in line with legislated carbon budgets.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people (a) sat and (b) passed a driving test at the Edinburgh (Currie) Driving Test Centre in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The attached Excel document shows the number of people using a unique driver number that a) sat and b) passed a driving test at Edinburgh (Currie) driving test centre (DTC) in each year from 2015 to 30 September 2024. Please note, this data is based on candidates’ unique driver numbers. Based on this unique number, the data does not include if a candidate took a test more than once in any given year. However, if a candidate changed their unique driver number, each driver number is counted once in each year it is used. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) retention period for this data is ten years.
The attached Excel document also shows the number of tests conducted and passed at Edinburgh (Currie) DTC between 2010 and 30 September 2024. This data is the total number of tests conducted per year and would include candidates who took multiple tests. DVSA publishes this data online at: Driving test and theory test data: cars - GOV.UK.
DVSA can currently only publish the data included in the attached Excel document up to the end of September 2024.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with the Civil Aviation Authority to help reduce the potential impact of the new scheme of charges on drone operators.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
After consulting the aviation sector, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) consulted ministers in February about changes to its schemes of regulatory charges for 2024/25. We considered every response to its sector consultation, including 72 specifically about drone charges. Before coming to ministers and after sector consultation, the CAA amended its charges to make them less impactful to many members of the drone community.
Government support for the CAA in 2025/26 also includes £16.5m for Future of Flight projects, some of which will benefit drone users.
Where appropriate the CAA considers making refunds to applicants that misinterpret CAA policies or make mistakes in applications. The CAA plan to share guidance on common mistakes to help prevent recurrence and this will help to minimise applicant costs. Furthermore, the digitisation of some application routes should bear down on costs to regulated parties, including drone operators.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with the Civil Aviation Authority to help ensure that (a) existing and (b) future regulation of drone technology is (i) proportionate and (ii) supports growth in the sector.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I am committed to maximising the benefits of drones to drive economic growth, support communities, and enhance public services, whilst ensuring their safe and responsible use.
The Department for Transport is working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and industry partners through the Future of Flight Industry Group (FFIG) to ensure that existing and future regulations for drone technology are proportionate, support sector growth, and maintain the UK’s high standards of aviation safety and security. FFIG brings together key government and industry stakeholders to drive forward the UK’s Future of Flight Programme, which aims to develop the regulation, technologies and infrastructure needed to enable the routine use of innovative aircraft, including drones. The programme also seeks to unlock barriers to growth, support new commercial opportunities, and improve public services.
On 17 March, the CAA announced their new approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth. This included five initiatives, two of which relate specifically to drones: enabling at least two further and larger BVLOS drone scale trial operations and launching an initial implementation of the UK’s Drone Market Surveillance Authority.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a standardised battery health certification scheme for second-hand electric vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has worked with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to develop a Global Technical Regulation on electric vehicle batteries (GTR 22). If implemented, the regulation would set standards for the lifespan of a battery and its minimum durability. It will also ensure that information about electric vehicle batteries is easily accessible, accurate and comparable. The Government is currently considering options for the implementation of GTR 22 battery regulations in the UK.
In the meantime, the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate requires all new electric vehicles to be sold with a warranty that includes battery replacement if capacity falls below 70% in the first 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever is sooner.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential economic merits of investment in active travel infrastructure.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that investment in high quality active travel infrastructure supports its economic growth, health and net zero missions by helping to revitalise high streets; enabling people to live longer, healthier lives; and helping to reduce transport emissions. The Department announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6 on 12 February.
The Department’s Ministers will be having regular discussions with their Treasury counterparts as part of the ongoing Spending Review which will conclude later this Spring.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of increased investment in active travel infrastructure on public health outcomes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Investment in active travel schemes makes it easier for people to walk, wheel or cycle, and thereby plays a significant role in improving people’s physical and mental health. Ministers from this Department have met regularly with their counterparts in the Department of Health and Social Care to discuss this as well as the other ways that the Department can contribute to the Government’s health mission. On 12 February, Active Travel England announced almost £300 million of funding for new walking, wheeling and cycling schemes. The health benefits of these will lead to 43,000 fewer sick days per year, easing pressure on the NHS.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to tackle (a) harassment and (b) intimidation of women while cycling.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Everyone should feel safe cycling and harassment and intimidation of women cycling is totally unacceptable. Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is very much an important part of our mission on VAWG.
Once in force, the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 will help tackle this issue and ensure women both feel and are safer on our streets. The Act builds on existing harassment legislation within the Public Order Act 1986. It introduces an aggravated offence punishable by up to two years imprisonment upon conviction where someone commits the existing Public Order Act 1986 4A offence of causing harassment, alarm or distress based on someone’s sex or presumed sex.
Active Travel England is working with local authorities to provide safe cycling infrastructure which should help women feel safer when cycling. Design guidance for new infrastructure, such as that funded through the Active Travel Fund, requires that new schemes are accessible to all users, including women.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to create local walking and cycling networks to enable more children to stay active on the way to school.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
it is for local authorities to make their own decisions about where to prioritise investment in local transport networks. Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) aim to help authorities take a strategic approach to improving conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling. Revenue funding awarded by Active Travel England can be used by local authorities to support LCWIP development.
In addition, Active Travel England supports a range of programmes to help enable more active travel for schoolchildren, including Living Street’s Walk to School Outreach, Modeshift STARS and Bikeability cycle training. The Department has also recently published guidance for local authorities on implementing School Streets, which can encourage more active travel to schools.