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Written Question
Bus Services
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing metro mayors to operate bus services.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Metro Mayors do have the ability to franchise bus services without requiring consent, following new legislation introduced by this government in 2017.


Written Question
Bus Services: North East
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that there is adequate competition between private bus companies in the North East.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The North-East Combined Authority and bus operators are delivering improvements to local bus services through a statutory Enhanced Partnership (EP) and have followed EP guidance issued by the Department for Transport to ensure its compliance with competition law. A competition test and formal consultation with the Competition and Markets Authority have been carried out as part of the EP process. The North-East Combined Authority is responsible for the content of their Enhanced Partnership.


Written Question
Department for Transport: ICT
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to expenditure on Microsoft Word training published in DfT: spending over £500, October 2022, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of competency on Microsoft Word among officials in his Department.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Department has made no specific assessment on this point.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Training
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of remote terrain training of his Department's staff.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) provides remote terrain training to all its staff as part of its essential health and safety training to prepare it for operations at aircraft accidents in remote locations. The course is bespoke and designed specifically to address the mitigations of hazards that staff could experience when having to access and examine wreckage in remote locations including mountainous terrain, rivers and remote lowlands/wetlands as well as providing training on field first aid.

The training provision is regularly reviewed using feedback from the course and experience from accidents sites which is then used to adapt the course and any refresher training which is also provided at suitable intervals.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Official Cars
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department uses any chauffeur services other than the Government Car Service.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Department does occasionally use taxi and non-GCS car services when GCS cars are not available.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Wednesday 18th October 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department’s spending with Enterprise Rent-A-Car increased between 2011 and 2022.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The core Department’s spend on vehicle hire with Enterprise has not significantly increased between 2011 and 2022.


Written Question
Boats: Whales
Wednesday 5th July 2023

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of orca attacks on sailing vessels in (a) UK and (b) international waters on maritime safety.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the potential impact of orca attacks on sailing vessels.


Written Question
Leamside Line: Sunderland
Monday 13th June 2022

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits of re-opening the Leamside Line for Washington and the Coalfields within Sunderland City.

Answered by Wendy Morton

The Government considers the re-opening of the Leamside Line is best considered as part of a future city region settlement, which will be available once appropriate governance arrangements are in place.

I expect to receive a locally-led business case in the Autumn, at which time my officials will consider the potential economic benefits of re-opening the Leamside Line.


Written Question
Buses: Driving
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the recruitment and retention of adequate numbers of bus drivers nationally.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

My Department is working closely with industry to continuously monitor the driver shortage situation in order to better understand the extent of the problem and the challenges causing this issue. The Government is committed to encouraging new entrants to the bus driving profession and reducing barriers to entry. There is regular engagement within my Department, across Government and with industry, to proactively take measures to alleviate the situation, including ways to boost recruitment within the sector.

There are no delays for bus and HGV provisional driving licence applications, which are currently being issued in around five days – these applications are being prioritised and further work is being done to speed up processes even further.


Written Question
Buses: Driving
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people completed PCV training in 2020.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold the data on how many people completed their passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) training in 2020. PCV training is delivered by third-party training providers.