Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the sale of private e-scooters on public safety.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Privately owned e-scooters cannot be legally ridden either on roads or on pavements. Enforcement of illegal and/or irresponsible e-scooter use is a matter for the police. Users can face fines and fixed penalty notices, criminal prosecution, points on their driving licence, and have their e-scooter impounded.
Statistics on road collisions are collected via data reported to the Department by police forces. Provisionally, there were an estimated 1,194 casualties in collisions involving private or rental e-scooters in year ending June 2024, compared to 1,413 in the year ending June 2023.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning the (a) sale and (b) import of devices which allow the 15.5 mph speed limit to be removed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst the department has no plans to make an assessment on this, product safety laws already set requirements for the safety of consumer products placed on the market. This includes e-bikes and related accessories. Manufacturers and importers must ensure that their products comply with this legislation, and distributors must not supply products that they know, or should know, to be dangerous.
The Government’s Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will provide powers to further strengthen our product safety framework.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take legislative steps to limit the increase in the cost of single journey rail tickets relative to return tickets.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Regulated fares make up around 45 per cent of rail fares and include commuter fares, such as season ticket and shorter-distance peak return, alongside longer-distance off-peak returns to ensure an affordable, walk-up option is available for leisure passengers. Where there are no return fares, the single fare is regulated.
We have been exploring options to improve flexibility for passengers. This has included working with London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to trial switching the regulated fare from the return fare to the single fare. This has reduced the price of many single fares on LNER so that all singles are now priced at around half the cost of the old return fare. The impact of this trial is being evaluated and will be published in due course. We will consider the evaluation carefully before taking further decisions.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to cap the administration fee charged by third party train ticket websites.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Third-party retailers have the option to charge a booking fee on their website, though not all of them do. Passengers can book rail tickets without a booking fee by purchasing direct from one of the train operating company websites/apps.
Last year the Office of Rail and Road published its ‘Review of the Transparency of Fees Charged when Purchasing Rail Tickets Online’. We disseminated this report to all rail ticket retailers and asked them to ensure consumers understand the fees that will be charged and can make informed purchasing decisions.
The maximum administration fees that can be charged for refunds was reduced from £10 to £5 earlier this year, as per the National Rail Conditions of Travel. This doesn’t apply to Advance tickets, which are normally non-refundable, nor to refunds on Season Tickets.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 creating a commuter pass similar to the Swiss Half Fare card that allows individuals to pay an upfront premium for a yearly pass and receive half price rail travel.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are many Railcards that provide eligible passengers a one third discount off the cost of most rail fares. Some Railcards in this suite can be used during the morning peak, although the 16-25, 26-30 and Veterans’ Railcards have a £12 minimum fare before 10:00 am.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to support local authorities in improving enforcement of licence conditions for street works.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport introduced a performance-based inspections regime in April 2023 to ensure utility companies were incentivised to produce reinstatements that are fit for purpose following works and comply with site safety requirements. This change allows authorities to inspect utility companies with high rates of defects in their reinstatements and safety checks more often than those who comply with the statutory Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways and the safety code of practice. Utility companies pay for each of these inspections. Highway authorities also have the power to direct utility companies to carry out remedial works at the utility company’s expense if they identify reinstatements that do not meet the standards in the code.
The previous Government consulted on raising the level of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) available for some street works offences including breaching permit conditions. We will publish a response to that consultation in due course.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce disruption to road users from utility companies undertaking road works.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is committed to supporting the effective planning and management of road works by utility companies and local authorities. Works are needed to install and maintain the services on which we all rely and to, for example, roll out broadband and install electric vehicle charge points and to repair potholes. We continue to improve our Street Manager digital service, which is used by all utility companies and authorities to raise and approve the permits needed for works. The service also streams open data on live and planned works which can then be used for journey planning services. We are supporting the roll-out of more lane rental schemes to reduce congestion from works on the busiest streets at the busiest times. We are keen to explore ways to improve the legislative framework, and I will publish a response in due course to a consultation on raising fines and introducing overrun charges at weekends.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to support local authorities in establishing lane rental schemes.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government recognises that lane rental schemes have proven to be an effective way of reducing congestion from works on the busiest streets at the busiest times. I have just approved a new scheme in East Sussex. To support local areas who wish to apply for a lane rental scheme, the Department is updating guidance and producing templates to make the process easier. Resources are being allocated to ensure bids are assessed promptly, and officials are currently speaking to local authorities that plan to apply for lane rental.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to review the (a) operation and (b) fines attached to Parking Charge Notices.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have no current plans to raise on-street parking penalty charges. It is important to strike the right balance between deterrence and fairness. Organisations representing local authorities have undertaken research into penalty charge levels and shared their findings with the Department. The Department will be reviewing the issue in light of this research.
Local authorities may employ contractors to carry out on-street civil parking enforcement on their behalf, but ultimately, it is the local authority to which parking fines are payable.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps with the motor industry to improve the affordability of electric vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is reducing the upfront cost for zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by providing plug-in vehicle grants for vans, trucks, motorcycles, taxis and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Drivers of ZEVs also benefit from favourable tax rates, such as generous company car tax incentives. They are also exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) until April 2025, after which electric vehicles will continue to have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles.
The Department has regular engagement with representatives from the automotive industry to discuss the transition to zero emission vehicles.