Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains ran on the rail network with fewer carriages than timetabled, in each of the last six months, for which data is available.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The number of trains operated on the rail network with less capacity than contractually required, for those operators for which data is available, is shown below:
Rail Period | |||||
12/12/21 - 8/1/22 | 9/1/22 - 5/2/22 | 6/2/22 - 5/3/22 | 6/3/22 - 31/3/22 | 1/4/22 - 30/4 22 | 1/5/22 - 28/5/22 |
1,090 | 685 | 754 | 471 | 682 | 572 |
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains ran on the rail network in each of the last six months, for which data is available, with fewer carriages than timetabled for each Train Operating Company.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The number of services operated by each operator with less capacity than contractually required, for those operators for which data is available, is shown below:
Train Operator | Rail Period |
|
|
|
|
|
| 12/12/21 - 8/1/22 | 9/1/22 - 5/2/22 | 6/2/22 - 5/3/22 | 6/3/22 - 31/3/22 | 1/4/22 - 30/4 22 | 1/5/22 - 28/5/22 |
Abellio Greater Anglia (Peak) | 5 | 0 | 18 | 7 | 10 | N/A |
c2c (Peak) | 83 | 51 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 16 |
Chiltern Railway (All Day, Sun - Sat) | 81 | 61 | 92 | 29 | 43 | 47 |
CrossCountry (All Day, Mon - Fri) | 97 | 98 | 89 | 74 | 93 | 85 |
First TransPennine Express (All Day, Sun - Sat) | 110 | 74 | 94 | 107 | 115 | 99 |
Govia Thameslink Railway (Peak) | 121 | 199 | 225 | 87 | 78 | 62 |
LNER (All Day, Sun - Sat) | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Northern Trains (Peak) | 41 | 37 | 47 | 55 | 101 | 131 |
Southeastern (Peak) | 14 | 18 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
South Western Railway (All Day, Sun - Sat) | 404 | 73 | 66 | 27 | 68 | 41 |
West Midlands Trains (All Day, Sun - Sat) | 127 | 71 | 93 | 68 | 161 | 81 |
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will introduce mandatory training for taxi and minicab drivers to ensure that people with sight loss are not discriminated against when using those services.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Effective disability awareness training can help ensure that taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers have the knowledge, skills and confidence to provide passengers with appropriate assistance, so that they can travel independently and with confidence.
On 28 March, we published a consultation on updated best practice guidance for local licensing authorities, which includes a stronger recommendation that every driver is required to complete disability awareness training.
We remain committed to introducing mandatory disability awareness training for taxi and PHV drivers through new National Minimum Standards for licensing authorities when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to help protect people with sight loss from collisions with e-scooters that are used illegally.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Safety will always be a top priority as we take forward steps to manage the impacts of e-scooters in the UK. There are existing penalties for illegal use of e-scooters, including using e-scooters on the pavements, and enforcement is a matter for the police. The Department has been in regular contact with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), who are developing a national strategy for enforcing the law around e-scooters to encourage a uniform approach to the issue.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken for the DVLA to process driving license applications was in each of the last five years for which data is available; and what the target time was for each of those years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The average time taken for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to process driving licence applications in each of the last five years is shown in the table below.
Year | To dispatch a: | Average days to issue |
2016/17 | Ordinary driving licence | 1.62 |
Vocational driving licence | 1.39 | |
2017/18 | Ordinary driving licence | 1.53 |
Vocational driving licence | 1.81 | |
2018/19 | Ordinary driving licence | 1.57 |
Vocational driving licence | 2.33 | |
2019/20 | Ordinary driving licence | 1.41 |
Vocational driving licence | 2.42 | |
2020/21 | Ordinary driving licence online | 2.00 |
Vocational driving licence online | 2.00 | |
Ordinary driving licence by post | 14.34 | |
Vocational driving licence by post | 6.71 |
The processing of paper applications in 2020/21 was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Performance against targets is published annually in the DVLA’s annual report and accounts and is available online here.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to carry out a full review of road traffic offences.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government takes road safety seriously and keeps the law under regular review. However, we do not currently have any plans to conduct a full review of all driving offences and penalties.