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Written Question
Rolling Stock
Thursday 7th July 2022

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

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


Written Question
Rolling Stock
Thursday 7th July 2022

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

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


Written Question
Taxis: Training
Wednesday 8th June 2022

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.


Written Question
Electric Scooters: Accidents
Monday 23rd May 2022

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.


Written Question
Driving Licences: Applications
Monday 14th March 2022

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.


Written Question
Road Traffic Offences
Monday 18th October 2021

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.


Written Question
Aviation: Coronavirus
Monday 19th April 2021

Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to require people seeking to board international flights to provide a negative covid-19 test.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Pre-departure testing is already a requirement for anyone travelling to the UK. Once international travel resumes, passengers will need to check the requirements of their destination country as they may require proof of a negative Covid-19 test to travel abroad.


Written Question
British Airways
Thursday 11th June 2020

Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times he has (a) spoken to and (b) requested to speak to (i) Willie Walsh, chief executive of the International Airlines Group and (ii) Alex Cruz, chief executive of British Airways since the start of the 2020.

Answered by Kelly Tolhurst

It would not be appropriate to comment on individual engagements or their frequency. The Department for Transport has historically maintained regular engagement with British Airways/International Airlines Group as an important industry stakeholder. In recognition of the challenging times that the aviation sector continues to face due to Covid-19, we have kept an open dialogue with UK airlines, including British Airways/International Airlines Group, through regular structured and bilateral engagements at both Ministerial and official levels.


Written Question
Transport: Schools
Monday 8th June 2020

Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to local authorities of providing free home to school transport in (a) Ealing, (b) west London, (c) inner London boroughs, (d) outer London boroughs and (e) all of London; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The £1.6bn provided to TfL to maintain services included conditions which were agreed to by TfL. These conditions included temporarily suspending free bus travel for under-18s as part of wider travel demand management measures. Any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still be given free travel to and from school. It is for local education authorities to liaise with local transport providers on how they can fulfil their obligations for eligible children. The cost of providing travel for eligible children on TfL services will not fall on London boroughs.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Brexit
Wednesday 9th January 2019

Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Answered by Chris Grayling

DfT currently has 160 staff working directly on EU Exit and is drawing in more resource. It is likely to be necessary to pause or defer a number of existing workstreams in order to release enough staff to support the departmental response to a no deal exit from the EU. These work areas are being identified through a review of all key activities and priorities.