Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission independent research to analyse the effectiveness of a voluntary approach to disability awareness training for bus staff.

The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the use of a derogation applied under EU Regulation 181/2011 (concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport) exempting bus and coach drivers from undertaking mandatory disability awareness training.

To inform this review, on 24^th February 2014 my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Transport, Baroness Kramer, wrote to various bus industry representatives, disability groups and charities with an interest in disability awareness training requesting information on the structure and effectiveness of disability awareness training courses currently available.

The commissioning of further research on this subject is one of a number of options the Department is considering in response to the findings of the review. Once we have considered all responses to the review, we will provide further details on how the Department intends to proceed shortly.