The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the pass rates in driving tests were in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last five years.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not record pass rates for each constituent part of the UK. Pass rates by test centre are published on GOV.UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average wait for driving tests is in each English region.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency records its data in four regions, which are; Scotland and North England, Central England and North Wales, South Wales and South West England and London and the South East. The average waiting times in January 2016 for these areas are listed below.
|
Scotland & North England |
Waiting time in weeks |
|
Jan-16 |
|
|
Average Car Waiting time |
8.4 |
|
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time |
1.3 |
|
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time |
2.1 |
|
Average Voc Waiting time |
7.9 |
|
Average ADI 2 Waiting time |
7.2 |
|
Average ADI 3 Waiting time |
7.1 |
|
Average Taxi Waiting time |
8.0 |
|
Central England & North Wales |
Waiting time in weeks |
|
Jan-16 |
|
|
Average Car Waiting time |
8.4 |
|
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time |
1.3 |
|
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time |
2.1 |
|
Average Voc Waiting time |
7.9 |
|
Average ADI 2 Waiting time |
7.2 |
|
Average ADI 3 Waiting time |
7.1 |
|
Average Taxi Waiting time |
8.0 |
|
South Wales & South West England |
Waiting time in weeks |
|
Jan-16 |
|
|
Average Car Waiting time |
8.7 |
|
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time |
3.6 |
|
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time |
2.1 |
|
Average Voc Waiting time |
5.7 |
|
Average ADI 2 Waiting time |
5.7 |
|
Average ADI 3 Waiting time |
7.8 |
|
Average Taxi Waiting time |
7.6 |
|
London & South East |
Waiting time in weeks |
|
Jan-16 |
|
|
Average Car Waiting time |
7.5 |
|
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time |
1.5 |
|
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time |
1.5 |
|
Average Voc Waiting time |
3.3 |
|
Average ADI 2 Waiting time |
3.8 |
|
Average ADI 3 Waiting time |
3.3 |
|
Average Taxi Waiting time |
3.4 |
|
National |
Waiting time in weeks |
|
Jan-16 |
|
|
Average Car Waiting time |
8.4 |
|
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time |
2.7 |
|
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time |
2.4 |
|
Average Voc Waiting time |
5.3 |
|
Average ADI 2 Waiting time |
5.5 |
|
Average ADI 3 Waiting time |
5.9 |
|
Average Taxi Waiting time |
6.7 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the numbers of driving examiners in England on waiting times for tests; and what steps he is taking to encourage more examiners to qualify.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) undertake quarterly test forecast reviews to identify the likely demand of driving tests, from which it calculates the numbers of examiners required in order to service those demands. Those numbers are reviewed against the current examiners numbers and where increases are identified, these are factored into DVSA’s recruitment campaigns. DVSA usually run two recruitment campaigns per year, with additional campaigns where necessary i.e. where there has been insufficient take-up/success in geographical areas.
This process has, over the years, generally worked well, but the unforeseen and exceptionally high increase in demand for driving tests in 2015. Across the whole of DVSA it has recruited 167 new driving examiners during 2015/16 with a further 60 either attending or booked on to new entrant courses. DVSA has also offered posts to a further 40 potential examiners.
DVSA has also been re-prioritising the activities of examiners and offering them additional overtime in order to increase testing capacity.
Over 2015 DVSA introduced a number of changes to the marketing of its recruitment campaign in order to try and encourage interest from wider and more diverse groups, additionally DVSA undertook two targeted campaigns for motorcycle examiners and LGV examiners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with people who run airports on excessive VAT charging in retail outlets based in airports.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport meets regularly with airport operators and the issue of the treatment of VAT in airside retail shops has been reviewed. The Chancellor announced on the 31 December 2015 a review into airport sales to make sure VAT savings are being passed on to shoppers. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment at this stage whilst HM Treasury is undertaking this review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefits to passengers with sight problems of requiring all new buses to have audio-visual next stop and final destination announcements.
Andrew Jones
Accessible on-board information has the potential to give a range of passengers, including those who are visually impaired, greater confidence in using bus services. Traditionally audio/visual systems have been expensive to fit and maintain, however innovative and low cost solutions are making the technology more affordable. I encourage bus operators to consider the benefits to all of their customers of providing it on their vehicles and progress continues to be made. For example recently several operators across the country have invested in new buses with audio-visual announcements on their major bus routes. The Department is also aware that at least five local authorities are increasing the number of buses with audio-visual announcements funded through the Department’s £70 million ‘Better Bus Area’ fund.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was to the public purse of graffiti removal across the (a) Highways England and (b) Network Rail networks in each of the last five years.
Andrew Jones
The Highways England does not separately identify the exact annual cost of removing graffiti from its road signs and structures, as this forms part of a wider contracted service which includes a range of maintenance activities.
Network Rail spends more than £3.5 million a year removing graffiti. This spending is devolved to local teams and it would involve disproportionate cost to retrieve exact annual expenditure. However, there is no reason to expect significant annual variations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects Highways England operatives to attend to the day burning street lamps on the M67 between Denton and Hyde in Greater Manchester.
Andrew Jones
There was a fault in the lighting mechanism along the M67 Motorway. To ensure that the lighting was fully operational overnight, Highways England has attended to the lighting mechanism and temporarily bypassed the defective component. As a result, the lighting columns were temporarily lit both during the day and night. Highways England returned the lighting to its correct hours of operation on 15 February 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2015 to Question 18956, if he will provide details of the new Access fund for sustainable travel.
Mr Robert Goodwill
On 15 February 2016, we announced that the new Access fund would be launched later in 2016 for delivery in 2017/18, and will be preceded by a £20m Sustainable Travel Transition Year for 2016/17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.
Mr Robert Goodwill
As a legally compliant employer we do provide healthcare benefits where we have a legal obligation to do so imposed by The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). This means that where staff transfer with their work into the Civil Service then we are legally obliged to match their terms and conditions and these might include travel allowances and subsidised health insurance
No staff in the Department currently receive a home to work travel allowance, a car allowance or subsidised health insurance, which compares to the position before 2010 where fewer than 5 staff received subsidised health insurance.
The number of staff in the Department for Transport’s non-departmental public bodies who currently receive a home to work travel allowance, a car allowance or subsidised health insurance is shown in the table below:
|
Home to work travel allowance |
Car allowance |
Subsidised health insurance |
|
|
Number of staff |
less than 5 |
less than 5 |
12 |
Where there are less than 5 staff receiving these allowances we are not releasing the number to ensure they cannot be identified.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff in his Department receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.
David Mundell
No staff in the Scotland Office receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance or (c) subsidised health insurance.