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  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what action he intends to take against employers who neglect their responsibilities for occupational road safety; and whether he plans to support an extension of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 to include work-related road casualties.

    Andrew Jones

    The main regulatory aspects of driving for work are enforced by the Police. They take the lead in the investigating road traffic incidents and can refer cases to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if they believe there are clear employer management failings contributing to the incident.

    In our British Road Safety Statement, published in December, we highlighted helping employers to reduce road related collisions at work as a priority. We will start this process by evaluating existing safer driving for work schemes to understand what works, with a view to promoting existing good practice to employer networks and other occupational drivers.

    The government has no plans to extend the scope of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations [RIDDOR] to cover work related road incidents.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what statutory arrangements are in place to penalise rail franchises which consistently perform poorly; and how often such arrangements have been called on since 2010.

    Claire Perry

    Section 55 of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended) gives the Secretary of State power to make an Enforcement Order where a train operator contravenes a term of the franchise agreement. Such an Order may require the train operator to take specified steps to address the contravention and can include a requirement to pay a penalty if the Train Operator contravenes the Order.

    Section 57A of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended) gives the Secretary of State a separate power to impose a penalty for contravention of a term of the franchise agreement as an alternative to making an Enforcement Order or in addition to such an Order (provided that the Order does not include a penalty provision).

    Since 2010 no train operator has been required to make a payment for breach of an Enforcement Order under section 55. Some 13 Enforcement Orders under Section 55 have been issued, and one train operator has been required to make a penalty payment imposed under section 57A.

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether recent changes to Government Buying Standards to encourage the uptake of safer vehicles will apply to the NHS.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government Buying Standards (GBS) are recommended for the wider public sector but outside central government they
    are not obligatory.

    The current GBS has been in place since 2012. As stated in the recent publication “Improving air quality in the UK”, revised standards for cars and vans will be published this year. Revisions will encourage cleaner and safer vehicles where appropriate.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria are by which his Department measures the level of service provided by rail franchises operating.

    Claire Perry

    Depending on the franchise, we measure the level of services provided by the performance against the set benchmarks (capacity, cancellations and delay minutes), and/or the Public Performance Measure. Some franchises are also measured against the National Passenger Survey results.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the Government has made on an impact analysis and consultation on changes to current pavement parking legislation since the withdrawal of the Pavement Parking (Protection of Vulnerable Pedestrians) Bill.

    Andrew Jones

    I intend to convene a round table in March, the details of which are currently being finalised. The round table will discuss the topic, and help to inform the Department’s thinking and the work it plans to do later this year to examine more closely the legal and financial implications of alternative approaches.

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how his Department will monitor implementation of the measures set out in the Government’s British Road Safety Statement, published in December 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    The British Road Safety Statement was published on 21 December 2015. It includes a number of actions to be delivered across government and in partnership with others in private, public and civil society organisations.

    We are currently setting up monitoring arrangements.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects his Department’s review of the Office of Rail and Road to conclude.

    Claire Perry

    The Rail Regulation Call for Evidence which was published on GOV.UK on 10 December 2015 stated that the project would be ‘run in parallel with the Shaw Report and conclude by March 2016’.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24477, which railway stations in which regions are fitted with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers.

    Claire Perry

    Further to the answer to Question 24477 the attached tables list railway stations by region that are fitted with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers.

    The table contains 710 rail stations – this is 8 fewer than the previous answer, because in the answer provided to the Hon. member on 2nd February, three stations operated by more than one train operator were split into multiple entries and the five stations in addition to Gatwick Airport that were involved in January’s extension of Oyster were also listed twice. This duplication has been removed.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many local authorities have applied for funding from the permanent pothole fund since the announcement of that fund in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; and how many applications for such funding his Department expects to be approved in (a) 2015-16 and (b) the 2015-20 Parliament.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport is providing over £6.1 billion funding to local highway authorities in England between 2015 and 2021 for local highways maintenance. This includes repairing roads that might be damaged due to severe winter weather. This funding includes £50 million per annum from 2016 to 2021 for a dedicated Pothole Action Fund as announced in the recent Spending Review.

    The Department for Transport is currently working up criteria on how the Pothole Action Fund will operate and an announcement will be made in due course on this. Therefore no applications have yet been submitted nor have any decisions been made on how this funding will be allocated.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with representatives of Uber since July 2015.

    Andrew Jones

    Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website.

    Since July 2015, representatives of Uber have had one meeting with Department for Transport officials.