Tag: Daniel Zeichner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will carry out an impact assessment of the effect that the replacement of disability living allowance by personal independence payment has had on the mobility of disabled people.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department published an impact assessment about the reform of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under the Welfare Reform Act 2012 in May 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-living-allowance-reform-personal-independence-payment-impact-assessment.

A further assessment on estimates of projected DLA and PIP caseloads was published in December 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timetable-for-introducing-personal-independence-payment-and-estimates-of-projected-caseloads-policy-briefing-note

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the walk to school programme on (a) children’s health and (b) reducing traffic congestion.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Walk to School programme funded by the Local Sustainable Transport Fund achieved significant modal shift: in primary schools the number of pupils walking all or part of the way to school increased by 23% and the number being driven all the way decreased by 30%. In secondary schools the number of pupils walking increased by 12%. These new walking journeys, many of which were converted from car, resulted in considerable transport and health benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the proposed Buses Bill, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on competition in the bus services market of bus operators retaining vehicle fleets, depots and other strategic assets when bus services are franchised.

Andrew Jones

The actual competition impacts will depend on how franchising is implemented at the local level. The Department’s high level assessment of the potential competition impacts of the Buses Bill proposals will be set out in the Impact Assessment which will accompany the introduction of the Bill. Individual local authorities will be better placed to conduct a detailed competition assessment of any changes they propose to make to their local bus market in light of the Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that the £500 million Access Fund is spent on sustainable transport projects.

James Wharton

The £500 million Access Fund is part of the Department for Transport’s overall contribution to the Local Growth Fund in this spending review period. As with the majority of the Local Growth Fund it is available to Local Enterprise Partnerships to bid for and spend in line with their own priorities. LEPs are already planning to spend considerably more than £500 million on sustainable transport and we would encourage them to propose ambitious sustainable transport measures in their further growth deal bids this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how he will ensure the Government’s £80 million five-year Access Fund will be spent on sustainable transport projects.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport allocated £20 million of the £80 million Access Fund to a transition year between 2016 and 2017.

The primary objectives of the Sustainable Travel Transition Year remain as per the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to support the local economy; reduce carbon emissions; improve access to jobs, training and education; and increase levels of people cycling and walking. The competition for this was held on 15th February and closed on the 29th March 2016. The competition has now been assessed and the winning bids will be announced shortly.

This transition year has been set up to support local councils in the switch from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to the Access Fund.

The launch of the £60 million Access Fund will take place later this summer 2016, to provide further support for sustainable and accessible travel projects. Improving access to employment, education and services and improving walking and cycling uptake will be the core objectives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to undertake a review of the sentencing guidelines for traffic offences.

Dominic Raab

Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales. Following the announcement by the previous Justice Secretary of a government review of driving offences and penalties, the Sentencing Council have paused their review of sentencing guidelines for causing death by driving.

The government is aware of concerns about a number of sentencing issues and is committed to making sure sentencing for driving crimes is proportionate within the context of our wider sentencing framework. It is our intention to commence a consultation in due course which will look at driving offences and penalties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Bus Reform Workshops: background information, published in September 2015, for what reason provisions related to Clause 21 of the Bus Services Bill on the prohibiting of local authorities from forming bus companies were not discussed in that document.

Andrew Jones

The workshops held in September 2015 were designed to help shape the content of the Bill. The provisions related to Clause 21 had not yet been drafted when the workshops took place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce new national regulations for private hire driver licences in line with Transport for London’s new regulations for private hire drivers which will come into force on 1 October 2016.

Andrew Jones

The Government wants to see taxis and private hire vehicles prosper in London and elsewhere. The regulations issued by Transport for London are a matter for them as the local licensing authority. The legislation that provides for licensing of taxi and private hire vehicle services is enabling in its nature, giving local licensing authorities the discretion to set standards that they deem to be appropriate for their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the decline in average traffic speed over the last five years.

Andrew Jones

The Department publishes statistics on average traffic speeds on locally managed ‘A’ roads in England and the Strategic Road Network. For locally managed ‘A’ roads, average speeds have decreased since 2014, when the Department started measuring speeds over the full 24 hours of the day. This is in line with the previously published statistical series which presented average speeds, on locally managed ‘A’ roads during the weekday morning peak, decreasing from 2012 to the end of that series in 2015.

The statistics for average speeds on the Strategic Road Network start in 2015-16. The latest statistics in this series (the 12 months to June 2016) presented a small decrease in average speeds compared to 2015-16 (the 12 months to March 2016).

The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of the reasons for the decline in average speeds. However, we believe that the decreases observed in average speeds on locally managed ‘A roads in England since 2012 are, at least in part, a result of the impact of increases in traffic on these roads. We know that people rely on roads in increasing numbers as our economy grows, and that is why, for example, we are investing £15billion in the strategic road network which will help to help tackle congestion.

In addition, in 2012-13 there were unusually high levels of rainfall in England, which we also believe contributed to the decrease in average speeds at that time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 8 of the Government’s report entitled, Childhood Obesity: a Plan for Action, published in August 2016, whether the clear target to increase the number of children walking to school in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will be quantifiable.

Andrew Jones

The objective to increase the percentage of children aged 5 to 10 that usually walk to school, as mentioned on page 6 of the draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, is evidently quantifiable in that we will know if the objective has been achieved if the percentage of those walking to school in the future is higher than the percentage at the current time.

We hope to publish the final Strategy once all considerations have been taken into account, following analysis of responses to the draft Strategy consultation.