Tag: Daniel Zeichner

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Highways England document, Cycling Strategy: our approach, published in January 2016, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the needs of cyclists are also considered when improvements are made to the local road network.

Andrew Jones

Decisions on how best to provide for cyclists on local roads are matters for the local authority – not only do they have a duty to balance the needs of all road users when considering how to design and manage their road networks, but they also have a detailed understanding of their roads.

Our guidance in Local Transport Note 2/08: Cycle Infrastructure Design is comprehensive and allows councils to design good, safe schemes within current legislation. It already includes most of the measures highlighted as good practice by, for example, the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, and British Cycling.

Government promotes best practice through the Cycle Proofing Working Group; an advisory body to the Government on ‘cycle proofing’. They share knowledge of cycle proofing with those designing and implementing cycle infrastructure on UK roads through their website:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/cycle-proofing-working-group

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 23952, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010.

Andrew Jones

Departmental Ministers and officials have held meetings with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency since 2010, but the precise number is not calculable.

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.