Tag: Daniel Zeichner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of how many subsidised bus routes have been withdrawn since 2010.

Andrew Jones

The provision of bus services that require subsidy is a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities. Latest figures (2013-14) show that £318m a year was spent by local authorities (outside London) doing so.

My Department also provides around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to English local authorities to help deliver bus services. This central funding has been ring-fenced until 2016-17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he intends to implement a single consolidated legislative framework for taxis throughout England and Wales.

Andrew Jones

A single legislative framework for taxis and private hire vehicles throughout England and Wales was one of the recommendations of the Law Commission following their comprehensive review of taxi and private hire legislation.

The Government is continuing to consider the Law Commission’s report in its entirety and in line with the protocol that exists between the Government and the Law Commission, the Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the legality of private car park companies charging for overstaying.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government recently published a discussion paper about parking on private land entitled “Parking reform: tackling unfair practices”. The issue of companies charging for overstaying was raised in a significant number of responses. My Department is considering all of the circumstances surrounding overstay charges. We will publish a response to the discussion paper in due course setting out the Government’s proposed course of action.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of road crossings in England are (a) puffin and (b) pedex crossings.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport does not hold information on numbers or types of pedestrian crossings installed by local authorities.

Provision of pedestrian crossings is the responsibility of local traffic authorities, who are not required to inform the Department when installing crossings. This includes decisions on location and type of crossing, which will take into account local factors such as road layout, traffic speed and volume, and pedestrian flow.

The Department gives advice on assessing and designing pedestrian crossings in two Local Transport Notes (LTNs), LTN 1/95: The Assessment of Pedestrian Crossings and LTN 2/95: The Design of Pedestrian Crossings. These are available to download from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-notes.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to develop (a) a hydrogen vehicle refuelling network and (b) an electric vehicle network.

Andrew Jones

The Government recognises that having joined up refuelling and charging infrastructure is a prerequisite for the mass take up of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles together with battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

In October last year, the previous Government announced £11m for the Hydrogen for Transport Advancement Programme to support the roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) and associated refuelling infrastructure. In March 2015 the successful bidders for funding to support an initial network of 12 hydrogen refuelling stations were announced – a significant first step towards the initial national network of 65 identified by the joint Government-industry UKH2Mobility project.

We are helping both motorists and local authorities with the upfront cost of purchasing and installing electric vehicle chargepoints with grant funding through our Electric Vehicle Homecharge and On Street Residential Schemes. As well as this, the Government is currently refreshing its strategy on how best to support the development of the wider public charging network which is now benefitting from significant levels of private sector investment. The UK now has one of the best rapid charging networks in Europe and £15m was committed in the 2014 Autumn Statement for Highways England to ensure drivers are never more than 20 miles from a chargepoint on the Strategic Road Network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department’s policy remit on off-street parking includes parking for healthcare facilities, railway stations and local authority housing estates.

Mr Marcus Jones

Responsibility for off-street parking transferred to DCLG in March of 2015, including Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and those aspects of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Traffic Management Act 2004 which relate to off-street parking.

The Department of Health have responsibly for setting the policy contect by which hopsital car parks operate and the Department of Transport retain an interest in railway parking. My Department has reponsibility for Local Authority housing estates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce compulsory microchipping of owned cats.

George Eustice

The Government encourages owners to microchip their cats. However, we do not consider that it is necessary to introduce compulsory microchipping of cats because the risks associated with stray cats are not as high as those associated with stray or displaced dogs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to empower local authorities in proposed clean air zones to charge private cars which do not comply with EU vehicle emission standards.

Rory Stewart

Local Authorities already have powers under Part 3 of the Transport Act 2000 which can be used to establish Clean Air Zones. Vehicles have to comply with European emissions standards in order to be put on the market and we have been pushing strongly for action to improve the standards and for real driving emission testing to be introduced as quickly as possible.

As set out in our air quality plan for reducing nitrogen dioxide emissions, published on 17 December 2015, we will be requiring five cities in England to introduce Clean Air Zones and discourage certain types of vehicles from entering them. The plan identifies different categories of Clean Air Zone which may be appropriate depending on the circumstances of a particular Local Authority introducing a zone. However, the plan explains that, for those five cities, we have assessed that we can bring the UK into compliance with nitrogen dioxide limits without requiring the Local Authorities to impose restrictions on passenger cars. Further, the plan sets out the Mayor of London’s commitment to introduce an Ultra Low Emission Zone by September 2020 covering a range of vehicles, including passenger cars.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent analysis his Department has made of levels of cycling among different age and gender groups.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The number of cycle trips per person per year for different age and gender groups are given in the table (based on data for England in 2014) are given in the table.

	Males	Females	All people
0-16	22	6	14
17-20	30	5	18
21-29	33	13	23
30-39	33	16	25
40-49	38	10	24
50-59	29	11	20
60-69	22	6	14
70+	14	2	7
All ages	28	9	18

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she plans to take to support feasibility studies into local renewable energy projects beyond 2017, following the end of the Rural Community Energy Fund.

Andrea Leadsom

This Government is committed to the devolution of powers and responsibilities to local people and local decision makers. We believe that this will allow them to identify and develop their local area as they want and optimising the assets and resources available to them.

To date, over 40 areas have submitted interest in this process and a number of devolution deals have been signed many including energy as a significant part of that deal. DECC will continue to support local areas in developing their own plans.

In the meantime, the Rural Community Energy Fund continues not only to fund feasibility but also delivery of projects for local renewables. Our heat networks delivery unit and Salix are supporting other local energy priorities, and we announced significant additional funding for both schemes during this Parliament.