Tag: Daniel Zeichner

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase cycling among (a) women and (b) older people.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government remains committed to its manifesto target to double the number of journeys made by bicycle. In order to achieve this, all potential cyclists’ needs must be considered, including women and older people.

The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking, with SR2015 announcing funding support of over £300m. In addition, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

By improving existing cycle provision and ensuring that cyclists are considered when designing and building new infrastructure then our roads will be more appealing to cyclists of all ages and ability.

The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published in summer 2016, will fully explain the Government’s investment strategy for cycling and walking.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the third progress report on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources for the UK, when his Department plans to consult on the future shape of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation scheme.

Andrew Jones

We expect to consult later this year on amendments to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) officials, (b) other staff and (c) contracted workers in his Department are working on licensing of taxi and private hire vehicles in the Buses and Taxis division.

Andrew Jones

There are currently (a) two officials, (b) one further official on secondment to the Department and (c) no contracted workers working on taxi and private hire vehicle policy in the Department for Transport. All work in the Buses and Taxis division. The subject forms one part of the officials’ roles. This level of staffing for work on taxis and private hire vehicles is essentially consistent with that going back to 2009/10.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce details of the new Access Fund.

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 would be preceded by a £20m Sustainable Travel Transition Year for 2016/17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26407, what funding for cycling in London is included within the (a) £925 million of capital funding and (b) £659 million of resource funding paid to Transport for London.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The annual funding grant paid to the Greater London Authority by the Department is not ring-fenced and it is a matter for the Mayor to determine how it is spent.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what changes his Department has made to the collection of data on bus fares and punctuality since 2010.

Andrew Jones

The department operates two surveys to collect data on bus fares and bus punctuality. Bus fares information is collected from bus operators every quarter and bus punctuality is collected from local authorities every year, both via online surveys.

In 2012 and 2015 the sample of operators from whom the Department collected data on bus fares was revised.

For the 2012/13 bus punctuality data collection the following voluntary questions were added to the survey:

• Do you continue to collect/record data on bus patronage in your area?
• If yes, can you please enter the number of passenger journeys on local bus services?
• Please indicate if you are able to share figures for individual operators with DfT (solely for use in validation of figures we collect directly from operators)
• If possible, please provide a contact name/email for any queries on the patronage data and any relevant notes in the box below (for example, if figures are not yet available but will be later)
• The Department is also interested in learning more about the number of passengers carried on flexible or demand responsive modes of transport, including community transport. If you are able to supply any information on these for your area (such as number of passengers, nature of service) please enter brief details below

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s current projections are for Government annual spending on the (a) Cycle City Ambition Grant, (b) Bikeability cycle training, (c) Highways England Funding, (d) Access Funds and (e) any other under the cycling and walking strategy programmes for each of the next five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The projected budgets for the next five years for the (a) Cycle City Ambition Grant, (b) Bikeability cycle training, (c) Highways England Funding and (d) Access Funds are as follows:

Programme	Total
Cycle Cities Ambition grant	£99m
Bikeability cycle training grant	£50m
Highways England Fund	£85m
Sustainable Travel Transition Year / Access Fund	£80m

Much more widely, however, other Government funding streams will also contribute to projects which will deliver improved cycling and walking. Through the Local Growth Fund, an investment of at least £476m is planned by local enterprise partnerships for cycling infrastructure.

From the Integrated Transport Block funding, local authorities will use £194m to invest in cycling and walking.

Regarding highways maintenance, from 2018/19 the plan is to change the formula used to allocate local highways maintenance capital funding so that it also takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting, which it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding for local highways maintenance will be based on footway and cycleway lengths and equates to £196m.

In addition, a record £6bn will be spent on tackling potholes and improving local roads between 2015 and 2021, which will benefit all road users, including cyclists.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2016 to Question 33300, for what reason the objectives for walking contained in the draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy are not measurable.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The objectives for walking are measureable using the total number of walking stages per person per year and increasing 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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on his review of the legal and financial implications of an alternative pavement parking regime.

Andrew Jones

I chaired a roundtable meeting with stakeholders in March to discuss the practical, legal and financial implications of a possible alternative enforcement regime for pavement parking in England, outside London. The Department aims to build the evidence base on this issue over coming months working with local authorities and other interested parties. The outcome of this work will inform consideration of options later in the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39160, what the figures for his Department’s spending on walking programmes in each year to 2021 are in real terms.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Programme	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	Total
Walking	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Real term spending	£97.00	£88.45	£67.01	£42.10	£21.60	£316.16

We have applied the GDP deflator rates to the figures that were provided in response to the original PQ 37869. It should be noted that the future years GDP deflator rates are estimates only.

Note that the above totals include sums from within current Local Growth Fund allocations. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise Partnerships, the amount supporting walking projects through to 2020/21 is likely to rise.

In addition to the totals above, from within the record £6 billion allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, this funding can help maintain footways and cycleways.