Tag: Daniel Zeichner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect that the decision of the Quality Contract Scheme board on the Quality Contract proposed to be run by Nexus for Tyne and Wear will have on city devolution deals.

Andrew Jones

The Quality Contract Scheme Board’s report concerns an individual case brought under existing legislation. It is not about the bus franchising powers which will be included in the Buses Bill.

The Government is determined that local transport authorities with ambitious plans to grow and develop should be given the powers they need, and we will legislate through the Buses Bill to deliver on our devolution commitments.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the consultation on the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will not take place until spring 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will consist of a number of distinct elements that need to be produced prior to formal consultation. My Department has already begun work on these elements which will include a Statement of Funds Available and a National Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, as well as establishing appropriate governance arrangements. Although the formal consultation will not be till the spring, we are engaging with stakeholder groups throughout development.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many children have died in road accidents since 2010-11; and if he will estimate what proportion of those children were from households in the lowest income decile.

Andrew Jones

The table below gives the number of children (aged 0-15) killed in reported personal-injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2010 to 2014.

The Department does not collect any information on the household income of road causalities.

Table: Child (aged 0-15) fatalities in reported personal injury road accidents: GB, 2010-2014

	2005-2009 average	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Child deaths, England	107	47	47	55	38	46
Child deaths, Wales and Scotland		8	13	6	10	7
Total Child deaths, GB		55	60	61	48	53

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15352, on Cycling and Walking, which stakeholder groups his Department has engaged with since July 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Since July 2015, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders and most notably with members of its former High level Group of Cycling and Walking Stakeholders, to develop the various elements that will form part of the first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. The High Level Group consists of representatives from, British Cycling, Living Streets, Bicycle Association, Sustrans, CTC – the National Cycling Charity, the AA, Transport for London and Transport for Greater Manchester.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bus and coach drivers were fined for their failure to carry a Driver Qualification Card in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Andrew Jones

Currently, as part of roadside encounters the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) require drivers of Passenger Service Vehicles (PSV) to produce a driver qualification card (DQC). If a driver fails to produce their DQC they will generally be issued with a fixed penalty of £50, this must be paid within 28 days (for drivers with a satisfactory UK address). The driver can, however, choose not to pay the penalty and take the matter to the Magistrate’s court. Also if a driver fails to pay the fixed penalty within the 28 days they will be summons to appear before the Magistrates.

For the period of 1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014, 99 offences for Driver Continued Professional Competence (CPC) were recorded at the roadside. Of those, 68 resulted in a fixed penalty being issued, totalling £3,300 in fines. The fixed penalties were issued because the driver failed to produce evidence of training or exemption by not carrying their DQC.

For the period of 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015, 166 offences for Driver CPC were recorded at the roadside. Of those, 119 resulted in a fixed penalty being issued, totalling £5,950 in fines. Again, the fixed penalties were issued for failure to produce their DQC which provides evidence of their training or any exemptions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents have taken their children off the school roll after being threatened with prosecution for their child truanting in (a) academies and (b) local authority schools in the last three years.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education does not hold information on the number of parents that have taken their children off the school roll after being threatened with prosecution for their child truanting.

The department holds information on penalty notices for unauthorised absence at local authority level. The most recently published information is available in the “Parental responsibility measures: academies year 2012 to 2013”[1] report.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parental-responsibility-measures-academic-year-2012-to-2013

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the cycle to work scheme to meeting the Government’s objective to double the number of journeys made by bicycle by 2020.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit.

The Cycle to Work Alliance (made up of Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords) have provided figures of the take up from Jan –September 2015 141,454 people participated in the scheme.

A recent survey by the Alliance showed that 62% of participants in the scheme were either non-cyclists, novice cyclists (cycling less than once a month) or occasional cyclists (cycling once or twice a month) before joining the scheme. Having joined the scheme 79% of respondents described themselves as enthusiastic cyclists.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities received funding from her Department’s air quality grant scheme in each year of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart

Defra’s Air Quality Grant Funding Scheme apportions funds on a Financial Year basis. The list covers records of local authorities awarded funding in each of the years between 2006/7 and 2014/15 (9 years). The list excludes 2015/16 because a formal announcement of the winners is yet to be made. It is important to note that records only go back to 2006/7 as that was the first year of a grant-based scheme. Prior to that, similar schemes such as Supplementary Credit Approvals and Supported Capital Expenditure were in place when Local Air Quality Management LAQM (LAQM) started in 1997. Those schemes served a similar function to today’s grant, namely to support local authorities’ statutory duties as prescribed under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. The information will be placed in the library.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 17180, how many discussions he has had each year since 2010 with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on bus punctuality enforcement issues.

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 going back to 2010 including bus enforcement punctuality issues is not calculable. It is worth mentioning that bus punctuality has improved, for example the punctuality of non-frequent bus services (i.e. services that run less than six times per hour) has improved from 80% in 2009/10 to 83% in 2014/15.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on his evaluation of the potential for low carbon HGVs.

Andrew Jones

The Government has implemented measures to encourage cleaner and more fuel efficient HGVs through a 10-year duty incentive for road fuel gases, increasing potential rewards for gaseous fuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, our £25m Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Competition and the £11m Low Carbon Truck Trial.

The Department for Transport is making good progress on its review of options to further reduce CO2 emissions from the freight sector and expects to report to Ministers later this year.