Tag: Jim Fitzpatrick

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on introducing a statutory definition of plying for hire in the taxi and private hire vehicle industry.

Andrew Jones

As part of the process of considering all the recommendations in the Law Commission’s report on reforming taxi and private hire vehicle legislation, my Department is continuing to discuss the proposals with colleagues in other Government departments.

The Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the numbers of driving examiners in England on waiting times for tests; and what steps he is taking to encourage more examiners to qualify.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) undertake quarterly test forecast reviews to identify the likely demand of driving tests, from which it calculates the numbers of examiners required in order to service those demands. Those numbers are reviewed against the current examiners numbers and where increases are identified, these are factored into DVSA’s recruitment campaigns. DVSA usually run two recruitment campaigns per year, with additional campaigns where necessary i.e. where there has been insufficient take-up/success in geographical areas.

This process has, over the years, generally worked well, but the unforeseen and exceptionally high increase in demand for driving tests in 2015. Across the whole of DVSA it has recruited 167 new driving examiners during 2015/16 with a further 60 either attending or booked on to new entrant courses. DVSA has also offered posts to a further 40 potential examiners.

DVSA has also been re-prioritising the activities of examiners and offering them additional overtime in order to increase testing capacity.

Over 2015 DVSA introduced a number of changes to the marketing of its recruitment campaign in order to try and encourage interest from wider and more diverse groups, additionally DVSA undertook two targeted campaigns for motorcycle examiners and LGV examiners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions Ministers of his Department had with Ministers of the Department for International Development to discuss the new UN sustainable development goal on reducing worldwide crash deaths.

Andrew Jones

The government has a manifesto commitment to reduce the number of cyclists and other road users killed or injured on our roads every year. Ministers from across government, including ministers from the Department for International Development, support the Road Safety Statement which was published on the 21st December 2015. The Statement sets out the government’s vision, values and priorities for improving the safety of Britain’s roads which will contribute to the sustainable development goal to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic collisions.

Officials from the Department for Transport and from the Department for International Development continue to discuss the UN sustainable development goal relating to road safety.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the National Screening Committee’s recommendations for the bowel and cervical screening programmes; and whether he plans to support those recommendations

Jane Ellison

Ministers have accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation on replacing the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood test with the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Following the change to FIT we expect that around 200,000 more people per year will take up the opportunity to be screened as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. This has the potential to save hundreds more lives by detecting bowel cancer earlier. Public Health England is responsible for the leadership of the NHS Screening Programmes and will oversee the change to the programme in partnership with NHS England.

Ministers are currently considering the UK NSC’s recommendation that human papillomavirus testing should replace the currently used cytology test as primary screening for cervical disease.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of greyhound trainers’ kennel standards before legislation is to be brought forward to amend the Welfare of Racing Greyhound Regulations 2010.

George Eustice

Defra’s Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 contained an assessment of standards at trainers’ kennels and found that more was needed to be done to safeguard welfare. As a result, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has agreed to work through the British Standards Institution and with other stakeholders, to develop a consensus standard for trainers’ kennels. The GBGB has also agreed to seek to extend its current United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accreditation to cover the enforcement of these new standards at the kennels of GBGB licensed trainers. During the Review process no evidence was submitted to Defra on the numbers of greyhound trainers operating solely at the four remaining independent tracks in England and the conditions at any such kennels. Therefore Defra are giving further consideration as to how best to gather this evidence, this includes a possible joint research project with the Dogs Trust. Any Defra research will be published on the Gov.UK website and any useful information found will be used in an Impact Assessment that would accompany any regulations for trainers’ kennels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many private hire vehicle drivers have been arrested in (a) London and (b) the UK for offences related to plying for hire in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of private hire vehicle drivers arrested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average wait for driving tests is in each English region.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency records its data in four regions, which are; Scotland and North England, Central England and North Wales, South Wales and South West England and London and the South East. The average waiting times in January 2016 for these areas are listed below.

Scotland & North England	Waiting time in weeks
Jan-16
Average Car Waiting time	8.4
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time	1.3
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time	2.1
Average Voc Waiting time	7.9
Average ADI 2 Waiting time	7.2
Average ADI 3 Waiting time	7.1
Average Taxi Waiting time	8.0

Central England & North Wales	Waiting time in weeks
Jan-16
Average Car Waiting time	8.4
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time	1.3
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time	2.1
Average Voc Waiting time	7.9
Average ADI 2 Waiting time	7.2
Average ADI 3 Waiting time	7.1
Average Taxi Waiting time	8.0

South Wales & South West England	Waiting time in weeks
Jan-16
Average Car Waiting time	8.7
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time	3.6
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time	2.1
Average Voc Waiting time	5.7
Average ADI 2 Waiting time	5.7
Average ADI 3 Waiting time	7.8
Average Taxi Waiting time	7.6

London & South East	Waiting time in weeks
Jan-16
Average Car Waiting time	7.5
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time	1.5
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time	1.5
Average Voc Waiting time	3.3
Average ADI 2 Waiting time	3.8
Average ADI 3 Waiting time	3.3
Average Taxi Waiting time	3.4

National	Waiting time in weeks
Jan-16
Average Car Waiting time	8.4
Average M/C Mod 1 Waiting time	2.7
Average M/C Mod 2 Waiting time	2.4
Average Voc Waiting time	5.3
Average ADI 2 Waiting time	5.5
Average ADI 3 Waiting time	5.9
Average Taxi Waiting time	6.7

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on preparations for the UN General Assembly debate scheduled for April 2016 on Road Safety as a result of the Second Global Conference in Brasilia in 2015.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport has been working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to arrange for a UK representative to attend the UN General Assembly debate scheduled for April 2016 on Road Safety as a result of the Second Global Conference in Brasilia in 2015. I expect that the UK representative will be Lord Robertson of Port Ellen and I intend to meet with him shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Answer Prime Minister of 8 June 2016, Official Report, column 1189, on airport expansion, whether the term summer includes the September sitting of the House.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the recommendations of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report of 25 February 2016, what assessment her Department has made of introducing a two-year probationary period for continued self-regulation of greyhound industry.

George Eustice

Defra’s Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 made an assessment of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (GBGB) enforcement of the standards contained in the 2010 Regulations at GBGB affiliated tracks. The Review found that the standards at GBGB affiliated tracks were being maintained in an effective manner by the GBGB. However, the GBGB’s ability to self-regulate track standards is dependent on them maintaining their United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accreditation as a certification body for those standards. Should GBGB lose its UKAS accreditation then, under the 2010 Regulations, it would immediately lose the right to self-regulate standards at GBGB affiliated tracks. Therefore, for regulating conditions at tracks, the Government would not support extending to two years such a probationary period. For other areas of GBGB’s self-regulatory work, prior to EFRA’s Greyhound Welfare report, the GBGB had already agreed with Defra a period of two years, up to 2018, to: develop a consensus standard for trainers’ kennels and to extend its current UKAS accreditation to cover the enforcement of these new standards; and begin publishing annually aggregate figures for dogs injured or euthanized at GBGB affiliated tracks, as well as dogs leaving GBGB racing.