Tag: Lord Bradshaw

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the impact of highway works and their management by utilities and local authorities on traffic congestion and delays to road traffic, they have any plans to review the operation of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 or the Traffic Management Act 2004.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government wants to deliver better journeys for drivers. Roadworks are essential, but that doesn’t mean they should be in place any longer than is absolutely necessary. We continue to keep the implementation and operation of the relevant legislation and statutory guidance under constant review, and are taking opportunities to streamline, simplify and de-regulate what has become a complex legislative framework where possible.

In addition, we are modernising and updating secondary legislation and statutory guidance where this is necessary and where it will lead to improvements in the way that road and street works are managed. Recent examples include consultations earlier this year on updated statutory guidance relating to inspections and modernised regulations relating to the qualifications regime. In 2015, we updated regulations and guidance on permit schemes that are now in place in over 55% of local authority areas and which are resulting in more effective management of street works and reductions in the duration of works.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 9 February (HL4678), whether the rise in suicides on the railway has been analysed by area, age group, sex and ethnicity of those who died.

Baroness Kramer

Details of suicides by area (route), age group and sex are recorded by the rail industry but not ethnicity.

The relevant information is held by RSSB (formerly the Rail Safety & Standards Board) and is analysed to provide evidence to support the development and implementation of the industry’s suicide reduction programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 10 February (HL4677), in the light of the change in franchisee and the expectation of more changes, what steps they are taking to ensure that there are sufficient luggage space and catering facilities for the anticipated use of those trains.

Baroness Kramer

The interior of the Intercity Express Programme is designed flexibly so that it can be adapted to meet different traffic conditions in the future. Operators have been fully engaged in this process. We continue to work very closely with them on the train, including catering provision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether road safety targets are at present set for local authorities; and, if not, whether they have considered reinstating them.

Baroness Kramer

The Government has not set road safety targets for local authorities, and is not considering reinstating them. However, local authorities are free to set their own targets if they find this useful.

The fact that the Government has not set a target does not mean that it does not consider road safety to be a high priority. The strategic framework includes forecasts of the casualty numbers that we might expect to see through to 2030 from the measures implemented by Government, and the actions of local authorities.

While we believe that previous road safety targets have been useful we do not consider that over-arching national targets are necessary for road safety in Great Britain. This is because we do not believe that further persuasion is needed on the importance of road safety. We expect central and local government to continue to prioritise road safety and continue to seek improvements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the voting protocol for their proposed stakeholder working group on off-road recreational motor vehicles; and what is the proposed timetable for the group to report its findings to ministers and for the ensuing public consultation.

Lord De Mauley

The proposed stakeholder working group on off-road recreational motor vehicles will not need to establish a voting protocol as it will deliver a report stating, if necessary, where there are differences of opinion, or where there is no consensus. It will then be for Ministers to decide what proposals in the report to take forward.

We will set a target timeframe of 18 months for the group to report to Ministers and a public consultation will follow afterwards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much revenue is raised through the O licences of goods vehicles.

Baroness Kramer

The revenue that has been raised by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is £8.2m for the 10 months ending 31 January 2015 (£9.9m for the full year in 2014) from Operator Licences of Goods Vehicles.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the revenue raised through the O licences of good vehicles is spent by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on enforcement activity.

Baroness Kramer

None of the revenue raised through the Operator licences of goods vehicles is spent on enforcement activity by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which government department receives the fines generated from the enforcement of O licences of goods vehicles.

Lord Deighton

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) are the main body responsible for enforcement of operator licences for goods vehicles, although individual police forces also have the power to enforce these provisions. DVSA enforcement action consists of prosecution through the courts – in 2013-14 they reported 174 convictions resulting in courts ordering £103,244 in fines. These fines are collected by the courts and all revenue raised is passed on to the Consolidated Fund, and used to fund general government expenditure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many multi-agency vehicle enforcement checks were mounted in each of the last five years.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not hold this information. This is an operational matter for the police and other partner agencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-01-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on total passenger capacity of the East Coast Main Line of the use of 280-seat trains on 17 per cent of the long distance train paths into and out of King’s Cross, as compared with the 530-seat trains used by the InterCity East Coast franchise.

Baroness Kramer

Decisions on the allocation of track capacity on the railway are matters for Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation. Clearly, where the number of available train paths on a route is constrained, as in the case of parts of the East Coast Main Line, the use of trains with fewer seats than the maximum operationally possible would reduce passenger capacity. However there are other factors influencing the allocation of train paths, including the need for services to cover a range of different routes and stopping patterns, and the availability of rolling stock. The Government would expect such considerations to be taken into account within the decision process.