Asked by: Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with (a) Great Western Railway and (b) Network Rail on disruption to rail services to and from Wales during the construction of Old Oak Common Station.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, Transport for London and Great Western Railway (GWR) to minimise disruption to rail passengers during Old Oak Common construction. Some GWR services will be diverted to London Euston, providing GWR passengers access to a central London terminal with numerous onward travel connections. Passengers could alternatively use Ealing Broadway station, as they did successfully during the December 2023 engineering works.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of variance in port charges on competitiveness of UK exports (a) in general and (b) where there are multiple consignments within one container.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No as no changes have been made by Government to charges for exports.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of the Northern Powerhouse core route between Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street stations.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Network North Command paper, up to £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.
Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with WMS of 25 March, which set out that Northern Powerhouse Rail will develop a route that is in favour of serving Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport and will use the previously proposed route between the parish of Millington and Rostherne and Manchester. A formal consultation on the remainder of the preferred route is expected to take place in due course.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Arpley Chord will be used to connect the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route to the West Coast Mainline; and how much budget has been allocated to upgrade that line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Work on the NPR scheme between Liverpool and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne is currently at strategic scheme development stage. This work is being carried out in line with the favoured calling points set out in the WMS of 25 March, to include new platforms at Warrington Bank Quay. We are keen to understand Warrington Borough Council’s priorities and to ensure views on the priorities and any alternatives are understood.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for undertaking additional trials of flexible permitting for works on roads by broadband and utility providers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport consulted in 2021 on a proposal to allow flexi permits for certain types of works and published a response in 2022 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/street-manager-and-permit-scheme-changes.
The proposal was not supported at the time on the basis of limited evidence that was presented in the impact assessment that accompanied the consultation.
The Government committed to carry out trials to develop the design for flexi permits and to carry out further assessments. We are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology who are funding the trials. Work has been underway since the end of 2023 and will continue until autumn 2024.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the cost of (a) lengthening the Manchester East tunnel by 259 metres and (b) other parts of the new gyratory road junction at J6 of the M56 at Q3 2019 prices; and whether those changes are planned to be implemented as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail core route.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The government is seeking to adapt the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) only, removing scope south of the Parish of Millington and Rostherne, which was included only for HS2. A motion to formalise the point of truncation will be brought to the House and a supplementary environmental statement will be produced.
As set out in the Network North Command paper, £12 billion in 2023 prices has been retained to deliver NPR scope between Manchester and the Parish of Millington and Rostherne. The funding has not been disaggregated further.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of car driving test slots in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.
To increase the number of car practical driving test slots available, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, the DVSA deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which created over 145,000 additional test slots. Eligible managers and administrative staff will continue to spend a portion of their time conducting car tests in the coming months to help continue to reduce waiting times.
To further increase the number of available test slots, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.
Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating on average over 48,300 extra car test slots each month.
The average waiting time in March 2024 for a car practical driving test in Great Britain was 17.1 weeks, and in the Portsmouth South constituency it was 22.4 weeks. To address the continued high demand for tests in the South, the DVSA is asking driving examiners from areas with lower waiting times to travel and test in centres with higher waiting times. This is in addition to recruiting over 160 driving examiners in the areas where waiting times are highest, including the Portsmouth South constituency.
It is not possible to know the number of people waiting to be allocated a driving test slot.
It is not possible to know the time between requesting (seeking) and receiving (booking) a driving test slot, or the time between requesting (booking) and receiving (taking) a driving test slot.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time between (a) requesting and (b) receiving a driving test slot is in (i) England, (ii) the South East and (iii) Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.
To increase the number of car practical driving test slots available, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, the DVSA deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which created over 145,000 additional test slots. Eligible managers and administrative staff will continue to spend a portion of their time conducting car tests in the coming months to help continue to reduce waiting times.
To further increase the number of available test slots, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.
Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating on average over 48,300 extra car test slots each month.
The average waiting time in March 2024 for a car practical driving test in Great Britain was 17.1 weeks, and in the Portsmouth South constituency it was 22.4 weeks. To address the continued high demand for tests in the South, the DVSA is asking driving examiners from areas with lower waiting times to travel and test in centres with higher waiting times. This is in addition to recruiting over 160 driving examiners in the areas where waiting times are highest, including the Portsmouth South constituency.
It is not possible to know the number of people waiting to be allocated a driving test slot.
It is not possible to know the time between requesting (seeking) and receiving (booking) a driving test slot, or the time between requesting (booking) and receiving (taking) a driving test slot.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people in Portsmouth South constituency were waiting to be allocated a driving test slot as of 15 April 2024.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.
To increase the number of car practical driving test slots available, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, the DVSA deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which created over 145,000 additional test slots. Eligible managers and administrative staff will continue to spend a portion of their time conducting car tests in the coming months to help continue to reduce waiting times.
To further increase the number of available test slots, including in the Portsmouth South constituency, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.
Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating on average over 48,300 extra car test slots each month.
The average waiting time in March 2024 for a car practical driving test in Great Britain was 17.1 weeks, and in the Portsmouth South constituency it was 22.4 weeks. To address the continued high demand for tests in the South, the DVSA is asking driving examiners from areas with lower waiting times to travel and test in centres with higher waiting times. This is in addition to recruiting over 160 driving examiners in the areas where waiting times are highest, including the Portsmouth South constituency.
It is not possible to know the number of people waiting to be allocated a driving test slot.
It is not possible to know the time between requesting (seeking) and receiving (booking) a driving test slot, or the time between requesting (booking) and receiving (taking) a driving test slot.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 8.1 to 8.5 of his Department's guidance entitled, Inclusive Mobility: A guide to best practice on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure, published in December 2021, if he will publish updated guidance on the design of regular parking spaces to increase accessibility for disabled people who are not blue badge holders.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My officials have ongoing discussions with the British Parking Association on a variety of issues. The Department has no current plans for increasing the minimum size for on-street car parking bays to accommodate larger vehicles.
The minimum size of on-street parking bays is regulated through the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016. Local authorities may already provide larger bays if they wish.
The design of off-street car park facilities is governed by Building Regulations which specify requirements in relation to accessibility, structural design and fire safety.