Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what body will hold responsibility for the issuing of permits for operators of automated passenger services under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Section 82 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 gives the appropriate national authority the power to grant an Automated Passenger Services (APS) permit. The appropriate national authority is defined in section 90 (4) and (5) as the Secretary of State for the provision of any taxi and private hire-like service in England and for the provision of a service in a public service vehicle across Great Britain. In relation to a permit for the provision of a taxi and private hire-like service in Scotland, this is Scottish Ministers, and in Wales, this is Welsh Ministers. The Act further sets out that the appropriate national authority can provide for its functions to be exercisable by Traffic Commissioners instead of or in addition to the appropriate national authority. Consideration is still being given to whether these functions will be exercised by Traffic Commissioners.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in implementing the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, they plan to give local authorities the right to withhold consent for an automated passenger services operator permit to be granted; and if so, which tier of local government will be responsible for providing consent.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 provides the right for specified local authorities to withhold their consent for an automated passenger services (APS) operator permit to be granted. This right protects local decision-making.
For services resembling taxies or private hire vehicles, section 85 outlines that an APS permit may not be granted without the consent of each licensing authority in whose areas the service may be provided under the permit. A “licensing authority” is where responsibility sits for the issuing of taxi or private hire licenses, and currently is typically a lower-tier authority, unitary authority or Transport for London.
For services resembling buses where a bus franchising scheme exists, section 86 outlines that an APS permit may not be granted without the consent of each relevant franchising body. Where an automated passenger service is proposed to operate under an APS permit in an area which sits outside of a bus franchising scheme, the legislation does not require consent from local authorities.
To withhold consent, the licensing or franchising authority must provide written reasons within six weeks of receiving a formal request, beginning with the day on which the request is made.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what long-term plans they have to support the viability of the bus industry.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Buses will continue to have a significant role to play in connecting people, supporting the economy and decarbonising the transport network. The Government will account for all of this in the long-term National Bus Strategy. We are currently considering our approach to this.
The Government will also be working closely with stakeholders in 2020 to produce the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which will set out how we intend to tackle transport emissions, and get all road vehicles, including buses to transition to zero-emission.
In terms of financial support, the Prime Minister announced in February £5 billion of funding for buses and cycling and committed to getting 4,000 new zero-emission buses on the roads. The details of the programmes, including how funding will be distributed, will be announced in due course. The Government recognises the importance of this funding, not just for decarbonisation, but for supporting the UK bus industry.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) review the success, and (2) extend the duration, of the Traffic Orders Procedure (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government is planning to evaluate the impact of the Traffic Orders Procedure (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020. The evaluation is due to be completed this year and will be used to inform future policy development and any further legislative changes.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a national bus strategy; and if so, when any such strategy will be published.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
On 30 September 2019, the Government announced that it will be committing to the UK’s first-ever long-term bus strategy and funding settlement. The strategy will focus on the needs of passengers and set out how Government, both local and national, and the private sector will come together to meet the needs of local communities. This long-term vision for buses will be accompanied by a long-term funding commitment.
The Government expects to consult on the strategy later in the year.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Local Government Association’s analysis showing that local buses are travelling almost 150 million fewer miles than they were 10 years ago; and whether following that analysis they will use the 2020 Budget to fully fund the England national concessionary travel scheme.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Local bus journeys remain central to transport choices, accounting for around half of all public transport journeys. In 2018/19, 1.18 billion bus service miles were run in England, a decrease of 1.3% when compared with 2017/18.
Funding for the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme is within the funding made available to local government at the Local Government Finance Settlement. This funding is not ringfenced, which enables local authorities to make spending decisions that more closely match local needs and circumstances.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government is currently working on a Review of the Relative Needs and Resources for local government. This Review is being developed in close collaboration with local government representatives and others. It will consider the drivers of local authorities’ costs, the resources available locally to fund services, and how to account for these in a way that draws a more transparent and understandable link between local circumstances and resource allocations. The Government’s current aim is to implement the outcome of this review as part of the 2021-22 Local Government finance settlement.
The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions on subsidised bus services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities in England need such as Enhanced Partnerships and Franchising to improve local bus services. From 2020, a number of measures such as Bus Open Data powers, and the commitments in the Better Deal for Bus Users, will help increase passenger numbers.
This Government has committed to implementing the UK’s first-ever long-term bus strategy, accompanied by a long-term funding settlement. The strategy will focus on the needs of passengers so that more people want to use the bus and set out how national and local government and the private sector will come together to achieve this.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Department for Transport policies have been assessed against the Family Test; and whether they will publish any such assessments.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Ministers. There is no requirement for departments to publish the results of assessments made under the Family Test.