Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time a business waits for the payment of an invoice from the Department for Transport.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
For the 23-24 Financial Year thus far, the average time a business waits for the payment of a valid invoice from the Department for Transport is 3.41 working days.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of (1) rural bus services in England, and (2) the effectiveness of the Bus Services Act 2017 in improving services.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government's approach to improving bus services in England, including those in rural areas, is set out in the National Bus Strategy. We have announced more than £4.5 billion of funding for buses in England outside of London since 2020,
including:
o The recently announced £1 billion of funding redirected from HS2 to deliver better buses across the North and the Midlands as part of Network North;
o Over £1 billion allocated in 2022 to help LTAs deliver their BSIPs;
o £300 million in ongoing funding to support and improve services until April 2025;
o Nearly £600 million to cap single bus fares at £2 from 1 January 2023 until the end of 2024; and
o £2 billion between March 2020 and June 2023 to prevent reductions to bus services following the pandemic.
The Bus Services Act 2017 was accompanied by a suite of regulations to provide Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) outside London with powers to improve local bus services. These included enhanced partnerships (EPs) between bus operators and LTAs, and automatic franchising powers to all Mayoral Combined Authorities. 73 LTAs now have an EP in place and Greater Manchester expect to have a fully franchised bus network by March 2025.
The Bus Services Act 2017 also focused on introducing the Bus Open Data Service (BODS). The BODS was launched in 2020, and requires all bus operators of local services in England to open up high-quality, accurate and up-to-date bus service information including timetables, fares, tickets & vehicle location information.
The Bus Services Act 2017 also amended the Equality Act 2010 to enable the Government to introduce ‘Accessible Information Regulations’ as part of its commitment to creating an inclusive transport system. These regulations were introduced in 2023, which by Autumn 2026 will require the majority of local bus and coach services to incorporate audible and visible announcements as standard.
The Department is conducting a monitoring and evaluation exercise on the impact of the National Bus Strategy. The Bus Transformation Evaluation assesses the delivery and impact of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) introduced by the 33 LTAs that received Phase 1 BSIP funding from the Department under the National Bus Strategy. A draft interim report is expected by summer 2024. In addition, the Department is also conducting monitoring and evaluation of the Inclusive Transport Strategy 2018, which includes an assessment of the impact of accessibility requirements introduced under the Bus Services Act 2017 to provide audible and visible information on buses. The Inclusive Transport Strategy: Evaluation Baseline Report was published in January 2022 and the final report is expected to be published later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of working conditions in the UK fishing fleet.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government maintains a strong interest in the living and working conditions within the fishing industry. The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention (ILO 188) was implemented into UK law in 2018. The Government continues to monitor living and working conditions in the fishing industry through the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) survey and inspection programme for fishing vessels. The Government chairs a twice-yearly tripartite working group comprising of Government, fishing vessel owner representatives and fishers’ representatives to monitor living and working conditions and the implementation of ILO 188 in the UK.
It is now just over five years since the legislation to implement the standards of the ILO 188 Convention was made. The Government conducted a statutory review of the legislation in 2023 and the post implementation report will be published later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support new tram lines extensions or new tram lines in the East and West Midlands.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Responsibility for promoting new mass transit schemes, or extensions to existing networks, is devolved to local transport authorities (LTAs) in England. LTAs are best placed to bring forward new mass transit proposals, which could include light rail or tram technology, based on local transport challenges and opportunities.
Currently, the principal way LTAs can access Government funding for mass transit schemes which they wish to prioritise is through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) for eligible Mayoral Combined Authorities. West Midlands Combined Authority has been allocated a Settlement of £1.05 billion between 2022/23 and 2026/27.
In the East Midlands, Nottingham Express Transit is financed under a private finance initiative structure. The current contract, which was signed in 2011, expanded the tram network, doubling the previous size. The cost of this expansion will be met over the 23-year life of the contract, and the Department for Transport makes an annual contribution of £24.95 million per annum, alongside a contribution from Nottingham City Council to pay for this scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to (1) local authorities, (2) passenger transport authorities, and (3) Metro Mayors, to develop new light rail and trams to improve transport services.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Light rail is largely devolved. It is one of the most expensive mass transit interventions local authorities can make and a range of modal options should be assessed when looking to address the needs of local transport users effectively and efficiently. Typically light rail is suited to only the most densely populated transport corridors.
The City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) for eligible Mayoral Combined Authorities, in England, outside London, is the principal funding stream through which plans for new mass transit systems and enhancements to existing systems can be developed. CRSTS funding is worth £5.7 billion in the 5-year period between 2022/23 to 2026/27. CRSTS provides local leaders with a simple, integrated, and long-term funding model which allows them to address local need. West Yorkshire Combined Authority, for instance, has allocated £200m of HMG funding to develop a new mass transit system for the region.
The Transport for London settlement of 30 August 2022 provides just under £1.2 billion of upfront funding for transport in London, supporting almost £3.6 billion worth of projects, including light rail.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to take to deal with for hire bikes and scooters that are left in public areas such as pavements.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Rule 70 of The Highway Code advises, but does not require, people to park their cycle where it will not cause an obstruction or hazard to other road users. It is usually a requirement of hiring a cycle that users leave it in a place which does not obstruct the footway.
When parliamentary time allows, the Department intends to create a new licensing framework for rental micromobility operations, giving local transport authorities the additional powers they need to shape and manage both cycle and e-scooter rental schemes. This would include the ability to set rules about the management of rental cycles and e-scooters on the pavement.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of on street rapid electric car chargers.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are now over 43,000 public charging devices in the UK, including over 8,000 rapid chargers. The number of rapid chargers has increased by 42 per cent in the past year.
Going forward, the Government expects a market-led rollout for the majority of chargepoints, with Government support focused in two areas: high-powered chargers on the strategic road network and local on-street charging.
The Rapid Charging Fund will support the upgrade of the electricity network to facilitate the installation of rapid and ultra rapid chargers on the strategic road network, where they are best placed to enable longer journeys.
The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund will support local authorities in England to work with industry to transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the time taken to secure a driving test appointment.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
People can book driving tests up to 6 months before they take their test.
As of 19 June 2023, there were 545,138 car practical driving tests booked and 53,292 driving tests available within the next 24-weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve safety for people using electric scooters on the public highway.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Safety will always be a top priority as the Department considers options for regulating e-scooters. E-scooter trials were launched in July 2020 and were designed to assess the safety of e-scooters and their wider impacts.
The Department commissioned an independent evaluation of the e-scooter trials, covering data up to December 2021. The evaluation examines how and why rental e-scooters are used, as well as safety.
The Department published the findings report of the national evaluation of e-scooter rental trials in England on 15 December 2022. The findings have already been used to inform updates in guidance and regulation of the e-scooter trials and will continue to be used to inform development of safety standards for micromobility legislation to be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people in the UK hold a category H driving licence.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 15 April 2023 there were 133,831 holders of full category H (track laying vehicle) driving entitlement.