Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they plan to take in response to the recent report by the Office of Rail and Road which showed that a quarter of stations in England had Help Points that were not working.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
All Train Operators are required to regularly report on customer experience as part of their contracts, including the availability and condition of assets such as Help Points, and it is disappointing if station help points are not working.
We want to make sure passengers get the information they need when they need it, and we welcome the report and support the Office of Rail and Road’s challenge for the industry to improve.
We will continue to monitor and discuss performance with train operators, including through the targets we set for customer experience.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what improvements they are considering to rolling stock alarm systems in order to increase confidence in passenger safety, particularly among women, and whether they plan to assess the effectiveness of the IlluminateSafe system proposed for use alongside the current Call for Aid system.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is working closely with all partners in industry including the Rail Delivery Group and the British Transport Police to ensure that the rail network is a safe environment for the travelling public. Whilst we are always interested in new innovations to the market we have no current plans to assess the effectiveness of this product.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to halting the introduction of floating bus stops in order (1) to assess the risks and accessibility to passengers with sight impairment, and (2) pending a review of the relevant guidelines issued to local authorities.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is aware of the concerns raised by some groups, particularly visually impaired people, over the use of floating bus stops and is working with Active Travel England on ways to address these concerns.
The Department is currently looking at wide range of options in developing next steps. This is a complex issue and risks and benefits for pedestrians and cyclists need to be considered carefully.
The Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee provides advice on disability transport issues in their role as a statutory advisory body, including advice on buses and local transport. In addition, the Department engages regularly, and consults with, a wide range of stakeholders, including groups representing the needs of disabled people.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult groups representing disabled people and other pedestrians and passengers before introducing future guidelines for local authorities on the installation of floating bus stops.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is aware of the concerns raised by some groups, particularly visually impaired people, over the use of floating bus stops and is working with Active Travel England on ways to address these concerns.
The Department is currently looking at wide range of options in developing next steps. This is a complex issue and risks and benefits for pedestrians and cyclists need to be considered carefully.
The Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee provides advice on disability transport issues in their role as a statutory advisory body, including advice on buses and local transport. In addition, the Department engages regularly, and consults with, a wide range of stakeholders, including groups representing the needs of disabled people.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to undertake an interim review of the Simpler Fares pilot scheme on London North Eastern Railway; and what are the reasons for the two-year length of the pilot scheme.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
An evaluation is underway to assess the impact of the trial, this is expected to be completed next year and we intend to publish this in due course. Further data is required to validate findings over a longer time period and account for seasonality. The results of this trial will be carefully considered before taking any further decisions. The two-year length allows time for this process.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require London and North Eastern Railway to run direct services between Sunderland and London Kings Cross beyond December.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to require London North Eastern Railway to run direct services between Sunderland and London Kings Cross beyond December 2024. Sunderland will continue to have direct London services provided by Open Access operators. Additionally, improvements to the Metro network will improve connectivity in the North East.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rate of bus accidents in London leading to personal injury or death, compared with that in other UK cities; and what lessons have they drawn about the impact of the bus franchise model used by Transport for London and its potential application elsewhere.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The department publishes statistics on road casualties based on collisions reported by the police using the STATS19 system. STATS19 groups together buses and coaches as a single vehicle type. Bus operations in London are the responsibility of the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL). TfL publish information about bus incidents on its network, alongside reports on specific bus related safety issues.
Data on the number of bus occupant casualties in London boroughs and other local authorities is published annually as part of the department’s casualty statistics, though direct comparisons are not made between different areas.
Casualty rates are not published at this level due to the unavailability of local authority level traffic data for modes other than cars.
The government will introduce a Buses Bill later this Parliamentary session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, strengthened Enhanced Partnership with private operators or local authority ownership. We believe local leaders are best placed to make decisions about bus services in their area.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to implement financial mechanisms to support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production in the UK in view of the forthcoming SAF mandate.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As announced in the King’s Speech, the Government will be laying legislation to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism that will support SAF production in the UK. We expect the legislation for a revenue certainty mechanism to be in place by the end of 2026.
We also announced in the Budget that we will extend the Advanced Fuels Fund for a year to support the development of SAF plants in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what options they are considering for the proposed new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester; and whether they plan to consider forms of public-private partnership.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
While we recognise the concerns about connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester, we will not reverse the previous government's decision to cancel Phase 2 of HS2, and our primary focus now is the safe delivery of HS2 between Birmingham and London at the lowest reasonable cost. We are committed to a long-term approach to infrastructure and investment, taking account of local transport priorities. We are taking into consideration the recent proposal from the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands for enhancing rail connectivity between the Midlands and the North-West, including their ideas for private sector partnerships. We will thoroughly review the fiscal position we have inherited before setting out a clear plan to address capacity and connectivity issues in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 30 October (HL1684), whether they are considering centralised procurement for buses as part of their bus services improvement strategy.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are currently no plans to centralise the procurement of bus service contracts. The government believes that local leaders are best placed to make decisions about funding and bus services in their communities.
As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. The Bill will increase powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership.