Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to reduce waiting times for driving tests.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (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.
Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at driving test centres include the recruitment of driving examiners, conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.
As of 7 October 2024, there were 571,047 car practical driving tests booked, and 89,349 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what statistics they collect about staffing in the rail sector.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Figures published by the Office of Rail and Road and Network Rail indicate that approximately 100,000 people were employed in the rail sector at the end of March 2023, with 62,000 full-time equivalent employees across Train Operating Companies and 40,000 in Network Rail.
The Department for Transport also holds management information on the workforces within train operating companies. This is supplied in commercial confidence through a contractual requirement with service providers.
Alternative estimates of people employed in transport related occupations and industries sourced from the Office of National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey are also published in Transport Statistics Great Britain (Department for Transport)
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of train drivers under instruction.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Train operators are responsible for the operational movements of their train drivers. The Department does not hold information on the number of train drivers under instruction.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timetable for introducing legislation on disability awareness training for taxi and Private Hire Vehicle drivers.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department is committed to introducing legislation to enable the setting of national standards in taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, which will include disability awareness training for drivers, when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their plans to make using the Passenger Assistance service easier for disabled people are compatible with plans for closing booking offices at rail stations.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future. The Passenger Bodies are currently considering the proposals.
Safety and accessibility remain a top priority. The Passenger Assist service will continue to help disabled passengers, and those with additional needs, to use the rail network with confidence and in safety. Since April 2022, passengers have been able to pre-book their assistance up to two hours in advance of their journey, at any time of the day.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Reforming aviation consumer policy: protecting air passenger rights consultation, which ran from 31 January to 27 March 2022, what is their timetable for taking forward those reforms.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department published its response to the Aviation Consumer Policy Reform Consultation on 27 June 2023. This set out legislative and non-legislative measures Government will take forward for air passenger rights. This included removing the compensation cap for damaged wheelchairs on domestic UK flights, giving the CAA additional enforcement powers and improving complaint handling.
Legislative reforms will be taken forward when parliamentary time allows, and in the meantime, we intend to work with industry and stakeholders to continue to drive improvements for aviation consumers.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their advice to vulnerable people to avoid the use of public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic, when driving tests and assessments will be permitted to resume. [T]
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working closely with the Department for Transport to prepare for a safe return to testing. It will announce details of resumption in due course.
The DVSA has produced detailed standard operating procedures, which contains advice to help ensure the safety of staff and customers before, during and after the practical driving test.
Before practical driving tests are reintroduced, the DVSA will inform the driver training industry. This will help candidates prepare and reach the standard of driving needed to pass their test.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 22 February (HL5381 and HL5409), when (1) the draft Accessibility Action Plan, and (2) the consultation on revised best practice guidance for licensing authorities, will be published.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
This government plans to publish the draft Accessibility Action Plan for consultation in the spring.
The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the Best Practice Guidance issued to licensing authorities alongside new Statutory Guidance under section 177 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. The Statutory Guidance will focus on safeguarding measures to protect children and vulnerable adults when using these services. We intend to consult on both of these documents later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the requirements of EU Directive 2008/164 /EC relating to rail accessibility at stations and on trains will be incorporated into UK law after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Prime Minister has made it clear that we will convert existing EU regulations into UK law when we leave. Once the Great Repeal Bill is given Royal Assent, Parliament will be free – subject to international agreements and treaties with other countries and the EU on matters such as trade – to amend, repeal and improve any law it chooses. The Government is carefully considering all of the implications arising from the UK’s exit from the European Union. However until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the EU and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.
The Government is committed to increasing the accessibility of rail transport and ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport and opportunities to travel as everyone else. We will shortly be publishing an Accessibility Action Plan which will bring together a range of actions from across different transport modes to address the barriers faced by disabled people accessing public transport.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will pursue continued Blue Badge reciprocal arrangements with EU member states after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK supports the rights of disabled people to retain their independence by enabling them to park close to where they need to go and recognises the benefits the Blue Badge Scheme provides for disabled people in the UK as well as when travelling to Europe.
The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU including the implications for the continued recognition of Blue Badges.