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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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 Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will require the Planning Inspectorate to reject any local plans which do not include a policy statement and target for wheelchair accessible new homes which are built to M4(3) standards to ensure that there are more wheelchair accessible homes nationally.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government has set out its intention to mandate higher accessibility standards for all new homes by raising the minimum standard in Building Regulations in England in due course. Councils can only adopt a plan that is sound; it should be consistent with national policy, be supported by evidence and take the views of local people into account. Each plan is subject to a public examination in front of an independent Inspector who plays an important role in examining plans impartially to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to raise the regulatory baseline of accessibility for all new homes to the M4(2) accessible and adaptable standards which was announced in July 2022.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government has set out its intention to mandate higher accessibility standards for all new homes by raising the minimum standard in Building Regulations in England in due course. Councils can only adopt a plan that is sound; it should be consistent with national policy, be supported by evidence and take the views of local people into account. Each plan is subject to a public examination in front of an independent Inspector who plays an important role in examining plans impartially to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they are making towards Sharia-compliant student loans.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to delivering an Alternative Student Finance (ASF) product compatible with Islamic finance principles as quickly as operationally possible. To support the delivery of an ASF product, the government took new powers in the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 to enable my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to provide alternative payments for students to pay for tuition fees, in addition to grants and loans. The department has also carried out work with specialist advisers, the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), on the design of an ASF model.
The government is introducing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), which will significantly change the ways students can access learning and financial support. In response to the LLE consultation, published on 7 March 2023, the department set out aims to ensure that students will be able to access ASF as soon as possible after the introduction of the LLE.
Work is underway to assess how ASF can be delivered as a product. The Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC) has been reappointed to support work on ASF. Furthermore, the department is also working with the Student Loans Company (SLC) to better understand timescales for delivering an ASF product.
Further information about how to develop the ASF product can be found in a blog post on ASF, and a further update on ASF will be provided later this month. The blog is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/21/alternative-student-finance-how-were-making-student-finance-accessible-to-everyone/.
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 - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement their plan to make the accessible and adaptable housing design standard the default standard for new homes.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has set out its intention to mandate higher accessibility standards for all new homes by raising the minimum standard in Building Regulations in England in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of Personal Independence Payments appeals which are successful at the tribunal stage; and what steps they intend to take in response.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are continuing to learn from decisions overturned at appeal. For example, we gather insight from Presenting Officers who regularly provide feedback from hearings they attend, with a view to learning from overturned decisions.
We have made improvements to the decision-making process at both the first decision and the mandatory reconsideration stage, giving decision-makers additional time to proactively contact claimants if they think additional evidence may support the claim.