Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to lay the development consent order for the Lower Thames Crossing.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The statutory deadline for a decision to be issued on National Highways’ application for a Development Consent Order on the Lower Thames Crossing is 23 May 2025. Should consent be granted, the Development Consent Order will be made at the same time.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in renewing driving licences; what steps they are taking to reduce such delays; and what advice they are giving to applicants renewing their driving licence by paper application, who need their licence for hiring a motor vehicle either in the UK or abroad.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services have been available throughout the pandemic and are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff being on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.
The number of paper applications awaiting processing fluctuates daily as driving licences are issued and new applications received. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found on GOV.UK.
Drivers who need to hire a vehicle and have sent their licence to the DVLA for renewal, can view and share their driving licence information with a car hire company by generating a share code online at GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many paper applications for (1) the renewal of a driving licence, and (2) renewal of a driving licence for persons aged over 70, remained unprocessed in each week in June.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services have been available throughout the pandemic and are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff being on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.
The number of paper applications awaiting processing fluctuates daily as driving licences are issued and new applications received. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found on GOV.UK.
Drivers who need to hire a vehicle and have sent their licence to the DVLA for renewal, can view and share their driving licence information with a car hire company by generating a share code online at GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how any post-manufacture alteration to a motor cycle exhaust system is monitored to ensure that any changes conform with legislation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
New motorcycles are required to meet strict noise limits in a range of driving conditions before being placed on the market. The current limit within the approval test is between 73 and 77 decibels (dBA) depending on the power to weight ratio of the machine and is not specific to types of roads.
Once on the road, regulations require that exhausts and silencers shall not be altered to increase noise above the level the motorcycle was originally approved to. The police also have powers to take action if they believe excessive vehicle noise could have been avoided through reasonable driver care.
The annual vehicle MOT test requires an inspection of the state of repair of the exhaust and the tester uses their experience to make a subjective assessment of the noise levels. A vehicle should fail the MOT if the silencer has been altered to increase noise above the level expected from a standard system.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what motorcycle exhaust volume levels are permitted under current legislation; and whether the legislation only relates to tests undertaken as part of type conformity permissions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
New motorcycles are required to meet strict noise limits in a range of driving conditions before being placed on the market. The current limit within the approval test is between 73 and 77 decibels (dBA) depending on the power to weight ratio of the machine and is not specific to types of roads.
Once on the road, regulations require that exhausts and silencers shall not be altered to increase noise above the level the motorcycle was originally approved to. The police also have powers to take action if they believe excessive vehicle noise could have been avoided through reasonable driver care.
The annual vehicle MOT test requires an inspection of the state of repair of the exhaust and the tester uses their experience to make a subjective assessment of the noise levels. A vehicle should fail the MOT if the silencer has been altered to increase noise above the level expected from a standard system.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what restrictions exist, if any, on the volume levels of motorcycle exhausts when travelling (1) on dual carriageways, and (2) on roads with a lower speed restriction.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
New motorcycles are required to meet strict noise limits in a range of driving conditions before being placed on the market. The current limit within the approval test is between 73 and 77 decibels (dBA) depending on the power to weight ratio of the machine and is not specific to types of roads.
Once on the road, regulations require that exhausts and silencers shall not be altered to increase noise above the level the motorcycle was originally approved to. The police also have powers to take action if they believe excessive vehicle noise could have been avoided through reasonable driver care.
The annual vehicle MOT test requires an inspection of the state of repair of the exhaust and the tester uses their experience to make a subjective assessment of the noise levels. A vehicle should fail the MOT if the silencer has been altered to increase noise above the level expected from a standard system.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they anticipate that passenger trains using the Severn Tunnel will be regularly powered by electricity.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
As of the December 2019 timetable, Network Rail have been unable to successfully operate electric services in the Severn Tunnel due to contamination of overhead line insulators. This does not affect the benefits delivered by the December 2019 timetable, as the small journey time impact of running in diesel can be absorbed by the timetable. They have been working with Cardiff University to assess ways of mitigating the effects of the contamination and are installing electrical switching equipment to allow maintenance cleaning to be done more easily in the future. Testing will commence in Spring 2020, with an aim of commencing electric services before the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the damage to the new overhead electric lines in the Severn Tunnel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
As of the December 2019 timetable, Network Rail have been unable to successfully operate electric services in the Severn Tunnel due to contamination of overhead line insulators. This does not affect the benefits delivered by the December 2019 timetable, as the small journey time impact of running in diesel can be absorbed by the timetable. They have been working with Cardiff University to assess ways of mitigating the effects of the contamination and are installing electrical switching equipment to allow maintenance cleaning to be done more easily in the future. Testing will commence in Spring 2020, with an aim of commencing electric services before the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether electronically assisted pedal cycles categorised as EU type approved L1e-A are required to be registered with the DVLA for use in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
There is no requirement to register electronically assisted pedal cycles used in Great Britain.
However, these vehicles are currently classed as motor vehicles in Northern Ireland and must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency when used there. The use of electrically assisted pedal cycles on public roads in Northern Ireland is a transferred matter. Until the Northern Ireland Assembly re-convenes there are no plans to align the legislation.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the contract to transfer eight class 172 diesel trains from the Gospel Oak to Barking line to West Midlands Trains will be completed.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is the leaseholder of the Class 172 trains and is currently subleasing five of them to London Overground for Gospel Oak to Barking services. WMT will be calling trains back from this sublease to allow for the required modifications and driver training prior to entry into service in May 2019.