Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 12 February (HL1997), whether rules similar to Network Rail's code of acceptance for commercial advertising apply to non-commercial displays of political messaging.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The rules of Network Rail’s code of acceptance for commercial advertising apply to non-commercial displays.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what policies and guidance are in place for Network Rail concerning whether political statements are permitted in advertising or otherwise displayed in their stations.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All advertisements and any displays in Network Rail’s stations must comply with Network Rail's code of acceptance for commercial advertising. The code states that any displays ‘will not be approved for or permitted to remain on display if they are of a political nature calling for the support of a particular viewpoint, policy or action or attacking a member or policies of any legislative, central or local government authority’. Advertisements must also comply with the ASA’s British Code of Advertising Practice.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require Network Rail to ensure the provision of toilet facilities for the exclusive use of biologically female staff members as well as toilet facilities which can be used by all women.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Network Rail provide separate facilities for women, for men and gender-neutral facilities in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty. Network Rail will continue to provide these facilities for their colleagues, which fully meet Government requirements.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 11 March (HL14007), what investigations they make into the reasons why the Dart Charge payment has not been made when communicating with those who have defaulted on such a payment; and what options they are considering to improve compliance with the payment of that charge.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Highways England is able to consider reasons for non-compliance when customers opt to challenge their Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) through the relevant representations process. Highways England considers the reasons presented on a case by case basis. If the representation is rejected, the customer may appeal that decision through the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The current compliance rate is 95 per cent, demonstrating that the vast majority of customers are using the scheme successfully. Highways England undertakes a variety of measures to enable and encourage compliance, providing a range of payment options, including pre-pay accounts; allowing for payment up to midnight the day after a crossing is made; and allowing an additional 14 days for payment for first time offences. In addition, it also has a comprehensive signage strategy which includes the use of advance directional signs, variable message signs and safety signs. This is reinforced by public communications campaigns to inform drivers, both in the UK and overseas, about the payment arrangements and the road layout.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 21 February (HL13555), in the period 30 November 2014 to 31 December 2018 (1) what was the total amount received as a result of people paying the Dart Charge correctly and on time, (2) what was the total gross amount of penalties, following any discount for early payment, incurred by the 11,058,152 people who did not make the payment correctly, and (3) of those 11,058,152 people, how many (a) paid using the discount, (b) paid the full penalty without requiring bailiff action, and (c) required bailiff action to recover the debt; and what was the amount recovered through each of these means.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The total amount received as a result of people paying the Dart Charge correctly and within the required time-frame to comply with the scheme order between 30 November 2014 and 31 December 2018 is approximately £424 million.
The total revenue received from enforcement activity is recorded in the Dartford Thurrock River Crossing audited accounts, published annually.
Enforcement revenue includes Penalty Charge Notices paid, including at the discounted rate, and revenue from bailiff action. Information on the breakdown of enforcement revenue is being withheld because it would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs, insofar as it could reduce the effectiveness of enforcement activity and reduce compliance rates.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many penalty notices have been issued for non-payment of the Dart Charge; and what steps they intend to take, if any, to (1) inform motorists about how to pay, and (2) encourage compliance.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
During the period of 30 November 2014 to 31 December 2018, the total number of penalty charge notices issued for non-payment of the Dart Charge was 11,058,152. Highways England have a comprehensive signage strategy for road users, including use of advance directional signs, variable message signs and safety signs. This is reinforced by public information campaigns to inform drivers, both in the UK and overseas, about the payment arrangements and the road layout.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to add the type of insurance held to the information displayed when a registration number is entered into the Motor Insurance Database, so that passengers using, or firms employing, minicabs, can check that those cabs are properly insured.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Motor Insurance Database (MID) is owned and managed by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). The information contained within the database is provided by the motor insurance industry. The Government has no plans to propose changes to the MID.
The MID already contains data fields to capture and display information about the type of use that the vehicle is insured against. For example Social, Domestic and Pleasure purposes or for Hire and Reward. However, in some instances this data is not uploaded to the MID by the insurance company, and instead one is referred to the insurance company for specific details. This information is not publicly available but is available to the Police for insurance enforcement purposes. Passengers and firms employing minicabs do not have the right to check insurance against the MID.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to encourage train operators who do not provide onboard catering to offer catering franchises to third parties.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Invitation to Tender incentivises bidders to deliver additional benefits for passengers over and above the set minimum requirements. This may include on-board catering service.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the long-term implications for passengers of the different means of resolving the current industrial dispute between the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and ASLEF, and Southern Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway; and whether they intend to take steps to ascertain the views of passengers on how the dispute should be resolved.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Passengers simply want to see this futile dispute resolved.
This is doing nothing but hurting passengers, and we urge the unions involved to get around the negotiating table with Govia Thameslink Railway and stop inflicting unnecessary pain on passengers on this part of the network.
As we have repeatedly made clear, this is a dispute between employers and employees. However the Secretary of State met with ASLEF - before they decided to strike - and I strongly urge both ASLEF and RMT to get back round the negotiating table with the serious intention of actually resolving this dispute.
The Secretary of State for Transport and the Rail Minister have repeatedly said if the unions suspend their strike action, they will meet with them.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the reasons for the Southern Rail strike set out by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers in their publication <i>Southern Rail Dispute: The Facts</i>.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Driver Controlled Operation (DCO) is, as the RMT openly acknowledge, used on nearly a third of the UK rail network; it is a safe operating system that both the RMT and ALSEF have agreed can be used, and has been in use for over 30 years.
Indeed, if one includes London Underground services more than half of trains running in Britain operate with drivers controlling the doors. Daily, across the UK thousands of DCO trains, driven by both RMT and ASLEF members, operate safely. Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada are among other countries where such trains operate.
The new on-board supervisor roles will enable staff to be available to spend more time helping passengers. These staff are trained to manage emergencies, and there are no plans to reduce the number of on-board staff on Southern trains.
It is the simple truth that the independent rail regulator, the Office for Rail and Road ORR, has said that with suitable equipment, proper procedures and competent staff in place, DCO is a safe method of working.
Under DCO, the driver uses a combination of cameras, monitors or mirrors to check along the length of the train that it is safe for it to depart, instead of a guard or conductor making a visual check.
Only the on-board safety systems and a driver can stop a train when things go wrong. That is why having drivers check the platform on departure, is the safest way of operating a train.
DCO is already used on services as diverse as London Underground, London Overground, Southeastern – Metro and HS1 services, Southern – Metro and Brighton main line services (in 9 car formation), Thameslink – all services, Great Northern – all services, Chiltern – from London as far north as Banbury, Great Western Railway – Heathrow Connect and suburban including some Oxford services, Heathrow Express, Abellio Greater Anglia and c2c.
Again, we strongly urge the unions to get back round the negotiating table and resolve this nonsensical dispute.