Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the pot holes on the A1(M) to have been repaired.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Safety inspections on the A1(M) are carried out by National Highways on a weekly basis and since January this year they have identified and repaired 16 potholes on the A1(M) between junctions 15 and 16 (Alconbury to Peterborough). There are no further potholes identified or awaiting repair. A maintenance scheme to resurface and address surface defects on the northbound carriageway of this stretch of the road is planned for September/October 2023.
In the same period, National Highways has also identified over 340 potholes on the A1(M) in both directions between junctions 6 and 10. To date, they have repaired 323 and plan to carry out minor surface repairs to address the remaining 19 potholes over the next two months.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they monitor whether local authorities are using funds provided by central Government for repairing potholes for that purpose.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport (DfT) allocates capital funding to local highways authorities under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 (“the Act”) so that they can most effectively spend this funding on maintaining and improving their respective networks, based upon their local knowledge, circumstances, and priorities.
Section 31 grant funding is not ringfenced as set out in the Act; it is up to the highway authority how to spend this funding to fulfil its statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. Local decision makers are democratically accountable for the decisions they take.
DfT strongly encourages authorities to spend their allocations on highways maintenance activities and advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes. This considers all parts of the highway network, such as gulleys, bridges, cycleways, and lighting columns – and not just the fixing of potholes.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Swiss Federal Railways regarding its trial of laying solar panels in between railway tracks in order to generate electricity.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Network Rail has had discussions with the Swiss Federal Railways and is aware of their strategic priorities, broadly aligning with its own.
The proposed solar panel innovation is interesting, but an initial analysis suggests that the proposal underestimates the challenges of maintaining the solar panels in a dusty, vibrating environment. The business case has also not been proven, noting that the deployment of assets in a safety critical location is necessarily more expensive than using land away from the track.
Finally, Network Rail is concerned that the installation would also conceal track fastenings making it more difficult to safely maintain the railway with Network Rail’s video track inspection system.
Network Rail is aiming for 100 percent of its non-traction electricity to be from renewable sources by 2030 and has committed to seek to reduce the carbon footprint of traction electricity consumption by directly purchasing renewable electricity from specific new renewable projects. Network Rail is at an early stage in the process of reviewing options for feeding renewable electricity directly into the traction power supply. Through our First of a Kind scheme the Department for Transport has supported various projects looking at feeding renewable electricity into the railway. This includes providing £750,000 to Riding Sunbeams to develop and trial an innovative connection between renewable electricity generation and overhead electrification.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to public funds of the failure of 630,000 tree saplings planted along the A14 by National Highways; and whether any lessons have been learned for future tree planting schemes.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A total of c.860,000 trees have been planted across the mainline scheme and National Highways have spent c.£2m to date. There is a further c.£2m within the original budget to undertake the necessary work and bring the planting on the scheme into a better condition.
National Highways conducted a review in the Autumn 2022 to analyse reasons for tree failures and inform a replanting strategy. This included analysing soil samples taken along the route to better understand the reasons for failure.
Based on the lessons learned, National Highways has produced a replanting strategy which includes:
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Drivers Medical Group of the DVLA have a target to respond to letters from the general public; and if not, whether they will consider introducing a 30 day response target.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency aims to respond to 95 per cent of correspondence from the general public within ten working days.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to safeguard the role of the ticket office across the rail network.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
No final decision has been taken on ticket offices. Ticket offices have seen a significant decline in use over the last decade, yet their numbers have not substantially changed. Staff will always provide face-to-face services on the railways, which can be crucial for those who need additional support and cannot, or do not want to, use contactless or mobile tickets.
There is a process for train operators to propose any changes to the opening hours of ticket offices or for closing ticket offices which is set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, which regulates what train operators can do in terms of fares, ticketing and retailing across the network. This can be found on the Rail Delivery Group’s website.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate e-scooters in the same ways as other road vehicles, including through the use of (1) speed limits, (2) number plates, and (3) mandatory insurance.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is the intention of the Government that the Transport Bill will create a new low-speed zero emission vehicle category that is distinct from the existing cycle and motor vehicle categories. New powers in the Bill would allow the Government to decide which vehicles will fall into this category and make regulations to ensure that they are safe to use and safe for pedestrians and other road users.
The Government plans to use these powers to legalise e-scooter use, with robust technical requirements and clear expectations of users. We are currently considering options for e-scooter regulations, including such things as the requirements for users to hold a driving licence or to register and insure the vehicle, and various technical specifications for vehicles including maximum speed limits.
No decisions have been made, and we will consult before they come into force so that, all interested parties have a chance to shape the new regime.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect average driving test waiting times to return to the average in February 2020.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continuing to work hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible. It is forecasting recovery to single figure waiting times by February 2023. The DVSA constantly assesses its modelling and regularly adjusts assumptions as appropriate if changing trends become apparent.