Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether NATS Holdings will be required to compensate airlines for the consequences of its IT failure last year.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government regrets the NATS operational failure and the impact this had on airlines and their customers. The Independent Review into this incident has now concluded and lessons will be learned. NATS is regulated against service targets set by the Civil Aviation Authority. There are annual incentives for NATS linked to its performance so if this falls below target levels it may incur penalties. However, NATS is not penalised for individual incidents such as the technical failure of August 2023.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to make it a criminal offence to re-sell driving test slots.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
It is currently not a criminal offence to re-sell driving test slots.
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.
DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for approved driving instructors (ADI) and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors.
In January 2023, DVSA changed the terms and conditions for using the booking service to reduce the selling of tests for profit. Since then, the agency has issued 327 warnings, 779 suspensions, and closed 727 business accounts for misuse of its booking service.
DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection to stop automated systems from buying up test slots unfairly.
DVSA’s work in this area is continuing and will continue to take steps to address these practices.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of a voucher scheme to encourage cycle ownership for people on low incomes.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has not made a detailed assessment of the costs and benefits of such a scheme but will consider it carefully as it develops its future plans for active travel.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cars in the Government Car Service are (1) fully electric, (2) hybrid, and (3) petrol or diesel.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government Car Service currently has the following number of vehicles in its operational fleet:
36 fully electric.
51 Hybrid.
20 Petrol or Diesel.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what penalties have been incurred by NATS Holdings for failure to meet service targets in each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sets targets and financial incentives on NATS (En Route) Plc’s service quality for three measures related to delays - average delay, peak delay and delay impact score and one environmental measure relating to flight efficiency. In the Reference Period (RP) 2 period (2015-2019), penalties were applied in relation to NERL’s delay performance for both 2016 (£0.42 million) and 2018 (£0.26 million) where it contributed to delays that were above its target levels.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Active Travel England budget will be protected.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department is considering the budget for Active Travel England and for active travel more generally as part of its examination of all future spending plans following the Autumn Statement.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 28 July (HL1954), whether they will publish the estimated figures of privately owned e-scooters in the UK from (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Based on findings from the Department’s Transport and Technology Tracker, we estimate that as of June 2021 roughly 750,000 individuals aged 16+ owned a private e-scooter in England. We currently do not have data for the whole of the UK, or data for 2022.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to release the data from the e-scooter trials in England.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Alongside the national evaluation of the e-scooter trials, we are continuing to gather wider evidence on the safety of private e-scooters, including through DfT official statistics (such as STAT19), social behavioural research, as well as by following research conducted by external bodies. The findings report from the evaluation, and underlying datasets, are due to be published later this year.
Based on findings from the Department’s Transport and Technology Tracker, we estimate that as of June 2021 roughly 750,000 individuals aged 16+ owned a private e-scooter in England – we do not have data for the whole of the UK, or data for 2022 currently.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what studies they have commissioned on the safety of private e-scooters, outside of trials.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Alongside the national evaluation of the e-scooter trials, we are continuing to gather wider evidence on the safety of private e-scooters, including through DfT official statistics (such as STAT19), social behavioural research, as well as by following research conducted by external bodies. The findings report from the evaluation, and underlying datasets, are due to be published later this year.
Based on findings from the Department’s Transport and Technology Tracker, we estimate that as of June 2021 roughly 750,000 individuals aged 16+ owned a private e-scooter in England – we do not have data for the whole of the UK, or data for 2022 currently.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the increase in the number of privately owned e-scooters in the UK in (1) 2020, (2) 2021, and (3) 2022.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Alongside the national evaluation of the e-scooter trials, we are continuing to gather wider evidence on the safety of private e-scooters, including through DfT official statistics (such as STAT19), social behavioural research, as well as by following research conducted by external bodies. The findings report from the evaluation, and underlying datasets, are due to be published later this year.
Based on findings from the Department’s Transport and Technology Tracker, we estimate that as of June 2021 roughly 750,000 individuals aged 16+ owned a private e-scooter in England – we do not have data for the whole of the UK, or data for 2022 currently.