Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Network Rail and (b) train operating companies on resolving potential further rail strikes.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Secretary of State is in close contact with the industry on the negotiations and engages with them almost daily.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on producing the video announcing the removal of unnecessary train announcements.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The promotional film was produced in-house.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the future transport capacity required in Thamesmead in order to support planned housing developments.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to supporting the delivery of housing across the country, including in London, ensuring developments are supported by appropriate transport infrastructure as we build back better from this pandemic.
The Government and Homes England are working together with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London to explore the scale of the opportunity, and potential options, at Thamesmead & Beckton Riverside.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Transport for London on extending the potential merits of extending the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to supporting the delivery of housing across the country, including in London, ensuring developments are supported by appropriate transport infrastructure as we build back better from this pandemic.
Exploratory work to assess the scale of the opportunity and potential options at Thamesmead & Beckton Riverside is underway, with the Government and Homes England working together with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to supporting the delivery of housing across the country, including in London, ensuring developments are supported by appropriate transport infrastructure as we build back better from this pandemic.
The scale of the opportunity, and potential options, at Thamesmead & Beckton Riverside is being explored. The Government and Homes England are working together with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London to do this.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of IR35 changes on the number of drivers available to the haulage industry.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The off-payroll working rules (IR35) are designed to ensure individuals working like employees but through their own limited or personal service company, pay broadly the same Income Tax and National Insurance contributions as those who are directly employed.
This is not a new tax; the reform improves compliance with existing rules. Non-compliance with these rules was widespread and it is estimated that this would have cost the Exchequer £1.3 billion per year by 2023/24 if not addressed. The Government had delayed the introduction of the changes by a year to April 2021 in recognition of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have no data on the impact on the number of HGV drivers.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeline is for the publication of the aviation recovery plan.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The uncertainty created by COVID has meant that the government’s priority for aviation at this time is to ensure that people will be able to travel again as soon as is safely possible. That is why the government, through the Global Travel Taskforce, continues to work at pace to introduce test to release, as well as considering other measures to support the travel sector – including developing a global framework to make travelling easier, and boosting consumer confidence in air travel. Once complete, the government will then put forward its strategic framework for the medium and long-term recovery of the aviation sector.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to prevent job losses in the travel industry.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department for Transport is actively monitoring the impact on jobs in the aviation sector from Covid-19 at the national and regional level, with support from other government Departments.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been available to businesses affected by COVID-19 to pay wages. On 5 November the Chancellor announced that workers across the United Kingdom will benefit from increased support with a five-month extension of the furlough scheme into Spring 2021. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will now run until the end of March with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure the safety of visually impaired individuals from e-scooters.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following our consultation earlier in the year, and feedback from subsequent stakeholder activities, we have required all e-scooters used in trials to have a horn or bell so that users can make others aware of their presence. Additionally, we have instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage throughout the trial period with disability groups in their areas to ensure their concerns are being heard. We have also made additional commitments such as allowing vulnerable road user groups to take part in the evaluation process.
The trials have created a platform for innovation, and we are seeing very encouraging use of – for example – sound emitting devices on e-scooters in York. This is precisely the sort of initiative we want to monitor and evaluate and to help inform future policy.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding to local transport authorities to reduce the cost of travel for young people in (a) London and (b) the rest of England.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Transport in London, including fares policy, is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor of London and Transport for London. There are no current national plans to reduce the cost of travel for young people in the rest of England. However, concessionary travel legislation gives local authorities the flexibility to offer local travel concessions, such as free or discounted travel to young people, if they choose to do so.