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Written Question
Driving Licences: Kosovo
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Kosovo on a potential reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement with that country.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Following a request from the Kosovan Embassy to consider a possible reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement, officials have carried out a full assessment of the licensing and testing information provided by the Kosovan authorities. This assessment concluded that arrangements in place in Kosovo for the issue of driving licences, including having driving tests and licensing procedures, are comparable with those in Great Britain.

The department is now progressing the work required to achieve an exchange agreement as quickly as possible. All such licence exchange agreements are subject to public consultation and the introduction of the relevant legislation.


Written Question
Motor Vehicles: Ukraine
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when will legislation be brought forward to allow vehicles from London’s ULEZ scrappage scheme to be donated to Ukraine.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We were concerned to hear about the Mayor of London’s objections to this scheme, and surprised they took so long to be raised with Government. Subsequently officials have been working at pace to find a way to resolve the Mayor’s concerns.


Written Question
Charging Points: Rural Areas
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that rural communities have access to electric vehicle charging points.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Earlier this month, the Government published ‘Future of Transport: helping local authorities to unlock the benefits of technology and innovation in rural transport’. The document details the support that the Government is providing to ensure that electric vehicle chargepoints are installed across the UK, including in rural communities. This support includes grants for homes and workplaces, support for local authorities through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, and supporting long distance journeys through the Rapid Charging Fund.

In addition, the Government recently published its Plan for Drivers. The Plan sets out seven further actions that the Government is planning to take to support the transition to zero emission driving. This includes an intention to review the grid connections process for EV chargepoints, to consult on the expansion of street works permits to chargepoint operators, and to consult on the expansion of permitted development rights.

The Government will continue to monitor market developments to determine whether any significant gaps in charging infrastructure provision emerge and will consider the case for further support if required.


Written Question
Leeds-Bradford Airport
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date Leeds Bradford Airport submitted its application for designation as a coordinated airport.

Answered by Jesse Norman

3 July 2023.


Written Question
Aviation
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits taking steps to increase the cost of private jet flights, in the context of their impact on the environment.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The aviation sector, including business aviation, is important for the whole of the UK economy and supports connectivity, direct economic activity, trade, investment and jobs.

The Department is taking measures to reduce emissions from aviation. Its Jet Zero Strategy sets out how the sector can achieve net zero aviation by 2050 without requiring additional government interventions to limit aviation growth, by focusing on new fuels and technology.


Written Question
Railway Stations: West Yorkshire
Friday 8th September 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of closing train station ticket offices in (a) Leeds, (b) Burley Park and (c) Horsforth rail stations on the (i) safety and (ii) accessibility of passenger rail travel in the North West.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We are now in a period where the independent passenger bodies (Transport Focus and London TravelWatch) are engaging with train operators on the basis of the consultation responses they have received and the criteria they have set out. We expect train operators to work collaboratively with the passenger bodies in the coming weeks, to listen to the concerns raised and to refine their proposals accordingly.

When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators were required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. All operators prepared Equality Impact Assessments and published these on their websites.

Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.


Written Question
Bus Services
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the National Bus Strategy in encouraging more people to travel by bus.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Our National Bus Strategy, ‘Bus Back Better’, outlines how we will make buses more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, better co-ordinated and cheaper.

The Department for Transport has established a monitoring and evaluation programme to assess which initiatives are most effective at improving bus services and increasing bus patronage. This assessment covers monitoring and process, impacts, and value for money evaluations of the initiatives funded through Bus Service Improvement Plans. It also includes a synthesis of evaluation findings across wider bus initiatives to understand the impact of the National Bus Strategy as a whole. We intend to publish interim findings from the evaluation in 2024.


Written Question
Bus Services: Fares
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons some bus routes are not included on the government's bus fare scheme.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The £2 Bus Fare Cap has been designed to be as equitable as possible in terms of its support for passengers across England. Two of the key principles of the scheme were that it should include ‘open’ services which allow any member of public to board; and that the service should allow free concessionary travel (as defined by the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme) for the entirety of its length.

Routes that do not meet these principles, for example ‘closed’ school services (defined as a service which would not allow a member of the general public to board), are therefore not eligible for inclusion in the scheme. However, services from participating operators that serve schools; are open to members of the public; and run all year round are eligible for inclusion in the scheme.

Participation in the scheme from operators is voluntary, and in some instances, routes may not be covered because the operator has chosen not to participate. Further information about the scheme can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/2-bus-fare-cap.


Written Question
Bus Services
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of passenger journeys made on local bus services by (a) metropolitan area and (b) urban-rural status for 2022-23 in (i) England, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) Leeds.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department publishes annual National Statistics on bus passenger journeys, with the statistics for the year ending March 2023 provisionally set to be published in October 2023. The statistics do not present figures for Leeds as the data is not collected at this level of granularity, instead figures for West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority are available. All other requested breakdowns are available.

All of the Department’s annual, quarterly and compendium statistical releases for the coming year can be found on the forthcoming publication schedule on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport/about/statistics#see-our-forthcoming-publications

An alternative measure of bus passenger journeys for Great Britain for the year ending March 2023 is available via our Domestic Transport Usage by Mode statistics that are published monthly on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-use-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic


Written Question
Railways: Timetables
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the decision by the Office of Rail and Road to change timetable publishing periods from 12 to eight weeks.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Network Rail is seeking to reduce the time it takes to produce rail timetables to improve the industry's ability to respond more quickly to changes in demand patterns. This would mean that final timetables are published eight weeks in advance rather than 12 weeks as they are currently required to do.

Plans for this change have not been finalised and are a decision for the rail industry. The plans would require a change to the Network Licence Conditions for Network Rail. In response to Network Rail’s proposal, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), as the regulator, launched a formal public consultation seeking to take public views into account when making its decision about the licence change. The consultation ended on 25 May 2023 and the ORR are currently assessing stakeholders’ views before re-engaging with the industry on the matter.

In anticipation of this change taking place, Network Rail has been working with operators to develop systems that would enable provisional timetables to be published earlier to facilitate advance ticket booking - a measure I firmly support. The Department expects the rail industry to ensure that passengers are at the heart of decision making and that any new processes protect and enhance the customer experience.