Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to regulate airport drop off charges.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department has no plans to regulate car parking and drop-off charges at UK airports. Decisions on the provision and pricing of airport parking remain a commercial matter for individual operators.
Parking revenue, including that from drop-off charges, is an important source of income for airports, supporting investment in future infrastructure and upgrades, enhancing public transport options, and helping to manage congestion around airport sites.
Many airports across the UK offer free drop-off alternatives, either within walking distance of the airport or via a complementary shuttle bus service.
The department will continue to engage with operators to ensure that, where airports choose to charge, they are implemented in a way that is fair and transparent.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with stakeholders on steps to regulate airport drop off charges.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department regularly engages with airports and other stakeholders on a wide range of matters, such as surface access arrangements which includes parking and drop-off charges. Airports in the UK are managed and operated as private businesses. While the Government and the Civil Aviation Authority do not regulate drop-off charges, the Department expects parking at airports to be managed appropriately and consumers to be treated fairly.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of increasing the frequency of Antilock Breaking Systems (ABS) for large vehicles, including large estate cars and SUVs, on road safety; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of doubling the frequency at which ABS begins to operate in these vehicles from every 1/4 of a wheel turn to every 1/8.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department has not made any assessment of the impact of increasing the frequency at which Anti-Lock Braking Systems (ABS) operate or start to operate as this does not reflect how these systems are regulated in practice.
The requirements for ABS have been developed by experts at an international level under the UN’s World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). These requirements are performance‑based; manufacturers must demonstrate compliance (i.e. wheels do not lock) across a range of relevant conditions and are therefore responsible for determining the appropriate control strategies to meet them.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to increase rail capacity in the East of England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Greater Anglia are in the final stages of the £1.4 billion fleet transformation programme with all services now operated by new trains which provide many more seats and greater capacity for customers across the region. In addition, the Government is funding the construction of new stations at Cambridge South and Beaulieu Park, both of which are due to open in 2025 and will create additional rail capacity for the East.