Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to reduce the backlog in driving tests.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at all driving test centres (DTC), include the recruitment of new driving examiners (DE), conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from DEs. DVSA also continues to deploy DEs from areas with lower waiting times into those where waiting times are longer.
The government is considering what further actions we can take to reduce waiting times for car practical driving tests.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support her Department provides to highways authorities to (a) adopt and (b) repair and (c)upgrade (i) unadopted and (ii) ownerless roads that form key parts of local road networks.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Unadopted roads that are not maintained at public expense by a highway authority are known as private streets, as defined by Section 203(2) of the Highways Act 1980. The responsibility for management of private streets rests with the owner, or more usually the frontagers, who are those owning property that fronts, or borders, the street concerned.
The Department has published guidance on gov.uk on “Highways Adoption: The Adoption of Roads into the Public Highway”, which was last updated in August 2022. It sets out how new and existing roads can be adopted by highway authorities so that they become maintainable at public expense. Any decision to adopt roads which are not highways maintainable at public expense is a matter for the local highway authority.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the rate of implementation of step free access on the rail network.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 2006, the Access for All (AfA) programme has delivered step free access at more than 250 stations across Great Britain. We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has to improve accessibility at (a) Arlesey station and (b) Hitchin station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time was between booking and taking a driving test in Hitchin constituency in the latest period for which data is available; and how many people are waiting to take a test in that constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards. To increase the number of available test slots, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.
To increase the number of car driving test slots, the DVSA deployed eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which created over 145,000 additional test slots. Driving examiners from areas with lower waiting times continue to travel and test in those centres with longer waiting times. This is in addition to the DVSA recruiting additional examiners across the country into areas where waiting times are highest.
The DVSA is unable to calculate the waiting time between booking and taking a driving test.
The table below shows the June 2024 average waiting time, number of booked car practical driving tests, and available tests as of 22 July 2024 at the test centres that serve the constituency of Hitchin:
DTC | June 2024 average waiting time in weeks | Booked tests | Tests available in 24 week booking window |
Letchworth | 16.5 | 1560 | 78 |
Stevenage | 24 | 1043 | 53 |
Luton | 12.5 | 2404 | 95 |
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate her Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Hitchin constituency is not available. Information for the Hertfordshire local authority is given below, where available. Alternative data for the former Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency is also offered where relevant.
Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 56,667 licensed cars as at end March 2024 in the former Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency.
Bus usage
According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 20.8 million local bus journeys taken in Hertfordshire.
Train usage
According to Office of Rail and Road statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 17.8 million passenger rail journeys within East of England that started or ended in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire. There were also 52.6 million journeys that started or ended in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire that ended or started from regions other than the East of England.
Active travel usage
According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2021 and November 2022, 78.2% of adults walked or cycled at least once per week in North Hertfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District) and 73.8% of adults walked or cycled at least once per week in Hertfordshire (County).
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to fund road maintenance in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously, and is committed to maintaining and renewing our road network as a priority; on which Ministers will say more in future.
Maintenance of the local highway network within Hertfordshire, including the constituency of Hitchin, is the responsibility of Hertfordshire County Council. For 2024/25, Hertfordshire County Council has been allocated over £ 25 million to help it maintain its local highway network.
Future funding beyond 2024/25 is a matter for the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average cost of bus fares is in (a) Hitchin constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) North Hertfordshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested regarding the average cost of bus fares is not available. The Department produces quarterly bus fare statistics in the form of a local bus fares index. However, this data is not available specifically for (a) Hitchin constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) North Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to take steps to improve train services in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Govia Thameslink Railway is introducing additional peak only services between King’s Cross and Hitchin in December 2024. There is also a wider plan to increase peak time capacity on the route to King’s Cross, which would benefit services out of Hitchin, however this is dependent on the future wider East Coast Mainline timetable recast.
Alongside this, Hitchin will benefit from the East Coast Digital Programme, a £1.8 billion investment in infrastructure, which will introduce digital signalling, improving punctuality and reliability of services, with the potential to further improve service frequencies, dependent on demand and business case.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 8.1 to 8.5 of his Department's guidance entitled, Inclusive Mobility: A guide to best practice on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure, published in December 2021, if he will publish updated guidance on the design of regular parking spaces to increase accessibility for disabled people who are not blue badge holders.
Answered by Guy Opperman
My officials have ongoing discussions with the British Parking Association on a variety of issues. The Department has no current plans for increasing the minimum size for on-street car parking bays to accommodate larger vehicles.
The minimum size of on-street parking bays is regulated through the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016. Local authorities may already provide larger bays if they wish.
The design of off-street car park facilities is governed by Building Regulations which specify requirements in relation to accessibility, structural design and fire safety.