Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on (a) increasing the availability of driving tests and (b) reducing the wait time between bookings for people retaking their tests.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
As of 23 October 2023, there were 571,820 car practical driving tests booked, and 72,787 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is taking all the measures it can to reduce driving test waiting times. This includes carrying out overtime, such as at weekends and on public holidays, buying back annual leave from driving examiners (DE) and, inviting recently retired DEs to return to work.
Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of DEs, is creating on average over 40,000 extra car test slots each month.
The DVSA has also deployed all 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 will create around 150,000 test slots.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Government funding allocated to local authorities for repairing potholes is used effectively; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those repairs are of a good standard.
Answered by Karl McCartney
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, as amended, to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Government does not intervene or override local decisions in these matters.
Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects from forming in the first place is vital, and the Department advocates a risk-based, whole life-cycle asset management approach to all aspects of the local highway network.
To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to publish in 2019 Potholes: a repair guide.
The Government has committed £915 million per year for local highways maintenance for local highway authorities outside London and Mayoral Combined Authorities, for the three years starting 2022-23, which includes pothole funding.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the nationwide cycle network benefits both cyclists and motorists.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The management of local roads, including provision of cycling facilities, is the responsibility of individual local traffic authorities. It is for them to ensure their streets are designed to provide safe movement for all road users. The Department has published updated guidance on Cycle Infrastructure Design to help local authorities deliver high quality cycle infrastructure in the future which can be accessed at www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-infrastructure-design-ltn-120. Cycling clearly does not work for everyone, or for every journey. But the more people that cycle, the more roadspace is freed up for those who really need to drive. High-quality infrastructure is a key part of enabling this.
The National Cycle Network (NCN), managed by Sustrans, is a UK-wide network of signed paths and routes for walking and cycling. It stretches over 12,000 miles and in 2019 an estimated 4.2 million people used the NCN to make almost 650 million journeys. Over 50% of journeys were made by modes other than a bicycle including equestrians.
On 14 May 2022 the Department announced £35m of funding for the National Cycle Network to deliver improved surfacing, widened paths and greater accessibility, such as the removal of barriers that impact disabled people and cyclists. Many of these projects are focused on canal towpaths, which are important elements of many local cycling and walking networks.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that potholes are repaired by local highways authorities in a timely and suitable manner to ensure that roads are safe for cyclists.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects from forming in the first place is vital, and the Department advocates a risk-based, whole life-cycle asset management approach to all aspects of the local highway network.
To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to publish Potholes: a repair guide.