Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage private hire vehicles to switch to lower emission or electric vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has provided over £20m to install dedicated chargepoints for ultra-low emission taxis and private hire vehicles across the UK to give drivers the confidence to make the transition to electric. This includes over 200 fast chargers and over 550 rapid chargers. Private hire operators are also able to take advantage of the Plug-in Car and Van Grant schemes, as well as the Electric Homecharge and Work Place Charging Schemes. The Plug-in Car Grant offers up to £3000 off an electric or fuel cell cars and the Electric Homecharge Scheme provides a grant of up to £350 towards the installation of domestic chargepoints.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage lower levels of car use; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department is creating a Transport Decarbonisation Plan for publication later this year setting out a bold and ambitious pathway to decarbonisation. This holistic and cross-modal approach to decarbonising the entire transport system will set out the measures needed to accelerate modal shift to public and active transport.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking in response to the covid-19 outbreak and the reduction in services provided by the Driving and Vehicle Licencing Agency to allow people aged over 70 to renew their driving licence by post.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence at the age 70 and over is to use the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online service at www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence-at-70 .
We are aware that some drivers may face difficulties using this service and those customers should submit a paper application in the normal way. However, paper applications will take longer to process in the current circumstances. Some drivers may be able to continue to drive while their application is being processed, provided they have a valid licence and they have not been told by a doctor or optician not to drive. Further information on this provision can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.
The department is considering what can be done to help drivers who are unable to use the DVLA’s online service. More information will be made available at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the application of Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to people aged over 70 who may not be able to verify their fitness to drive with their GP and continue driving.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
It is a driver’s responsibility to ensure that they meet the criteria for driving under the provisions of Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 while their application is being considered. More information on the criteria can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla
While there is no specific requirement to visit a doctor for these purposes, if a driver has been told not to drive by a doctor or optician, they should not do so.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people aged over 70 have applied to renew their driving licence by using the DVLA’s (a) online and (b) postal service in each of the last five years, by age of applicant.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The table below shows the number of applications received from those renewing their driving licence at the age of 70 and over either online or by post in the last five financial years. It has not been possible in the time available to break this down by age of applicant.
| Online applications age 70 and over | Postal applications age 70 and over |
2015-2016 | 720,152 | 1,068,060 |
2016-2017 | 843,947 | 1,079,017 |
2017-2018 | 897,577 | 990,243 |
2018-2019 | 907,005 | 1,117,544 |
2019-2020 | 1,128,344 | 1,012,176 |
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect bus routes in the North West from closure.
Answered by George Freeman
The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions on subsidised bus services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
The Department provides around £43 million every year of Bus Subsidy Operators Grant (BSOG) directly to English local authorities to support local bus services. The government recognises the importance of these services and to improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed, the government will provide an additional £30 million of funding.
The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need, such as Franchising and Enhanced Partnerships to improve local bus services and increase passenger numbers. We are working with interested local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of bus provision in Worsley and Eccles South.
Answered by George Freeman
The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions on subsidised bus services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need, such as Franchising and Enhanced Partnerships to improve local bus services and increase passenger numbers. We are working with interested local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.
We are committed to implementing the UK’s first-ever long-term bus strategy, accompanied by a long-term funding settlement. The strategy will focus on the needs of passengers so that more people want to use the bus and set out how national and local government and the private sector will come together to achieve this.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of new funding for road maintenance will be allocated to (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Salford City Council.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to improving local infrastructure and expects to announce details of the available funding shortly. Individual allocations of this funding will be subject to Ministerial decisions.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase access to rail services in Walkden.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Northern is introducing refurbished trains that meet modern accessibility standards in the coming months, and these will serve Walkden. They will provide audio visual passenger information systems and wheelchair spaces among other accessibility features for disabled passengers.
In addition, Northern is required to spend at least £250,000 on station accessibility improvements in each year of its franchise and in addition deliver 10 accessible hub stations.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department used to decide not to award Walkden Station funding from the 2018 Access for All programme.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Stations were selected for this funding against a range of criteria including annual footfall, the incidence of disability in the area, and the availability of third party funding for the project. The Department also took into account local factors such as proximity to a hospital. Stations were also chosen to ensure a fair geographical spread of projects across the country.
The programme was heavily subscribed, meaning that many strong nominations were not successful, including Walkden.