Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of ticket prices on (a) train and (b) buses on the accessibility of public transport.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We have made no specific assessment of the effect of train ticket prices on the accessibility of public transport. However, we have frozen regulated rail fares in line with inflation for the seventh year in a row, cut costs for thousands of young people with the 26-30 and 16-17 Saver railcards, and will be rolling out a new Veteran’s Railcard later this year.
Bus fares are primarily a matter for the commercial judgement of bus operators. However, we support council spending of around £1 billion a year so older and disabled people can travel on buses up and down the country for free and a further £250 million in Bus Service Operators Grant to keep fares down and maintain an extensive network. Our commitments in the Better Deal for Bus Users will also help passengers secure best value tickets.
On 11 February the Government announced plans for £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycling links across England. This will include higher frequency services and more affordable and simpler fares. The details of these programmes will be announced in the upcoming National Bus Strategy, to be published later this year.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to build cycle paths in (a) the North East and (b) Houghton and Sunderland South constituency.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The construction of cycle paths is a matter for local authorities. Decisions on future funding for cycling and walking infrastructure will be a matter for the Budget and forthcoming Spending Review.
However, on 11 February the Prime Minister announced £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London.
In addition, in the last Parliament the Department for Transport provided support to 46 local authorities across England to help them develop Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure plans (LCWIPs). Four Local Authorities in the North East - Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland and Tees Valley - have produced draft LCWIPs. The Department is currently working with the sector to develop further support for authorities on LCWIP scheme development.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South of 5 February 2020, Official Report column 395, if (a) he or (b) a Minister will visit the Leamside line to discuss its proposed reopening.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I would be happy to visit the Hon. Member’s constituency at a suitable opportunity to discuss the case for reopening the Leamside line.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the feasibility of expanding (a) rail and (b) light rail services on the former Leamside railway line.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As part of its Continuous Modular Strategic Planning work on long term strategy for the rail network, Network Rail is assessing what is required to make sure that the rail network between York and Newcastle meets the needs of passengers and freight users in the coming decades. This study is considering the potential role of reinstatement of the Leamside line in meeting those needs, including for local connectivity through extension of the Tyne and Wear local conventional rail or Metro network. It will make recommendations for further option development.
To help communities across the country, the Government has pledged £500m to start reopening lines closed following the Beeching report. I am inviting Honourable Members to work with local authorities and community groups to come forward with proposals to explore. I have set out how this should be done and my officials are providing further guidance and assistance. We will consider the proposals received and expect to make a further announcement on development funding in autumn this year.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of public transport journeys made in 2018-19 according to (a) age group, (b) gender and (c) the main mode of transport used.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Department publishes estimated trip rates per person per year by age, gender and main mode (including public transport modes) in table NTS0601, here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts03-modal-comparisons#mode-by-age-and-gender
These figures are based on the Department’s National Travel Survey for English residents travelling in Great Britain. The latest data available is for 2017, the next release will be published on 31st July 2019 and will provide data for 2018.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that rules, regulations and standards do not diverge in quality between local taxi licensing authorities.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The legislation that provides for licensing of taxi and private hire vehicle services is enabling in its nature, giving local licensing authorities the discretion to set standards that they deem to be appropriate for their area.
The Government committed in the response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing to take forward legislation when time allows to enable the setting of national minimum standards in licensing.
The Department is also consulting on draft statutory guidance to be issued to licensing authorities on how they should use the extensive existing powers to protect children and vulnerable adults when using these services.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of taxi licenses granted to drivers with criminal records in the last five years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The Government is responsible for setting the regulatory structure within which licensing authorities in England issue taxi and private hire vehicle service licences.
Licensing authorities have a duty to ensure that any person to whom they grant a licence is a fit and proper person. As part of this assessment all licensing authorities require an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check; this provides details of convictions and cautions and may include additional information which a chief police officer reasonably believes is relevant and ought to be disclosed.
The Department is consulting on draft statutory guidance to be issued to licensing authorities on how they should use the extensive existing powers to protect children and vulnerable adult when using these services. This includes a policy on the assessment of previous criminal convictions. The draft policy places passenger safety as the priority while enabling past offenders to sufficiently evidence that they have been successfully rehabilitated so that they might obtain a licence.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent taxi or private hire vehicle drivers from operating exclusively outside of the locality in which they are licensed.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing agreed with the principle that all taxi and private hire vehicle journeys should start and/or end within the area that issued the licences, and set out that further consideration will be given to how this might best work in practice, with a view to legislation.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with local taxi licensing authorities to ensure that drivers continue to meet standards after the initial granting of their licence.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Licensing authorities have a duty to ensure that any person to whom they grant a taxi or private hire vehicle driver’s licence to is a fit and proper person to hold such a licence. Licensing authorities remain responsible for ensuring that the drivers they license remain fit and proper throughout the period of the licence.
The draft statutory guidance to be issued to licensing authorities which Government is currently consulting on recommends measures to ensure authorities are aware of new information that may affect the suitability of individuals to hold a licence, such as clear complaint processes and biannual enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks including the barred lists.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of CCTV installed in taxi and private hire vehicles on improving passenger safety.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department’s view is that the use of CCTV can provide a safer environment for the benefit of taxi and private hire vehicle passengers and drivers. The impact assessment that accompanies the Department’s consultation on statutory guidance for local licensing authorities considers in-vehicle CCTV and the costs and benefits of this. Benefits include improved passenger safety as the presence of CCTV is a deterrent to crime.