Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to change the application criteria to be a special constable within the British Transport Police.
Answered by Claire Perry
The selection of Special Constables to join the British Transport Police is an operational issue controlled by the Chief Constable. We understand that the Chief Constable is currently reviewing the list of occupations currently prohibited from being a Special Constable in the light of the new College of Policing Code of Ethics.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on the implications for the future of British Transport Police of the recommendations of the Smith Commission.
Answered by Claire Perry
There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State and his counterpart in the Scottish Government about the implications for the future of the British Transport Police of the recommendations of the Smith Commission. Officials across the UK Government departments will be working with the Scottish Government to understand their views on the Smith Agreement.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals to revise the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations 1993 (S.I., 1993/76), as amended, in order to provide greater clarity in respect of the exemptions for (a) taxi drivers, (b) bus drivers, (c) coach drivers and (d) HGV vehicle drivers wearing seat belts.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There are very few exemptions for wearing a seat belt if there is one fitted. Taxi drivers have an exemption when they are plying for hire or carrying a fare, and delivery drivers do not have to wear one if they are making deliveries or collections that are less than 50m apart. If a bus or coach is adapted for standing passengers then there may not be a seat belt fitted, however, if there is one, it should be worn. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of serious injury in the event of an accident. Rules 99-102 of The Official Highway Code sets out seat belt requirements including exemptions, as does seat belt advice on www.gov.uk, so we do not believe that further clarification is necessary.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on the definition of (a) urban buses and (b) coaches in the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations 1993 (S.I., 1993/76), as amended.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We have not received any representations about the definition of urban buses or coaches. There have been a small number of letters over a sustained period of time to Ministers and the Department about this subject, particularly about children wearing seat belts in buses and coaches.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when regulations governing transportation of oxygen cylinders in private vehicles were last reviewed; and what plans his Department has for future such reviews.
Answered by Claire Perry
Private vehicles are currently exempted from regulations regarding the transport of dangerous goods.
Regulations regarding the transport of dangerous goods are under constant review, negotiated under a United Nations agreement and are updated on a biennial basis, the last update was adopted in 2013 and the next is due to be adopted in 2015.
Review of applicable exemptions often features in negotiations and is the subject of a working paper raised by Switzerland to be discussed at the next meeting to take place over the period 3rd to 7th November 2014 in Geneva (see http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2014/dgwp15/ECE-TRANS-WP15-2014-10e.pdf).
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance on health and safety and insurance his Department provides to people who need to transport oxygen cylinders in private vehicles for healthcare purposes.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The carriage of items such as compressed oxygen in their cars by medical and para-medical staff is regarded as exempt from the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, known as ADR (a French acronym) provided that measures have been taken to prevent any leakage of the contents in normal conditions of carriage.
It is the responsibility of the user/ operator of the vehicle to ensure that any particular use of the vehicle such as the carriage of oxygen is fully covered by their policy of insurance and to arrange extra cover where it is required. The Department does not give specific guidance on insurance to people transporting these cylinders because individual insurers assess risk differently.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the merits of establishing a driving test centre at the site of the current HGV testing centre in Kilmarnock.
Answered by Claire Perry
Practical driving test candidates in Kilmarnock currently have access to a test centre at Irvine 6.5 miles or 12 minutes away. Adding an additional test centre location at Kilmarnock Goods Vehicle Testing Station would not provide any significant improvement in service delivery but would create additional operating costs which would ultimately be passed on to DVSA customers.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the effects of the closure of the driving test centre in Kilmarnock on (a) costs incurred by driving instructors, (b) costs incurred by candidates and (c) traffic in the vicinity of nearby test centres.
Answered by Claire Perry
There is no requirement to undertake driving tuition exclusively on test routes and instructors are encouraged to teach on a range of roads with varying traffic conditions. Whilst candidates will no doubt wish to be familiar with the test environment, the vast majority of tuition may be undertaken locally in Kilmarnock with no significant increase in cost to the instructor.
Approved Driving Instructors will charge what they feel is an appropriate rate for tuition. Since there is no significant increase in costs to instructors arising from the relocation to Irvine, there is no anticipated increase in cost for individual learner drivers. During any journey to the test centre location for the purposes of familiarisation , the pupil will be receiving tuition. This is not, therefore, unproductive time or an additional cost but a valuable part of the learning process.
Beyond day-to-day operational issues, there have been no reports of any adverse impact on traffic in the vicinity of nearby driving test centres.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of people who undertook driving tests at the test centre in (a) Irvine and (b) Cumnock since the closure of the Kilmarnock driving test centre ordinarily reside in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.
Answered by Claire Perry
The proportion of people ordinarily residing in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituencies who undertook driving tests at the test centre in (a) Irvine and (b) Cumnock since the closure of the Kilmarnock driving test centre is reflected in the appended table. The proportion for Irvine is 28.5%. The proportion for Cumnock is 45%.
Asked by: Cathy Jamieson (Labour (Co-op) - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people normally resident in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency undertook driving tests in (a) Irvine and (b) Cumnock test centres in each month since the closure of the Kilmarnock driving test centre.
Answered by Claire Perry
The number of people normally resident in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituencies who undertook driving tests in (a) Irvine and (b) Cumnock test centres in each month since the closure of the Kilmarnock driving test centre is reflected in the appended table. The total number for Irvine is 1,771. The total number for Cumnock is 729.