Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to regulate the use of autonomous vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government paper “Connected & Automated Mobility 2025: realising the benefits of self-driving vehicles in the UK” sets out government’s plans to support the development and deployment of safe self-driving vehicles in the UK. This includes proposals for a comprehensive regulatory, legislative and safety framework.
The Department is committed to these plans and will introduce primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage local highway authorities to fund equipment that automatically detects the length, width and depth of potholes.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge, needs, and circumstances. The Government has no powers to override local decisions in these matters.
By working with the UK Roads Leadership Group and other sector bodies, the Department for Transport encourages local highway authorities to be innovative by, for example, using different materials or new machinery; or by developing new ways of working. The Department engages regularly with local authorities to discuss and disseminate the results of trials of this sort and supports innovation in other ways including through the ADEPT Live Labs programme that is funded by the Department.
In terms of wider pothole prevention, a Lane Rental Scheme (LRS) is a tool to help highway authorities reduce the impact of works taking place on the busiest roads at the busiest times – those are likely to include key junctions and other pinch-points, plus the busiest and most congested stretches of road. Under an LRS, utility companies (and others undertaking Street works) working on such roads at peak times are required to pay a daily charge to the local highway authority for the duration of their works.
The charges paid to the local authority responsible for the scheme may be used to pay the costs for running the scheme, with any surplus monies raised to be spent in ways for purposes intended to reduce the disruption or other adverse effects arising because of works, including road defects created by utility companies.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the annual cost to the economy of road traffic congestion in England.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Managing traffic on local roads is the responsibility of local traffic authorities. They are subject to the Network Management Duty, which requires them to manage their roads to deliver ‘expeditious movement’ for all traffic including pedestrians. They have a wide range of tools already available to them to manage congestion and traffic flows.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local Transport on 20 April 2023, Official Report, column 349, what the evidential basis is for his statement that Conservative councils repair around double the number of potholes as Liberal Democrat-controlled councils.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Conservative Party research, based on Freedom of Information requests to individual councils.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the extra funding announced in the Budget for expenditure on potholes is spent on road maintenance.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The additional highways maintenance funding announced in the 2023 Budget will be paid to local highways authorities in line with the Government’s broader approach to local government section 31 grant funding, which means that the funding will not be ring-fenced. However, the Department is allocating this funding to local highways authorities with the strong expectation that they spend it on maintaining and improving their respective networks based upon their local knowledge, circumstances, and priorities.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2023 to Question 903834 on National Highways: Planning, if he will hold discussions with National Highways on taking steps to recommend the refusal of a planning application when applicants fail to provide sufficient information for more than one year.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Government’s expectation is that all planning applications are determined in a timely manner and within statutory periods.
The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (“the DMPO”) sets out the requirements for consultation with National Highways in respect of applications submitted under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the provisions for the company to respond to such consultations.
When consulted on an application for planning permission, National Highways will issue a formal response to the relevant local planning authority within statutory timeframes. Where appropriate, planning conditions will be recommended to mitigate any unacceptable impacts on the Strategic Road Network that are identified through the assessment process.
The Town and Country Planning (Development Affecting Trunk Roads) Direction 2018 requires local authorities to refer a planning application to the Secretary of State where the authority has resolved to approve the application against the recommendation of National Highways. The Secretary of State must then decide whether to issue a direction to the Local Planning Authority with respect to application in question.
As you will appreciate, the Secretary of State adopts a quasi-judicial role in the planning system and as such it would not be appropriate to discuss any individual cases.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with National Highways on the timeliness of responses to planning applications for which it is a statutory consultee.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
National Highways have been working with the applicant and with the transport consultant to address questions on this development. The applicant has not yet provided National Highways with the information that they need to enable them to make a recommendation and I will write to my Hon Friend when they do so.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost of HS2 was in January (a) 2013 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman
A cost estimate for the full HS2 programme was set out in the Outline Business Case published in 2013 and has since been updated regularly to take account of scope changes, improved cost projections and inflation. The last cost estimate for each phase of the programme was published in the six-monthly report to Parliament in October 2022, with the next report due to be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2023 to Question 122413 on Motor Vehicles: Registration, what the dedicated resource is that his Department has assigned to help Ukrainian refugees who need to register their vehicle; whether the dedicated resource can be used to help obtain certificates of conformity; and how the dedicated resource can be accessed.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Additional dedicated Department for Transport (DfT) personnel have been assigned to support Ukrainians who wish to register their vehicle, and the DfT has recently published detailed guidance to clearly outline the process. The dedicated resource can be accessed by contacting DVLA, DVSA or VCA as appropriate depending on the nature of the enquiry and as outlined in the guidance. As a Certificate of Conformity is issued by the manufacturer, a vehicle owner must make this request direct to the manufacturer. If a Ukrainian has a question regarding certificates they can contact the VCA for assistance.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to allow Ukrainian refugees to use their Ukrainian-registered cars in the UK without the need to register those cars with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency within six months of arrival; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Foreign registered vehicles brought temporarily into the UK are exempt from UK registration and licensing requirements for up to six months in any 12-month period. After this period and to comply with road safety legislation, any foreign vehicle must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The Government recognises the unique circumstances that many Ukrainians have encountered when fleeing their home country and in response His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is reviewing import duty relief applications. I have assigned dedicated resource across my Department to support those that need to register their vehicle.