Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish the response to the Supporting Recycled Carbon Fuels through the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation consultation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department has carefully analysed responses to the consultation “Supporting Recycled Carbon Fuels through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation” and will be publishing the Government response as soon as possible.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has provided recent guidance to public transport providers in Kingston Upon Hull North constituency on (a) accessibility and (b) permissions for passengers using electric mobility scooters.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In 2022 the Department issued Guidance to support licensing authorities with the implementation of updated laws improving disabled people’s access to taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs).
The Department also consulted on updated best practice guidance for taxi and PHV licensing authorities, including recommendations on providing a more inclusive service, and the substantive guidance document will be published later in 2023. Both documents are relevant to public transport authorities and providers across England, including those in Kingston Upon Hull North.
Rules on the carriage of mobility scooters vary by transport mode, and advice is provided in mode-specific guidance documents. There have been no recent major changes to such guidance for buses, taxis/PHVs or rail services.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to issue indefinite disabled person’s parking badge entitlements to people with progressive conditions such as Parkinson’s.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Applications to the Blue Badge scheme are not dependent upon condition but are based on the need of the applicant to park closer to their destination. Local authorities are responsible for administering the scheme locally and all local authority administrators have the discretion to add a ‘not for reassessment’ marker to individual Blue Badge records, including for applicants with Parkinson's.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of bus services in England since 2019.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant reductions to bus service levels and passenger numbers. To mitigate the impacts of the pandemic the Government has provided nearly £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding to bus operators and local transport authorities to keep vital bus services running. As a result of this support, bus services in England in 2020/21 ran at over 80% of pre-COVID levels, even though patronage and commercial fare revenue dropped significantly.
The Government is taking proactive steps to help increase patronage by providing £60 million to help bus operators cap single fares at £2 on services in England outside London from 1 January to 31 March 2023. Over 130 operators covering more than 4,600 routes are participating in the scheme, which will help increase patronage on buses and help millions save on their regular travel costs.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of plans to increase rail fares in 2023 on passengers from Hull.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the challenges passengers are facing this year with the cost of living, including those travelling to and from Hull. This is why we have delivered the biggest Government intervention on rail fares since privatisation, by capping increases to regulated fares at 5.9 per cent, 6.4 percentage points below July 2022’s Retail Prices Index figure.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the new train timetable on reliability of rail operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The December 2022 timetable was designed to improve performance, particularly through some of the busiest parts of the network.
Since it was introduced, the network has faced considerable challenges, with poor weather (snow, ice, wind and heavy rain), sustained industrial action and a wide-ranging programme of engineering works. The full impact of the timetable on service performance will only become clearer when network disruption stabilises, towards the end of January.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of cancelled planned rail services effecting journeys to and from Hull in 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department, which manages TransPennine Express’s contract in partnership with Transport for the North through the Rail North Partnership, is in regular dialogue with the operator to stabilise the current service provision (which has been affected by high levels of absence, a lack of rest day working and overtime, and industrial action) and then return services to a fuller and reliable timetable.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with TransPennine Express on its recent operational performance.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department, which manages TransPennine Express’s contract in partnership with Transport for the North through the Rail North Partnership, is in regular dialogue with the operator to stabilise the current service provision (which has been affected by high levels of absence, a lack of rest day working and overtime, and industrial action) and then return services to a fuller and reliable timetable.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the zero-emission bus regional areas scheme in decarbonising the bus fleet.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Zero Emission Bus Regional Area scheme (ZEBRA) is supporting local authorities to drive decarbonisation of their bus fleets. So far, the Government has awarded £270 million to 17 local transport authorities which will support up to 1,278 zero emission buses (ZEBs). These will remove polluting diesel buses from the road.
To inform the assessment of ZEBRA bids, my department required local authorities to complete a tool that calculates the costs and benefits of each bid, including the amount of carbon savings. This information helped target funding to ensure the decarbonisation of the bus fleet in an effective way. Furthermore, we have designed a monitoring and evaluation project for the scheme. This will provide data on the effectiveness of the scheme and the extent to which it delivers its aims and objectives. It will also improve the evidence base on the performance of ZEBs, to support full decarbonisation of the bus fleet.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with petrol retailers on wholesale fuel costs for car users.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Fuel prices are regularly discussed across government. The Department for Transport (DfT), and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) engage the motoring sector through the Motorists’ Forum on the cost of living and fuel costs.
Both Departments continue to review the findings and recommendations of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), following the publication of their urgent review on fuel retail market competition and the initial findings of their subsequent in-depth fuel market study. DfT and BEIS will continue to work with the CMA and representatives of the fuel industry on this issue to ensure motorists are paying a fair price at the pump.