Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Department is taking with the devolved administrations and local authorities to support consistent safety and accessibility standards for electric-vehicle charging stations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government engages regularly with devolved governments and local authorities (LAs) on electric vehicle charging.
The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund supports local authorities to scale up EV charging provision across England. Through LEVI, LAs are expected to consider charge point accessibility. Support for LAs is available through one-to-one guidance, masterclasses and an online knowledge repository.
OZEV engaged the devolved administrations throughout the development and the review of charge point accessibility standard (PAS 1899). They will also be closely involved in the ongoing revision of PAS 1899.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of eligible rail journeys currently result in passengers receiving automatic compensation for delays; and what steps she is taking to increase that proportion.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ten of the fourteen Department for Transport operators now offer delay repay schemes that provide automated, one-click delay repay, and we are also developing plans to make it even easier and more convenient to claim Delay Repay. Earlier this year, we announced that the compensation claim systems for delayed trains will be merged into one easy-to-use service under Great British Railways. This will also enable passenger to claim Delay Repay directly from third-party retailers for the first time. The Department does not hold data on the proportion of services that receive automatic delay repay.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Great British Railways brand supports a unified national rail network across Great Britain.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Great British Railways (GBR) brand represents putting railway passengers and the public interest firmly in the driving seat. The GBR brand will support a unified rail network across Great Britian by providing passengers with a simpler railway with a consistent identity. Well-known names like Great Western Railway and London Northeastern Railway will be preserved as regional identifiers under the GBR brand. ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Caledonian Sleeper, Open Access Operators, and some services in places like Liverpool and London have different arrangements and will not be branded as GBR.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve the reliability of Wi-Fi on long-distance rail services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has secured funding to support the introduction of low earth orbit satellite connectivity on mainline trains, which is expected to deliver a significant improvement in the reliability and performance of onboard Wi‑Fi for passengers across the rail network.
Subject to final Treasury approval, the Department is working closely with Network Rail to commence procurement and design activity later this year. This work aligns with Network Rail’s Project Reach programme, delivered in partnership with Neos Networks and Freshwave, which will support the provision of more consistent connectivity and improved digital services for passengers travelling across the network.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to make railway stations in Glasgow South constituency accessible.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Future funding for the Access for All programme will be considered as part of the next Spending Review, which may provide an opportunity for accessibility upgrades at stations in the Glasgow South constituency. The process and timings for future funding rounds have not yet been decided, though the programme will be reformed as part of the transition to Great British Railways.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for driving tests in Glasgow.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continuing with its recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners (DE) at driving test centres (DTC) serving the Glasgow area, to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
Across Glasow DVSA has recently made employment offers to seven new potential DEs. Another recruitment campaign closed on the 9 June.