Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2023 to Question 189475, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that there is no loss of earnings to the UK haulage industry due to EU rules on cabotage since the UK left the EU.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Cabotage access for UK road transport operators is included in Article 462 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Under the terms of that agreement, UK operators can undertake unlimited bilateral journeys to, from and through the EU.
Up to two additional movements (international movements between EU States or cabotage) may be undertaken within the EU following a laden journey from the UK, within a 7-day period. These rights are designed to support the efficient operation of UK international road haulage industry between the UK and EU and within the EU.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of potential changes in the revenue generated by the haulage industry due to EU rules on cabotage since the UK left the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman
There has been no formal assessment of the revenue generated. However, based on the most recent statistics published in October 2022, in 2021 UK operators performed cabotage movements as permitted within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement equivalent to 93% of the average amount of movement that took place between 2015 – 2019.
The 2021 levels of cabotage movements performed by UK operators may differ from the 2015-2019 average due to reasons other than the changes to EU rules about cabotage.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of driving test appointments available in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) London.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their car practical driving test.
The DVSA has a 24-week forward booking window and tests are not available to book beyond this. As the booking service is live, test appointments can also become available to book through other candidates cancelling, or rescheduling, their test.
As of 15 May 2023, there were 6,402 car practical driving tests booked, and 297 car practical driving tests available within the next 24-weeks at the three centres that serve the London Borough of Southwark.
Within London, as of 15 May 2023, there were 79,109 car practical driving tests booked, and 4,390 car practical driving tests available within the next 24-weeks.
As a result of the measures already taken by the DVSA, overall, since April 2021, an estimated 813,000 additional car test slots have been created. On average, the DVSA is creating approximately 35,300 extra car test slots each month.
Actions already being taken to make this possible include asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job to return to conducting tests, conducting out of hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, asking recently retired driving examiners to return, and recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2021 to Question 180911, if he will publish the proposals put forward by the UK for an exemption for specialist hauliers carrying out tours for cultural events in the EU.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport is not able to release the content of correspondence and records pertaining to negotiations between the UK and the EU: these texts are confidential, and it is therefore not appropriate for them to be published.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the post-UK leaving the EU cabotage rules on UK hauliers involved in live music touring in the EU.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
It is the Department for Transport’s assessment that the TCA allows for the vast majority of haulage operations that were being undertaken by UK hauliers before the end of the transition period to continue. During UK-EU negotiations, the UK put forward proposals for an exemption for specialist hauliers carrying out tours for cultural events in the EU, but the EU did not agree to our asks.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to take additional steps to ensure that specialist music concert hauliers continue to operate from the UK over the next 12 months.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport is aware of the issues faced by specialist haulage operators. During UK-EU negotiations, specific arrangements for the specialist haulage sector were discussed in detail as part of negotiations, but the EU was unwilling to agree more flexible arrangements. We are in regular contact with the Road Haulage Association and Logistics UK to help the industry understand market access provisions under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We are also working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy who are considering support to enable touring by the creative industries sector to resume once restrictions on large performances are eased under the roadmap announced by the Prime Minister on 22 February.
The Government announced £4.6 billion in lockdown grants to support business and protect jobs in January 2021. This was on top of the extension of the furlough scheme to April 2021, £250 million in grants under the Culture Recovery Fund Second Round and extension of the coronavirus loan schemes to March 2021. The Budget, which will take place on 3 March, will set out the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the inclusion of the location of speed cameras on Google Maps and other web mapping services.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We expect all drivers to observe speed limits. It is up to the Highways Authority and the Police to decide whether to use cameras and how they wish to operate them.
We are, however, keen that the public should be kept informed about the location of fixed speed cameras and we recognise that apps may include this public domain data on their service. We are not out to trap the motorist. We want to ensure fairness and safety on our roads.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with Transport for London on reviewing the planned end to free travel for under 18s in London.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free travel for under 18s. These conditions were agreed by the Mayor of London and Deputy Mayor for Transport.
Before the Covid-19 crisis, around a third of journeys in the morning peak period were made by young people travelling to school and many of these journeys were less than 2km in length. The temporary suspension of free travel for under 18s will help to reduce demand for public transport so that those who need to use it can do so safely.
The Department is working closely with TfL and the Department for Education on how the temporary suspension can be operationalised. Any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still receive this. The Department is also completing an Equality Impact Assessment, which will consider whether there are further categories of children that should receive free transport.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of young people under 18 in low income families in (a) Camberwell and Peckham and (b) London who will have their free tube and bus travel suspended.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The £1.6 billion Extraordinary Funding and Financing Agreement to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue operating services contained a series of conditions to facilitate safe travel on public transport in London, including the temporary suspension of free bus travel for under 18s.
The Department is working closely with TfL, the Department for Education and London Councils on how the temporary suspension can be operationalised. Any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still receive this. The Department is also completing an Equality Impact Assessment, which will consider whether there are further categories of children that should receive free transport.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase (a) cycling and (b) the use of public transport in (i) Camberwell and Peckham and (ii) London.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has agreed a £1.6 billion funding and financing package for Transport for London to enable them to continue to transport passengers safely across London, supporting the capital’s gradual recovery from COVID-19.
The Department is committed to increasing cycling and walking as a way of enabling more people to move around safely while maintaining social distancing. This will help to relieve pressures on public transport as well as delivering other benefits.
Southwark Council received a £100,000 tranche 1 allocation from the Active Travel Fund in June 2020 to support the installation of temporary projects for the Covid-19 pandemic and will shortly have the opportunity to make a further bid for tranche 2 funding.