Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 18 to 21 of the Government Response to the Transport Select Committee’s Third Report on the Rollout and safety of smart motorways, HC 26, published on 12 January 2022, whether (a) motorway service stations, (b) slip roads and (c) hard shoulders are defined as emergency refuge areas by National Highways in its work retrofitting all-lane running motorways.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In the Government’s response to the Transport Committee report published in January 2022, we announced that we would be committing £390 million to add around 50% more places to stop in an emergency by 2025, giving drivers added reassurance. National Highways is currently developing a detailed programme of work which will set out the type and location of emergency areas to be delivered.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timetable is for agreeing the first passenger service contracts with train operating companies.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The launch of the initial competition for passenger service contracts is expected to be in 2022 with award of the first contract in 2024.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which body will regulate Great British Railways.
Answered by Wendy Morton
As independent economic and safety regulator for Britain's railways, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will regulate Great British Railways.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers the Secretary of State for Transport has to direct the work of Great British Railways.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Once established, Ministers will have strong levers to hold Great British Railways to account, including statutory powers and the ability to issue mandatory directions and guidance that sets the direction for the railway - ensuring that the new body is focused on providing value for the taxpayer and delivering for passengers and freight customers.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) organisational structure and (b) workstreams of Great British Railways will be.
Answered by Wendy Morton
As set out in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, published May 2021, we are establishing a new public body, Great British Railways. Great British Railways will own the infrastructure, receive the fare revenue, run and plan the network and set most fares and timetables. This will require significant change to the system and a new sector operating model. Work to understand new organisational structures and workstreams for Great British Railways is in development and will be an iterative process.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to transfer responsibility for negotiating passenger service contracts from his Department to Great British Railways.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Department for Transport will act as procuring authority until the legislative transfer of powers to Great British Railways. We will be starting extensive and detailed consultation with the industry on the legislative aspects of reform in due course. Where Legislation is needed it will be introduced when the Parliamentary timetable allows.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to raise public awareness of the update on smart motorways in the Highway Code, introduced in September 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Improvements to The Highway Code to improve safety on motorways and other high-speed roads came into effect on Tuesday 14 September 2021, with the publication of a revised edition on the Government website: www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code.
National Highways provided a news release to national transport correspondents, the road safety trade media, and driver and vehicle consumer press including quotes from the Roads Minister, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and road safety stakeholders. The news release generated more than 280 news stories covering the changes in a factual, positive manner, with many offering guides on ‘what drivers need to know’.
The Department pre-briefed influential roads and motoring stakeholders to encourage them to update their members, and National Highways wrote to stakeholders involved in the consultation to thank them and ask them to update members.
The DVSA sent direct emails to the driver, rider, and vocational training sectors, trainer bookers, professional drivers, vehicle operators, Highway Code email alert subscribers and learner drivers and riders, with nearly half a million people notified of the changes.
National Highways and DVSA published links to updated Highway Code pages on their social media channels, amplified by the Department across corporate channels, the THINK! campaign, and tweets from the Secretary of State and the Roads Minister.
National Highways also published a news story on its website and updated its pages detailing progress on delivering the Smart Motorway Evidence Stocktake and Action Plan, each linking to The Highway Code on GOV.UK.
National Highways recognise that making drivers aware of the changes requires more than can be done on the day of publication and is seeking out appropriate opportunities to further publicise updates, including:
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s policy is on safety inspections of light trailers with regard to the planned cessation of safety checks by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on light trailers weighing more than 0.75 tonnes and less than 3.5 tonnes in September 2021.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is not planning the cessation of safety checks on light trailers weighing more than 0.75 tonnes and less than 3.5 tonnes.
The DVSA is actively supporting work to help improve trailer safety. It is running checks throughout the summer to support the ‘Tow Safe for Freddie Campaign’, which has focus on caravans that tend to have greater use in this period. That campaign ends in September 2021, but the DVSA will continue with roadside checks of trailers and its broader educative work.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the guidance published by his Department on 17 May 2021 on bus service improvement plans, whether he plans to publish guidance on the ventilation of buses and preventing the spread of covid-19.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport has published ‘Safer Transport’ guidance for operators, which helps transport organisations understand how to provide safer workplaces and services for themselves, their workers and passengers.
The Safer Transport guidance, which is reviewed and updated regularly, includes a section on ‘Ventilation’, which suggests ways in which transport operators could ensure that a fresh air supply is consistently flowing through vehicles.
The Bus Service Improvement Plan guidance, which was published by the Department on 17 May 2021, is intended to help Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) and local bus operators develop an ambitious plan to improve bus services and access new funding, as outlined in the National Bus Strategy.
Asked by: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates he plans to publish the outstanding Post Opening Project Evaluation reports for the smart motorway schemes at (a) M1 junctions 10 to 13, (b) M1 junctions 28 to 31 and (c) M1 junctions 32 to 35a.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Highways England produces Post Opening Project Evaluation (POPE) reports ‘1 year after’ and ‘5 years after’, following the opening of a road scheme. It is currently producing: a five-year POPE report on the M1 Junctions 10 to 13; and, 1-year POPE reports on the M1 junctions 28 to 31, and M1 Junctions 32 to 35a. These are expected to be published by Summer 2021.