Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce processing times for blue badge applications.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme and provides guidance for local authorities who are solely responsible for administering the scheme, including issuing the badges.
There are no timescales set for administering applications other than a suggested guideline that issuing authorities should aim to complete end to end applications within 12 weeks.
80% of citizens apply for a badge using the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) operated by the Department for Transport. The Department has a programme of continuous improvement to the BBDS. Working closely with local authorities and citizen users as part of its National Disability Strategy commitments, the Department’s aim is to make online badge applications quicker and easier for both applicants and local authorities.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage of cargo is transported by train in the UK.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In 2022, 7% of total freight moved in the UK was by rail - 81% was by road and 12% by water.
Source: Transport Statistics Great Britain, table TSGB0401 Freight (TSGB04) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to support rural bus services in (a) Wansbeck constituency, (b) Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency, (c) Blyth Valley constituency, (d) Hexham constituency, (e) Northumberland and (f) the rest of the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing over £2 billion in funding for Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). This includes £1 billion from redirected HS2 funding to level up bus services in the North and Midlands as part of Network North.
The support provided for bus services (including rural bus services) in the North East is £175 million, covering both the North East Combined Authority (NECA) and the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA).
This figure includes both BSIP funding and Network North BSIP funding up to March 2025.
In addition, our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.
On top of this, we have announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of franchising bus services for communities in the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government will support any Local Transport Authority (LTA) wishing to franchise their bus services, including those in the North East. The Transport Act 2000 provides automatic access to franchising powers for Mayoral Combined Authorities in England. Other authorities can request those powers but need to demonstrate that franchising is the best option to deliver improvements for passengers. It is for an LTA to conduct an assessment of any proposed franchising scheme for their area.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to research conducted by Friends of the Earth published on 28 November 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the findings on changes to bus service levels in the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government provided over £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding from March 2020 to June 2023 to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and help protect services. Due to this funding, bus service mileage in England outside London remained at approximately 80% of pre-COVID levels in 2020/21, despite patronage dropping to 10% of pre-pandemic levels during the height of the pandemic.
To continue to support bus services in the North East, the Prime Minister announced £1 billion to deliver better services in the Midlands and North as part of Network North. Of the initial £150 million allocation, the North East will receive £11.2 million and details on future allocation will be published in due course.
In May, we announced a long-term approach to protect and improve bus services backed by an additional £300 million from July 2023 until April 2025. This funding is in addition to the £163 million the Government is providing to the North East to help local areas level up their bus services and deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plan. Local transport authorities and bus operators in the North East receive funding under the Bus Service Operator Grant to keep fares down and run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation. To support this, the Government provides up to £259 million annually for the national scheme.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of charging infrastructure to help the public transition to electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In 2022 the Government published its electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure strategy setting out its plan to accelerate the rollout of a world-class EV charging network. The majority of EV drivers charge at home and the Government expects this to continue, but a reliable public chargepoint network will be needed to support drivers making long distance journeys and those without off-street parking.
A diverse mix of chargepoints will be needed across the UK, not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Local chargepoint planning is an essential part of the strategy. By 2030, the Department estimates that 300,000 public chargepoints will be needed as a minimum, the majority of which will be market-led. ChargeUK members have publicly committed to investing more than £6 billion in charging infrastructure before 2030.
To date the Government and industry have supported the installation of over 42,000 publicly available charging devices including more than 7,800 rapid devices. There has been a 35% increase over the last 12 months (May 2022 – May 2023).
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the public's access to public transport; and what steps he plans to take to improve that access and reduce the effect of travel on climate change.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy sets out measures we are taking to assess and improve accessibility to public transport across the network. These commitments are mirrored in Bus Back Better and the Plan for Rail, which will extend accessible public transport to more people across our communities. The Department has also developed the Model of Connectivity to better understand where people are travelling to and how to inform transport planning. Results from this model will be made available for all nations of the UK from later this year.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue guidance requiring any bus company operating in a local authority to provide mandatory training to all workers on gender and sexual based harassment and violence.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Everyone has the right to feel safe when travelling and we are determined to improve the safety of our transport network. The Department is working closely with the Home Office on the cross-departmental strategy to address Violence Against Women and Girls.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted an equality impact assessment of (a) reductions to (i) bus services and (ii) night bus services over the last 10 years and (b) any proposals for further changes to bus services and funding.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Local Transport Authorities are responsible for complying with the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Department’s role includes enabling and encouraging LTAs to provide good bus services for everyone. An equality impact assessment of reductions to bus services and to night bus services over the last 10 years has not been undertaken by the Department.
The equalities impacts of the National Bus Strategy were assessed as part of its development.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring (a) bus, (b) taxi and (c) private hire drivers to undertake gender equality training to include training on sexual harassment on public transport.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Everyone has the right to feel safe when travelling and using public spaces and we are determined to improve the safety of our transport network. The Department is working closely with the Home Office on the cross-departmental strategy to address Violence Against Women and Girls.
Our National Bus Strategy made clear that the sector should strive for the highest safety standards, upheld by the Traffic Commissioners. The Department was clear that Bus Service Improvement Plans should also demonstrate how Local Transport Authorities and bus operators will work together to ensure that bus services are safe and perceived to be safe by all.
Taxi and private hire vehicle drivers are licensed by local licensing authorities who are responsible for determining the criteria that must be met in order for them to decide whether a person is 'fit and proper' to hold a licence, including a requirement to pay regard to the need to eliminate conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010. The Department will shortly consult on revised best practice guidance to assist licensing authorities in carrying out their licensing function.
We need to ensure that everyone who works on the transport network, particularly front-line staff, knows how to identify and respond to unacceptable behaviour. We will continue working with transport partners to ensure appropriate training is in place and that best practice is shared