Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to make it a requirement of medical professionals to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of someone who is medically unfit to drive.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Healthcare professionals, doctors and opticians play an important role in the driver licensing process. They advise patients of the implications of their condition on driving, the effect of any treatment or medication and when they should notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
There are no plans to make it a requirement for healthcare professionals to notify the DVLA directly about a patient’s medical condition. However, healthcare professionals can and do notify the DVLA when they are concerned about a patient’s driving fitness. The General Medical Council’s guidance states that while they must make every reasonable effort to persuade patients to inform the DVLA, doctors can notify the DVLA of a patient’s medical condition, in confidence, if the patient does not do so. Similar guidance is available to opticians.
To assist the medical profession, the DVLA has a specific form that can be used for this purpose and provides a dedicated telephone line which allows doctors to discuss concerns directly with one of the DVLA’s doctors. The DVLA treats notifications received from doctors and opticians as a high priority.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what processes are in place to record instances of pavement riding and pavement parking during e-scooter trials.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department recognises that COVID-19 lockdowns have reduced the number of journeys being taken across all modes of transport and in the e-scooter trials. However, data is being gathered from over 30 trial areas across England over the course of 12 months. We expect the quantity of data gathered during the e-scooter trials to be sufficient to inform future decisions on whether and - if so - how to legalise e-scooters in the UK.
DfT has data sharing agreements in place with e-scooter operators taking part in the trials. We are also working with our third-party research contractors Arup and NatCen Social Research to ensure the data gathered through the trials is robust enough to answer our planned research and policy questions.
With regard to pavement riding, the Department is working closely with both e-scooter operators and local authorities on these issues. In addition to weekly meetings to monitor the progress of the trials, including rates of pavement riding, pavement parking and approaches to reducing them, we are currently finalising guidance for local authorities to encourage good parking behaviour.
Moreover, surveys and interviews, with e-scooter users and members of the public living in e-scooter trial areas, will be conducted across a range of trial areas to track and understand instances of pavement riding and pavement parking. This will be carried out by our contractors Arup and NatCen Social Research.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take in response to the effect of the covid-19 lockdown on the quantity of data gathered during e-scooter trials.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department recognises that COVID-19 lockdowns have reduced the number of journeys being taken across all modes of transport and in the e-scooter trials. However, data is being gathered from over 30 trial areas across England over the course of 12 months. We expect the quantity of data gathered during the e-scooter trials to be sufficient to inform future decisions on whether and - if so - how to legalise e-scooters in the UK.
DfT has data sharing agreements in place with e-scooter operators taking part in the trials. We are also working with our third-party research contractors Arup and NatCen Social Research to ensure the data gathered through the trials is robust enough to answer our planned research and policy questions.
With regard to pavement riding, the Department is working closely with both e-scooter operators and local authorities on these issues. In addition to weekly meetings to monitor the progress of the trials, including rates of pavement riding, pavement parking and approaches to reducing them, we are currently finalising guidance for local authorities to encourage good parking behaviour.
Moreover, surveys and interviews, with e-scooter users and members of the public living in e-scooter trial areas, will be conducted across a range of trial areas to track and understand instances of pavement riding and pavement parking. This will be carried out by our contractors Arup and NatCen Social Research.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the aerospace sector on its restart and recovery following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government is working closely with the UK’s aerospace industry, including at sector level through the Aerospace Growth Partnership, to help retain jobs and return the sector to growth as soon as possible.
The Global Travel Taskforce has also undertaken extensive engagement with the transport industry, international partners, the tourism sector, business leaders, and the private testing sector and invited submissions from all of these partners on its work. The Taskforce has received contributions from a wide range of partners, including the aerospace industry, and is due to report its recommendations to the Prime Minister in November.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to introduce a covid-19 testing system for people arriving in the UK to help facilitate international travel.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government is actively working on the practicalities of using testing to release people from self-isolation earlier than 14 days. The Global Travel Taskforce is working at pace to consider how testing, technology and innovation can drive a recovery for international travel and tourism, without adding to infection risk or infringing on our overall NHS test capacity.
The taskforce will report to the Prime Minister no later than November, setting out recommendations for how the UK can support the recovery of international travel. I will update the House on its conclusions and outputs shortly.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November to Question 111622, whether the recommendations of the Global Travel Taskforce will be made publicly available.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government is actively working on the practicalities of using testing to release people from self-isolation earlier than 14 days. The Global Travel Taskforce is working at pace to consider how testing, technology and innovation can drive a recovery for international travel and tourism, without adding to infection risk or infringing on our overall NHS test capacity.
The taskforce will report to the Prime Minister no later than November, setting out recommendations for how the UK can support the recovery of international travel. I will update the House on its conclusions and outputs shortly.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which commercial aviation routes will be prioritised when a testing infrastructure for international arrivals is introduced.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government is actively working on the practicalities of using testing to release people from self-isolation earlier than 14 days. The Global Travel Taskforce is working at pace to consider how testing, technology and innovation can drive a recovery for international travel and tourism, without adding to infection risk or infringing on our overall NHS test capacity.
The taskforce will report to the Prime Minister no later than November, setting out recommendations for how the UK can support the recovery of international travel. I will update the House on its conclusions and outputs shortly.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to consult organisations representing disabled people as part of the evaluation of the pilot e-scooter rental schemes.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department and local authorities have engaged with organisations representing disabled people in the design of e-scooter trials. We will continue to meet with them throughout the trial period and when considering what steps to take after trials.
The trials are to gather evidence on what impacts e-scooters have on the road. It is important that we gather evidence about the impacts on all road users including disabled people. We will be working with our evaluation contractor to do this, working with disabled persons’ groups where possible. We also want to work with them to learn how e-scooters can be a mobility aid for those less able to get around.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library notes of meetings between Network Rail and (a) Ministers and officials of his Department and (b) the Mayor of the West Midlands on train services in the West Midlands.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Providing notes of (a) meetings between Network Rail and Ministers and officials about train services in the West Midlands would involve disproportionate costs to collect and collate as the request covers interactions with five train operating companies, which are likely to be commercially sensitive so would also require redacting. As regards (b) the Department would not have access to notes of any meetings between Network Rail and the Mayor of the West Midlands about train services in the West Midlands.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people received penalty points for driving with uncorrected defective eyesight in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In the last four years, 42 drivers received penalty points for the offence of driving with uncorrected defective eyesight. The table below shows the number of offences in each of the last four years. Most penalty points are removed from the driver’s record after four years, therefore information from 2013 is not available.
Year | Total |
2014 | 1 |
2015 | 22 |
2016 | 12 |
2017 | 7 |