Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will set a target of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2040.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
While UK roads continue to be among the safest in the world, we can never afford to be complacent or relax efforts to improve what we do. That is why reducing the numbers of those needlessly killed and injured on our roads is a key priority for this Department and as announced on 30 July in our Gear Change: One Year On review (Gear Change: One Year On (publishing.service.gov.uk), we intend to prepare an ambitious new framework for road safety setting out measures for action and improvement.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with National Highways and Delta on a completion date for the two-bridge Central Park-Avonmouth junction on the M49.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
National Highways completed works at the M49 Avonmouth junction in December 2019 and is working with key stakeholders to finalise an approach for the completion of the link roads to the existing local roads in the Avonmouth Severnside Enterprise Area, which will be an important step towards unlocking significant benefits to local communities and the wider region.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is taking to prioritise driving license (a) applications and (b) amendments for heavy goods vehicle drivers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements and an increased demand for its services has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.
Currently, driving licence applications made on paper are likely to take six to ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.
The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.
The DVLA has reconfigured its accommodation to safely maximise the number of staff on site and is working hard to process applications as quickly as possible. The DVLA has accelerated the development of additional online services to reduce the number of paper applications and supported their take up through a publicity campaign. Further digital service enhancements are underway.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the time taken for the drivers' medical action team to assess whether medical evidence is required when processing (a) new and (b) renewal applications for driving licences.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The average processing time to make a medical licensing decision in the last three financial years is shown in the table below.
Financial Year | Average processing time (working days) |
2018-2019 | 34 |
2019-2020 | 36 |
2020-2021 | 58 |
To improve the length of time taken to process medical licensing applications, the DVLA has recruited additional staff. This includes increasing the number of in-house doctors it employs and temporary administrative staff. Nurse caseworkers are being utilised to deal with specific conditions. The DVLA is also working with the relevant bodies to explore ways of reducing the time taken to receive the information needed to make licensing decisions.
The DVLA has also recently trialed a simplified renewal process for some medical conditions. This has significantly reduced the turnaround times for some drivers.
Where possible the DVLA will refer specific medical conditions to its in-house doctors in the first instance, to make a licensing decision using the information held.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time was for the renewal of driving licences where a medical consideration was made in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The average processing time to make a medical licensing decision in the last three financial years is shown in the table below.
Financial Year | Average processing time (working days) |
2018-2019 | 34 |
2019-2020 | 36 |
2020-2021 | 58 |
To improve the length of time taken to process medical licensing applications, the DVLA has recruited additional staff. This includes increasing the number of in-house doctors it employs and temporary administrative staff. Nurse caseworkers are being utilised to deal with specific conditions. The DVLA is also working with the relevant bodies to explore ways of reducing the time taken to receive the information needed to make licensing decisions.
The DVLA has also recently trialed a simplified renewal process for some medical conditions. This has significantly reduced the turnaround times for some drivers.
Where possible the DVLA will refer specific medical conditions to its in-house doctors in the first instance, to make a licensing decision using the information held.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will reinstate the Rescue Boat Grant Fund for independent lifeboat organisations.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We will be considering the future of the Rescue Boat Grant Fund as part of the forthcoming review of government spending.
Independent lifeboat organisations play a vital role in the safety of our coasts and waterways. The Fund has already provided nearly £6 million in support significantly enhanced the capacity of the sector.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria were used to inform the decision include Qatar on the covid-19 red list for travel.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The decision to add Qatar to the red list on 19 March was made by Ministers, following data showing an increased risk of importation of the Beta variant of concern first identified in South Africa.
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of countries and territories. Decisions on Red, Amber or Green List assignment and associated border measures are taken by Ministers, who take into account the JBC risk assessments, alongside wider public health factors. Key factors in the JBC risk assessment of each country include genomic surveillance capability, COVID-19 transmission risk and Variant of Concern transmission risk. A summary of the JBC methodology has been published on GOV.UK, alongside key data that supports ministers’ decisions.
As with all our coronavirus measures, the Government keeps the red list under constant review and our priority remains to protect the health of the UK public.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that drivers who browse the internet whilst driving face prosecution.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has consulted on changing the law to broaden the offence of using a mobile phone while driving. We are currently analysing the consultation responses.
Our objective in putting forward a proposal to change the law, was to ensure that the offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving reflects the real world where smart phones or devices are used not only for calls and texting (interactive communication), but also for scrolling play lists, taking photographs, or drafting emails (standalone functions).
Additionally, broadening of the offence will facilitate enforcement by obviating the need for the police to demonstrate that any use they identified from the roadside involved interactive communication.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure that all drivers who use mobile phones to film or take photographs whilst driving are prosecuted.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has consulted on changing the law to broaden the offence of using a mobile phone while driving. We are currently analysing the consultation responses.
Our objective in putting forward a proposal to change the law, was to ensure that the offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving reflects the real world where smart phones or devices are used not only for calls and texting (interactive communication), but also for scrolling play lists, taking photographs, or drafting emails (standalone functions).
Additionally, broadening of the offence will facilitate enforcement by obviating the need for the police to demonstrate that any use they identified from the roadside involved interactive communication.