Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following Baroness Casey of Blackstock's National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published on 16 June, what steps they are taking to reform the arrangements for taxi licensing.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
Some important protections have already been put in place since earlier inquiries into Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. All licensing authorities in England now undertake extensive driver background checks, and since 2023 they are required to use a single database to prevent a driver refused a licence in one area on safety grounds going elsewhere. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the gross income from the Dartford River Crossing in the last year for which figures are available, and how much was paid to the Department for Transport.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
For the financial year 2023/24, gross road user charge income at the Dartford Crossing was £130.1m. The Crossing’s full revenue is higher owing to additional income from enforcement, abnormal load fees, and other rental income (details are available in the annual accounts published online).
All road user charge income is paid to the Department for Transport gross. The total cost of operating and maintaining the Crossing in 2023/24 was £75.5m. After meeting these costs, the remaining revenue from Dart Charge was spent on transport-related schemes and projects.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given, or was given by the recent review of HS2 by James Stewart, to estimate the final additional cost of completing the HS2 project; and whether they have given any consideration to cancelling the project.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We recognise the scale of the challenges highlighted by James Stewart and we accept his findings on HS2 in full, including all the recommendations on cost control. This government is committed to implementing these recommendations.
On 18 June, the Transport Secretary made an oral statement to the House on the current status of HS2, explaining the cost and schedule pressures the project is facing and that she has tasked new HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild with resetting the programme
Mark Wild has delivered his initial assessment, which was published alongside the Transport Secretary's oral statement, and is currently undertaking a comprehensive reset of the programme which will provide a realistic budget and schedule to deliver the remaining works.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of HS2 to date, and how much it will cost to complete the project in current prices.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Mark Wild, the new CEO of HS2 Ltd, is leading a comprehensive reset of the programme to deliver the remaining works at the lowest reasonable cost. As part of this work, he will advise the Department on a revised cost estimate for HS2.
As Mark Wild set out in his letter to the Secretary of State on 31 March 2025, HS2 Ltd’s unassured estimate of the maximum cost of HS2 excluding Euston in June 2024 was £61.8bn in Q3 2019 prices, however he identified the programme was facing significant additional pressures which he will assess as part of the reset.
Once a revised cost estimate is agreed, this will be expressed in an updated price base in line with the commitment made by the Department to the Public Accounts Committee in December 2024.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they provided to local authorities for the planning and construction of cycle lanes in the past year.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In the 2024/25 financial year, Active Travel England provided £40.5m of revenue funding through the Capability Fund, and £54.2m of capital funding through the Active Travel Fund 5 to local authorities outside of London. This funding supports a range of activities to boost active travel, including the planning and construction of schemes to improve walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure. Further funding for active travel has been confirmed for 2025/26.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 11 February (HL4960), what is the reason for the delay between the close of the consultation on hydrogen-powered off-road construction vehicles, and the development of an amendment to the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In light of the responses received during the consultation process, a decision was made to adapt the approach to hydrogen safety in the proposed amendment for both Non-Road Mobile Machinery and agricultural equipment. Since the consultation closed, the department has taken the time to liaise closely with manufacturers and other regulators to work through the detail.
In addition, policy development of the amendment was paused over the general election period in line with government practice. This legislation is due to be laid in April 2025.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many full driving licences are held in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The latest information available shows that on 15 February, there were 42,549,993 driving licence records held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency where the licence holder has full driving entitlement.
These figures are for driving licence holders in Great Britain only. Driver licensing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce legislation to enable hydrogen-powered off-road construction vehicles to be able to move locations via the public highway.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Following a consultation that closed in April 2024, the Department for Transport is developing an amendment to The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to allow hydrogen-powered off-road machinery to be used on the road. Legislation is expected to be introduced alongside publication of the Government’s response to the public consultation in April.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to implement the Plan for Drivers published on 2 October 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Work is underway for each of the 30 measures in “The Plan for Drivers”, with many expected to be completed by summer 2024.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) vacancies for HGV drivers, (b) HGV drivers undergoing training and (c) HGV drivers expected to retire from the industry in the next five years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
It is not possible to estimate the total number of HGV drivers currently undergoing training. This is because some haulage companies have in-house training programmes and private sector training companies also train new drivers. The Government has also invested in training for new drivers for example, £34m to train up to 11,000 HGV drivers through Skills Bootcamps and the LGV Driver and Urban Driver Apprenticeships which receive funding of up to £8,000 and £5,000 respectively. In the financial year FY21-22 there were 4,740 learner starts in HGV Skills Bootcamps and 3,247 LGV Driver and Urban Driver Apprenticeship starts.
The Office for National Statistics Annual Population Survey estimated in the year April 2022 to March 2023 34% of HGV drivers were aged 56 or older. However, it is not possible to estimate how many drivers will retire in the next 5 years as HGV drivers that continue to meet the licensing requirements, including the driver medicals, can continue to drive beyond the state pension age.