Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve bus services in England.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 15 March we launched England’s long-term National Bus Strategy, setting out a bold vision for bus services across the country. Backed by £3 billion of transformational funding over the current Parliament, the Strategy will make buses more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, better co-ordinated and cheaper.
Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), which we expect local authorities to produce by the end of October, will need to set out ambitious visions for travel by bus, meeting the goals and expectations in the strategy. BSIPs will influence the share of the £3 billion funding that each authority receives.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Highways England on noise pollution caused by the concrete road surface between junctions 10 and 11 of the M25.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Highways England is aware that noise is an important issue for residents living next to the M25 motorway between junctions 10 and 11 and is actively looking for ways to improve the situation.
Work to repair failed joints in the concrete carriageways was completed in November 2019 and this should help to reduce the noise level.
There are currently no plans to resurface the carriageways on this section of the M25, but there is a trial to test materials and techniques which could help to reduce noise and improve the performance of concrete surfaces which is currently being carried out on the M1. The trial includes measurement of the noise reduction achieved and the rate of deterioration of the different treatments and is anticipated to continue until 2022. The results of this trial will help Highways England to decide how to manage concrete surfaces on its roads in the future, including this section of the M25.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will ask Highways England to replace the poor quality road surface between junctions 10 and 11 of the M25.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Highways England is aware that noise is an important issue for residents living next to the M25 motorway between junctions 10 and 11 and is actively looking for ways to improve the situation.
Work to repair failed joints in the concrete carriageways was completed in November 2019 and this should help to reduce the noise level.
There are currently no plans to resurface the carriageways on this section of the M25, but there is a trial to test materials and techniques which could help to reduce noise and improve the performance of concrete surfaces which is currently being carried out on the M1. The trial includes measurement of the noise reduction achieved and the rate of deterioration of the different treatments and is anticipated to continue until 2022. The results of this trial will help Highways England to decide how to manage concrete surfaces on its roads in the future, including this section of the M25.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the performance of rail services operating from Woking to London.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
South Western Railways’ (SWR) Franchise Agreement contains provisions that incentivises SWR to improve its own performance and to work jointly with Network Rail. Challenging targets for performance have been set and where performance falls below expected levels, SWR is required to invest additional sums of money into initiatives to address the causes of the poor performance. This has been the case in the first two years of the Franchise, where targets were not met. Officials and I continue to monitor closely SWR’s performance and are currently in the process of finalising a Remedial Agreement.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to require South Western Railway to compensate passengers for the heavily disrupted service from Woking Station into London during the recent RMT strike.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Passengers are entitled to compensation under the Delay Repay scheme for delays of 15 minutes or more against the published timetable on SWR. The Department are considering all options available to ensure passengers are compensated for this disruption
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote greener alternatives for (a) long-distance and (b) international transport.
Answered by George Freeman
Transport needs to undergo radical transformation to meet our legally binding carbon budgets and achieve net zero by 2050.
The UK’s first Transport Decarbonisation Plan was announced on 15 October and will bring together a bold and ambitious programme of coordinated action needed to end the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050. It will build on our existing modal strategies, including Road to Zero, the Aviation Green Paper, the Clean Maritime Plan and our work with the Rail Decarbonisation Task Force and OLEV and is expected to be complete next year.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to improve the condition of rural roads.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is providing over £6.6 billion of funding to local highway authorities for local highways maintenance in England, outside London, between 2015 and 2021 to help them tackle the condition of the local road network. Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects forming on the roads is vital. Councils that do this well get better value for every pound spent and improve their customer satisfaction. So, from 2016/17, this Government introduced incentive funding to help encourage local highway authorities to manage their road networks better and achieve greater efficiencies.
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the local highway network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair based on its local knowledge and circumstances. In a rural area there will be many miles of roads so it is for each local highway authority to decide how to prioritise maintenance of its road network.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what targets his Department has set to measure the performance of South Western Railway.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Targets for performance are set out in Schedule 7.1 of the South Western Franchise Agreement, a version of which is published on Gov.UK at the following link:
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to make taxis more accessible for disabled people.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In July 2018 the Department published its Inclusive Transport Strategy, with the intention of supporting a transport network which enables disabled people to travel easily, confidently and without additional cost. Disabled people make twice as many journeys by taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) as non-disabled people and it is essential that operators and authorities play their part in making this a reality.
The Government plans to update guidance to local licensing authorities on the provision of an inclusive service, including the appropriate treatment of passengers with assistance dogs.
In the meantime I urge authorities to ensure that drivers receive suitable disability awareness training and that robust action is taken against those who discriminate illegally against disabled passengers.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to prevent taxi drivers from discriminating against people with disability assistance dogs.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In July 2018 the Department published its Inclusive Transport Strategy, with the intention of supporting a transport network which enables disabled people to travel easily, confidently and without additional cost. Disabled people make twice as many journeys by taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) as non-disabled people and it is essential that operators and authorities play their part in making this a reality.
The Government plans to update guidance to local licensing authorities on the provision of an inclusive service, including the appropriate treatment of passengers with assistance dogs.
In the meantime I urge authorities to ensure that drivers receive suitable disability awareness training and that robust action is taken against those who discriminate illegally against disabled passengers.