Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require local authorities to adopt unadopted roads that are (a) in a state of disrepair and (b) subject to public right of way.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The position under the 1980 Highways Act has not changed under successive governments.
The Department has no plans to review those parts of the Highways Act 1980 which cover the process for local highway authority adoption of private roads into the public road network. The legislation ensures that any new roads that are adopted and then maintained at public expense are built to the required standard. The Department provides advice to developers and highway authorities on these matters, which can be found on gov.uk at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-of-roads-by-highway-authorities.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 43 of his Department's report entitled Bus back better: national bus strategy for England, published on 15 March 2021, what recent progress his Department has made on the rollout of a zero-emission bus fleet.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Since February 2020, an estimated 4,200 zero-emission buses (ZEBs) have been funded across the UK, this includes 1,300 ZEBs supported by the £280m ZEBRA scheme. On 8 September 2023, we announced that the ZEBRA 2 scheme would provide up to a further £129m of funding for local transport authorities in England (outside of London) to support the introduction of hundreds more ZEBs and associated infrastructure.
The National Bus Strategy also contained a commitment to set a legal end date for the sale of new diesel buses and set an expectation for when the entire bus fleet will be zero-emission. In spring 2022, the Department ran a consultation to help determine the exact date for ending the sale of new non-ZEBs. Calls for evidence about the decarbonisation of coaches and minibuses were also launched. We will make an announcement on the end of sales date in due course.
In April 2022, the Government increased the rate at which the Bus Service Operators Grant can be claimed for ZEBs to 22p per km, further incentivising the take up of ZEBs.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the fairness of Clean Air Zones which do not alert drivers when they have entered the zone prompting them to pay.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Steps are taken to notify non-compliant vehicle keepers about an upcoming CAZ, through sending out Early Notice letters. These letters are sent, before the CAZ is launched, to keepers of non-compliant vehicles to alert them that they will be subject to a charge. Local authorities can also offer a period of ‘soft enforcement’ after the CAZ is launched, in which motorists receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) but have a period in which they are only required to pay the CAZ charge.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to establish a national clean air zone infrastructure scheme rather than various local ones.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We have developed a national Clean Air Zone (CAZ) infrastructure scheme through the ‘Drive in a Clean Air Zone’ service. This centralised service and IT infrastructure ensures a consistent approach for users across Clean Air Zones. Certain matters, such as charges and local exemptions, are for LAs to determine and agree with Government. This is due to the highly localised nature of the pollution, where local knowledge is crucial in solving the problem.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether regulations to require all new HGVs to emit zero emissions by 2040 will recognise hydrogen internal combustion engines as a compliant zero-emission technology.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Following consultation, we announced at COP26 that the UK would become the first country in the world to commit to phasing out new, non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles weighing 26 tonnes and under by 2035, with all new HGVs sold in the UK to be zero emission by 2040. Regulations used to deliver these dates will be technology neutral and the next steps will be set out in Government’s response to the phase out dates consultation which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether regulations to require all new cars and vans to emit zero emissions by 2035 will recognise hydrogen internal combustion engines as a compliant zero-emission technology.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Removing tailpipe emissions from road vehicles is fundamental to decarbonising transport. Regulations that ensure that from 2035 all new cars and vans are fully zero emission at the tailpipe will remain technology neutral. The Government’s response to our recent consultation on the regulatory options for the design of those regulations will be published in due course.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many HGV Driver Certificate of Professional Competence certificates were issued in each of the last three years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Drivers who successfully pass the initial Certificate of Professional Competence qualification are issued with a Driver Qualification Card (DQC). Drivers must renew their DQC every five years by undergoing 35 hours of periodic training.
The table below shows the total number of DQCs issued and renewed since 2018 for all vocational drivers. It is not possible to determine if the card relates to lorry or bus entitlement.
Year | Cards issued |
2018 | 152,091 |
2019 | 516,583 |
2020 | 118,727 |
2021 (to date) | 79,317 |
Certificates of Professional Competence for lorry drivers were introduced in 2009. The higher number of cards issued in 2019 reflects the number of lorry drivers who were renewing their card for a second time.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) quality and (b) effectiveness of Driver Certificate of Professional Competence training courses.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Responsibility for approving Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) courses and providers in Great Britain rests with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
DVSA conduct almost 1400 DCPC centre and course audits a year and the training delivers a positive outcome for drivers. Where issues with training are identified, DVSA will work with the provider to address weaknesses. If the outcome is unsatisfactory, centre approval will be removed.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) quality and (b) effectiveness of Driver Certificate of Professional Competence training providers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Responsibility for approving Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) courses and providers in Great Britain rests with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
DVSA conduct almost 1400 DCPC centre and course audits a year and the training delivers a positive outcome for drivers. Where issues with training are identified, DVSA will work with the provider to address weaknesses. If the outcome is unsatisfactory, centre approval will be removed.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason (a) there have been delays in excess of six months for provisional licence and driving licence renewal applications to be processed and (b) applicants have been unable to contact the DVLA by phone during this period; and what steps he is taking to tackle those issues.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union has led to delays for customers, alongside a significantly reduced number of staff on site to ensure social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements. The current increased demand for the DVLA’s services has also contributed to delays with paper applications.
Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and 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 continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times and has been developing additional new online services and recruiting additional staff. The DVLA is exploring the possibility of securing extra office space to accommodate more staff to work predominantly on driver’s medical casework and queries. This will be surge capacity accommodation and resource to help reduce backlogs while providing future resilience and business continuity.
The DVLA has a number of communication channels for applicants to seek updates on their applications. As well as the contact centre’s telephone enquiry lines there are also email and webchat services available via GOV.UK. The DVLA’s contact centre has introduced extended opening hours and increased remote working with some staff handling email, webchat, social media and more recently telephone customer contacts remotely.