Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of drivers taking the trailer safety accreditation scheme.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The scheme is an industry-led initiative, overseen by the National Council for Accredited Trailer Towing. Data reported the DVSA since the scheme was launched on 18 May 2022 show 120 drivers have completed an accredited training course. The DVSA does not hold data on the number of drivers who might have completed trailer safety training courses outside the accredited scheme.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to tackle the rate of Vehicle Excise Duty evasion.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collects around £7 billion in vehicle excise duty each year. The most recent estimate, published in November 2021, showed that 98.1 per cent of vehicles used on the road are licensed correctly.
The DVLA aims to make vehicle excise duty easy to pay but hard to avoid and keeps its processes for encouraging compliance and delivering a robust enforcement regime under review. The DVLA has a comprehensive package of measures to tackle those who do not pay vehicle excise duty. These range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras and the wheel clamping and removal of unlicensed vehicles.
The DVLA also works closely with the police and local authorities to address vehicle excise duty evasion at local levels and to share intelligence to target vehicle keepers who deliberately do not license their vehicles. Police forces and local authorities can also clamp and remove unlicensed vehicles by adopting the DVLA’s devolved powers.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many available HGV vocational tests were unused in each of the last four weeks.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The table below shows the numbers of available slots for vocational testing (Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) & Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV)). The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is not able to report LGV and PCV separately.
| Available slots | Booked slots | % Available |
w/c 25.10.21 | 546 | 2,328 | 19% |
w/c 01.11.21 | 394 | 2,461 | 14% |
w/c 08.11.21 | 321 | 2,617 | 11% |
w/c 15.11.21 | 299 | 2,621 | 10% |