Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce a requirement for minimum levels of staffed ticket office provision in future railway franchise contracts.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Ticket Offices are regulated in line with the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement. As per the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, train operators are required to make it clear to passengers when ticket offices will be staffed. This will continue to be the case where ticket offices remain open.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the prevalence of lorry drivers live streaming while operating their vehicles; and if he will take steps to prevent drivers from using platforms such as Tiktok whilst on the roads.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We keep offences and penalties under review.
If a driver is using a hand-held mobile phone while driving, this is an offence which attracts a Fixed Penalty Notice of £200. If the case goes to the magistrates court, the maximum fine for lorry drivers is £2,500.
The Highway Code reminds drivers of their obligation to concentrate and avoid distractions and drivers can incur enforcement action for engaging in irresponsible activities whilst driving. For example, wider road traffic law governs what drivers can view on a screen; and it obliges drivers to be in proper control of the vehicle and to drive with due care and attention. The police are responsible for enforcement.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to reintroduce the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) is now closed and has been replaced by the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has been made of the potential merits of standardising free travel arrangements for people over 60 across England.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme is a scheme that provides free off-peak bus travel for those of pensionable age (currently 66) in England. Expenditure on the scheme was around £896m in 2021/22. Local Authorities are already able to provide free travel for the over 60s at their own discretion, funded by local resources. We receive a number of requests to expand the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme and need to carefully consider the financial impact of expanding the scheme on the public purse.
In the 2021 National Bus Strategy we committed to a review of a number of aspects of concessionary travel, including the appeals process, reimbursement guidance and the reimbursement calculator and we plan to undertake this work in 2023.
For rail travel, the Senior Railcard is available for the over 60s, offering one third off a wide range of tickets.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) train and (b) bus operators on restoring the acceptance of (i) the Key Card and (ii) other forms of electronic ticketing.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Following the publication of the National Bus Strategy, my Department continues to work with representatives from the bus industry and local authorities to ensure they have the right technical, commercial, marketing and governance arrangements to design and deliver smart, multi-operator bus ticketing.
Schemes may make use of existing smartcard and smartphone ticketing. However, the Strategy recognises many users will wish to use their contactless bank cards, with fare capping in place.
My Department also works with and encourages the wider rail industry to further roll out advances in ticketing and retailing to make travel more convenient.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) tourism in Brighton and (b) travel via Gatwick Airport of levels of reliability of the Gatwick Express from London Victoria to Brighton.
Answered by Jesse Norman
I recognise the impact reliability has on commuters and leisure travellers. From a tourism perspective, we have seen a strong recovery on the Brighton route, and at Gatwick Airport. Performance in recent weeks has unfortunately been impacted by a number of incidents including flooding, infrastructure issues and trespass incidents, as well as industrial action. Improving performance is a key area of focus for Govia Thameslink Railway, Network Rail and the Department.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department produces a list of the most dangerous roundabouts in England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department does not produce a list of the most dangerous roundabouts in England.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2021 to Question 23300 on Road Traffic Offences, when he plans to bring into effect (a) the provisions of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act allowing local authorities in England to introduce School Streets and other measures and (b) accompanying statutory guidance; whether he has issued guidance to local authorities on the exercise of those powers; and what estimate he has made of when local authorities will be able to exercise those new powers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The regulations giving effect to the moving traffic enforcement powers under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 are scheduled to be laid on 27 January, and planned to come into force on 1 June. Local authorities wanting to undertake civil enforcement of moving traffic contraventions, including prescribed traffic signs for use at school street schemes, will need to apply to the Secretary of State for an Order to be made designating the council as the enforcement authority in their area.
To assist local authorities in preparing their applications in the meantime, the Department wrote to local authorities in August 2021 with an Advice Note and sent out supplementary advice in September 2021, including a list of traffic signs subject to moving traffic enforcement. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the regulations, we plan to publish statutory guidance in late March 2022.
Depending on initial uptake, it may be necessary to deliver Designation Orders in tranches. We plan to lay the first Designation Order as soon as practicable after the regulations mentioned above come into force to enable enforcement to commence in practice.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) financial and (b) other resource support the Government has provided to the drone industry to assist integrating drones operating beyond visual line of sight into UK airspace; and what plans he has for the future of drone use in the UK.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Government is working with and supporting industry to develop the drone industry. A key programme is the Future Flight Challenge that is a joint government and industry investment of £300m to develop greener ways to fly, such as all-electric aircraft and deliveries by drone, by advancing electric and autonomous flight technologies.
In addition, government supports specific focused projects such as the £1.2m Drone Pathfinder Catalyst Programme that looks to support integrating drones into UK airspace by bringing together drone providers and end users to demonstrate innovative drone use cases, helping to inform regulatory development; and the Civil Aviation Authority’s Innovation Hub sandbox supports the testing and trialling of innovative unmanned aircraft operations and flights beyond visual line of sight to take place in a safe environment and in collaboration with the regulator.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to bring forward an independent review on the (a) economic, (b) safety, (c) privacy and (d) environmental impacts of the proposed expansion in domestic drone use for (i) civil, (ii) military, (iii) commercial and (iv) other purposes.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department is currently considering recommendations from two separate independent reports from the Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC) in November 2021 and the Taskforce on Innovation Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) in May 2021. These independent reports reviewed domestic drone use.
In addition, the Department is currently consulting on the future of flight that includes domestic drone use. This builds on the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 that included provisions to ensure safe drone use. The future of flight consultation will close on 22 November 2021 and will give consideration of the responses, alongside the recommendations of the reports, to develop a legislative and regulatory framework to allow for wider market and public use of new aviation technology (including drones) in a safe, secure and sustainable way.