Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Access for All programme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since April 2024, 21 Access for All projects have been entered into public service, with a further 7 projects due to complete by the end of March. This will be the most stations completed in a single year since the programme began in 2006.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to help tackle speeding in (a) Stratford-on-Avon constituency and (b) other rural areas.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The traffic authority for this area is Warwickshire County Council, which has the responsibility of making decisions about the roads under its care, based on its knowledge of the area and taking into account local needs and considerations. This includes traffic management and road environment measures as well as setting local speed limits.
Law enforcement, including enforcement of road traffic offences, is an operational matter for local Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables/Commissioners. It is for the police to enforce road traffic legislation and investigate road traffic incidents using their professional judgement. Any general policy within a force is a matter for the force’s Chief Officer, who will decide how to deploy available resources, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of graduated driving licences on levels of deaths of young drivers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, the Government treats road safety with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are considering measures and their potential impacts to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of small training airfields on (a) local rural economies and (b) the availability of aviation training.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We recognise the role small airfields play in General Aviation as a gateway for individuals to develop their career aspirations in the aviation sector. Ministers do not routinely intervene in local planning and any consideration of directions to modify local plans including the closure of airfields will be made by the local planning authority in accordance with relevant legislation.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the independent aviation safety regulator and as part of their role oversee the approval of training organisations who may operate from small training airfields. In circumstances where a flying training organisation ceases operation, the CAA would work with affected trainees to find new training solutions for each of them where required.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to require local authorities to use the same licensing regulations for (a) private hire vehicles and (b) taxis.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is responsible for setting the regulatory structure within which licensing authorities in England administer the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime. Under this system licensing authorities have the flexibility to set standards they consider appropriate.
The Department for Transport has however issued statutory and best practice guidance to assist licensing authorities with this function, to promote safe and accessible services through proportionate regulation. This should increase consistency in requirements and policies for taxis and private hire vehicles.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing (a) fines and (b) other sanctions on companies that use automated software programs to buy driving test appointments.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.
DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.
DVSA has had a number of external reviews of its bot mitigation methodology and approach. To date, none of the reviews have indicated any improvement was necessary or suggested changes in approach.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department has made on preventing automated software programmes from buying driving test appointments.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.
DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.
DVSA has had a number of external reviews of its bot mitigation methodology and approach. To date, none of the reviews have indicated any improvement was necessary or suggested changes in approach.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with Chiltern Railways to reinstate direct rail travel between London and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Chiltern’s current timetable offers a service between London and Stratford Upon Avon with one change.
Whilst noting that this is not a direct service, timetable decisions are for operators to make, balancing passenger demand, track availability, infrastructure constraints, and operational considerations. With these considerations in place, the operator has no current plans to offer a direct service from London Marylebone.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to increase staff retainment in rail services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are working with operators to support recruitment and retention and ensure they have the staff they need to robustly deliver their timetables. We will deliver the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to increase the number of test centres serving Stratford-on-Avon constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to providing its customers with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient. It currently has no plans to increase the number of practical driving test centres.