Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the DVLA has refunded to motorists who sold their cars and claimed back the unused vehicle tax on those cars since 2014.
Answered by George Freeman
Since 1 October 2014, vehicle excise duty automatically ends when the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been notified that a vehicle has been sold, transferred into the motor trade, scrapped, exported, stolen or a statutory off road notification is made. When the DVLA is notified of any of these events, the registered keeper automatically receives a refund of the full months remaining on their vehicle excise duty. The table below shows all vehicle excise duty refunds since 2014:
Year | VED Refunds £millions |
2018/19 | 365 |
2017/18 | 352 |
2016/17 | 338 |
2015/16 | 357 |
2014/15 | 216 |
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve assisted travel for disabled people across public transport.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy, published in July 2018, summarises the various steps the Department is taking to make it easier for disabled people to travel by public transport. Among the commitments in the Strategy are that in 2019, the Department will launch a major campaign in England to raise awareness of disabled passengers’ rights when using the transport system and to promote a supportive travelling experience for disabled people. The Department will also develop and launch an accreditation scheme for transport operators to recognise those which show leadership in improving disabled passengers’ experiences, including through providing appropriate disability awareness training.
The Department will also work closely with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to ensure the successful roll-out of a new Passenger Assist application to enable customers to book assistance through a single click. The RDG plan a full roll-out across the rail network from January 2020.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will accompany a person with disabilities on public transport in order to gain first-hand experience of the difficulties disabled people can face when accessing public transport.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department is committed to ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport and opportunities to travel as everyone else. Throughout my time as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State responsible for this matter, I have regularly met with disability organisations and disabled people to gain a better understanding of the barriers that can make travel by public transport more difficult than it should be. These meetings, and the Department’s engagement with a wide range of disability groups and other stakeholders, helped shape the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy, which was published in July 2018.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals on drones.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In May this year, the Government amended the Air Navigation Order to restrict drones from flying above 400ft and within 1km of an airport boundary. These measures came into effect in July this year. The amendments also introduced the registration of all drone operators with drones of 250g and over, as well as competency tests for remote pilots of drones of 250g and over. These will come into effect in November 2019.
The Government is currently consulting on measures to be included in a draft Drones Bill such as greater police powers against the misuse of drones and proposals for regulating and mandating the use of safety ‘apps’ and counter-drone technology. A draft Drones Bill is due to be published shortly.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to support logistics and transportation infrastructure around fish landing ports as part of the Seafood 2040 Strategy.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for Transport has recently published a port connectivity study (PCS):
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/better-connections-to-ports-to-help-business-growth.
The PCS sets out the wider economic importance of ports, and how effective, efficient movement of freight to and from ports supports many other parts of the economy, including the logistics sector and port based industries. Such improved connectivity can boost productivity, lower costs and provide access to international markets, and the study identified significant existing funding for road and rail access to ports, as well as how port connectivity is being factored into future investment planning. The principles, connectivity benefits, and transport infrastructure projects detailed in the PCS are applicable to fish handling ports as they are other ports. Seafood 2040 is an industry led strategy. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs will work with the industry through Seafish and the proposed Seafood Industry Leadership Group to deliver the those recommendations to which the Government has made a commitment.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is in communication with iNHouse Communications Ltd in relation to any ongoing commercial tender process.
Answered by John Hayes
My Department is not engaged in any current commercial tendering process with InHouse Communications Ltd.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has awarded any commercial contracts to iNHouse Communications Ltd in the last five years.
Answered by John Hayes
My Department has not awarded any commercial contracts to iNHouse Communications Ltd. In the last five years.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on ensuring access to toilets at railway stations.
Answered by Claire Perry
It is for Station Operators to meet the needs of their passengers and customers, which includes facilities at stations such as toilets.
As part of the franchise process station users are encouraged to express their views, including on station facilities, through the public consultation. The Department, as the franchise specifying authority, can indicate that bidders should include plans that respond to the outcome of the consultation.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contractual obligations there are on train operators to provide access to toilets on their trains.
Answered by Claire Perry
It is for Train Operators to define the requirements of the rail carriages they procure. The Department has set out its aspirations regarding on-board facilities in its Rolling Stock Perspective published in July 2015.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current shortage of Certificate of Professional Competence qualified drivers is for the logistics industry; and what the shortage forecast for such drivers is expected to be in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Government data (the Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey) estimates there are 299,000 large goods vehicle drivers, up 40,000 on 2013. Other people require Certificates of Professional Competence to drive large goods vehicles as part of other jobs or to drive public service vehicles. The Department for Transport has not estimated or forecast the shortage of large goods vehicle drivers, although it recognises there is a significant shortage and is aware of industry estimates of its size.
Prior to the introduction of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) the department has worked closely with stakeholders who provided estimates of how many Driver Qualification Cards (DQCs) it was necessary to issue to professional drivers in order to ensure continuity of service. Estimates provided ranged from 500,000 to 750,000. The department has now issued over 900,000 DQCs and continues to work with the logistics sector’s representative groups to support them in creating industry-led solutions to any potential shortage of professional drivers.