Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish guidance on cross-pavement EV charging solutions.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to accelerating the roll out of charge points for electric vehicles. Guidance for local authorities to develop policies on the safe use of cross-pavement solutions will be published in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 allowing English National Concessionary Travel Scheme bus passes to be used before 9.30 am.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to increase the availability of electric vehicle charge points for people who do not have off street parking.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to making EV charging infrastructure more affordable and accessible, particularly for those without off-street parking. The Local EV Infrastructure Fund is supporting local authorities in England to install tens of thousands of EV chargepoints. In addition, the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant is supporting flat owners, renters, and those with on-street parking to install chargepoints on domestic premises.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) trainee pilots accessing one standardised training course and (b) allowing new pilots to use their UK licence in EU countries without undertaking another course.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment has been made as to the standardisation of training, as the training that an individual receives is dependent upon which licence they are seeking - such as a Private Pilots Licence (PPL) or Commercial Pilots Licence (CPL). The competencies required to be demonstrated may differ depending on the licence type being issued but are standardised within each licence type.
The decision on whether to unilaterally allow UK licenced pilots to operate EU registered aircraft is entirely a decision for the European Union (EU) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Article 445(1) in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement outlines the areas in which both the UK and EU may cooperate in aviation safety. Under these terms, any future mutual recognition of personnel licencing would require an expansion to the TCA.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of car insurers on the affordability of car insurance renewals for older drivers.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance.
It is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies. The Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
However, the Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly. Firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report Accident Investigation Report 7/2023, published on 9 November 2023, if he will establish a statutory inquiry into the deaths in the Channel on 24 November 2021.
Answered by Guy Opperman
I refer the Hon Lady to the Secretary of State’s written statement on the 9th November (HCWS27).
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons Nottingham's Mobility Centre was not allocated funding to roll out a Hubs Mobility Service as announced on 29 March 2022; and if his Department will provide additional funding to Nottingham's Mobility Centre.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
The Government provides annual grant funding worth a total of approximately £7m to twelve Mobility Centres in England. The Mobility Centres of England promote equality of opportunity for disabled and older people by finding solutions to enable more people to keep driving or retain mobility.
Mobility Centres funded by the Department for Transport must be fully accredited by the umbrella charity Driving Mobility to receive funding. Nottingham’s Mobility Centre is not funded by the Government because it is not accredited by Driving Mobility, and therefore is not eligible for additional funding.
Less than 20 miles away from Nottingham, Derby DrivAbility is accredited by Driving Mobility and receives grant funding from the Department for Transport, including an additional allocation of funding for the Hubs Mobility Service.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the East Midlands Trains National Rail contract.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department is in the process of reviewing the documents to understand if any information is exempt under the FOI Act and should therefore be redacted prior to publishing. Once the Department has completed this process the East Midlands National Rail Contract will be published on the Government website, occurring no later than 5 April 2023.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the availability of practical driving tests.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Driver testing services were significantly disrupted during the pandemic, which has led to a high demand for learners who are now wanting to take their driving test.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, with several measures in place to do this. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends), and resuming the number of driving tests per day to seven for each full-time examiner.
The DVSA is also recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.
To reduce the number of driving tests which go to waste, the DVSA has introduced a text messaging service to remind candidates about their test, and has also launched a ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign to improve learners’ understanding of what it means to be test ready and how they can assess their own readiness.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) viability and (b) potential impact on staff retention of providing free public transport for social care workers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The statutory English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England also have the discretion to offer concessions over and above the statutory minimum, including to other groups of people such as social care workers. The implementation of such local schemes is a matter for individual authorities, based upon their assessment of local need and funding priorities, paying for them through local resources like Council Tax.