Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing rail discounts for schools purchasing tickets for excursions.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All Department for Transport contracted operators offer some form of group discount, with some offering substantial savings for groups of 10 or more people. In addition, many train operators participate in the GroupSave offer which offers 1/3 off Off-Peak tickets for a group of three to nine people travelling together. More detail can be found on the National Rail and local train operator websites.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had discussions with Network Rail on (a) congestion in major railway stations and (b) dangerous passenger transitions towards platforms in busy periods.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail is responsible for the safe operation and management of twenty major railway stations and is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road. Ministers and officials routinely engage with Network Rail to hold it to account for matters within its control and drive improvements for passengers.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department collects data on driving theory test pass rates for those with (a) ADHD and (b) other neurodiverse conditions.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
If candidates with ADHD or neurodiverse conditions (or any condition that requires the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to make special accommodations at the test centre) ask for support with taking a theory test, they need to provide evidence of the condition they have at the time of booking the test. But DVSA does not record or retain this evidence, so does not collect data on the pass rates of those who have such conditions.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce violence against women and girls on public transport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. Achieving this means concerted work on prevention and overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes.
The Department for Transport is working across government to address these issues. We are also piloting Transport Safety Officers in five areas in England, including officers specifically trained to respond to incidents of VAWG.
The Department also continues to work closely with transport partners, including the British Transport Police, on a range of initiatives to address the problems faced by all passengers, on the transport network. This includes the Railway Guardian app which provides safety advice, links to partner organisations and enables reporting of incidents to the force directly. BTP uses specialist teams of plain clothed and uniformed officers across the network to target and identify offenders. It also uses enhanced patrols, with a directed, intelligence-led focus around the nighttime economy, providing high visibility presence to reassure rail staff and the public.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the safety of smart motorways.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Safety on our roads is of the upmost importance and that is why the Government is committed to delivering a new Road Safety Strategy. The last set of safety data published by National Highways shows that, overall, all three types of smart motorway are safer than conventional motorways for safety metrics such as deaths or serious injuries. However, the data also shows that the risk of a collision between a moving and a stopped vehicle is greater on smart motorways without a permanent hard shoulder than on other motorway types, with the risk of a serious injury or death due to a stopped vehicle collision lower on conventional and controlled motorways. National Highways has been taking action designed to reduce the risks associated with live lane stops, including but not limited to rolling out stopped vehicle detection (SVD) technology. We will continue to monitor safety on these roads.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the cost of rail travel.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Affordability is one of our six key objectives for rail reform – wherever possible, prices should be kept at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers.
We have just announced a new networkwide Rail Sale that will launch early next year to tie in with celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of Britain's passenger railways. Returning by popular demand, the sale will aim to encourage more people onto the railways by offering up to 50 per cent off train tickets for a specific time period.
We are also committed to simplifying ticketing and exploring options for expanding ticketing innovations like digital pay as you go, and digital season tickets across the network.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) roadworks and (b) road maintenance are carried out in the most (i) efficient and (ii) cost-effective way.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Road works are essential to ensure that utility companies can install and maintain the infrastructure on which we all rely and highway authorities can maintain their roads to an appropriate standard. We continue to work closely with utility companies and local authorities to ensure that works are planned, managed and co-ordinated in the most efficient way, and in a way that reduces the impact they have on congestion and road users.
Those carrying out works must apply for a permit in advance from the relevant authority via the Department for Transport’s digital service known as Street Manager, which allows for co-ordination and planning, monitors performance and works’ durations, and streams open data on live and planned works. We also continue to look for improvements that can be made to the legislative framework that governs how works should be carried out.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual cost is of (a) overrunning and (b) delayed road maintenance works.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the 1980 Highway Act, it is the responsibility of the local highway authority to maintain and manage the highway network it is responsible for.
The Department for Transport does not collect nor require local highway authorities to provide data about the costs of overrunning and/or delayed road maintenance works. However, it recognises that overrunning works can cause significant disruption to people’s journeys and congestion. For example, overrunning works by utility companies have previously been estimated to cost the economy over £4 billion per year.
The Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA) contains powers to enable authorities to operate permit schemes, which have been essential in improving the management and coordination of works, thereby reducing disruption and impacts on road users.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of the road network that was restricted due to (a) roadworks and (b) closures on 22 July 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department does not collect information on road closures and we are not able to make an assessment of the proportion of the road network that was restricted. Roads are managed by either National Highways or local highway authorities, depending on the road in question.
The Department does hold data on the number of utility street and authority road works carried out in England via its Street Manager service for planning and managing works. The latest data available is for June 2024 which showed that 172,753 number of works took place that month.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to improve rail connectivity between (a) Liverpool and (b) other northern cities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Transport is an essential part of our mission to rebuild Britain, and this Government is committed to delivering infrastructure that works for the whole country. This includes improving rail connectivity across the north of England.
Re-introducing the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill is the first step in doing so, by providing powers to develop, construct and operate rail infrastructure that is key to improving inter-regional and northern rail connectivity.
We need a long-term approach to infrastructure and investment which takes account of local transport priorities. We will provide this, and thoroughly review the position we have inherited before setting out more detailed plans in due course.