Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve bus services for rural communities in Kent.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this parliamentary session, which will put decision-making into the hands of local leaders, including in Kent and other rural areas right across England. This will allow local areas to determine how best to design their bus services so that they have control over routes and schedules.
The government has also committed to increasing accountability by providing safeguards over local networks across the country and empowering local transport authorities through reforms to bus funding.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help reduce driving test waiting times in Ashford constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA’s) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.
DVSA continues to take measures to increase test availability. These include the recruitment of driving examiners (DEs), conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays and buying back annual leave from DEs.
DVSA currently employs 7.33 full-time equivalent DEs at Ashford, Canterbury and Folkestone driving test centres (DTCs). It has made offers of employment to a further eight potential new DEs who, if successful in training, will join these DTCs.
In total DVSA has made offers to 15 potential new DEs in Kent. DVSA launched its latest recruitment campaign in September 2024. From this campaign DVSA aims to recruit a further eight DEs in the Kent area.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that potholes are fixed promptly in Ashford constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network. Kent County Council is the local highway authority for the Ashford constituency, and it is therefore responsible for the maintenance of its local road network. Kent County Council will receive £38.3 million from this Department during 2024/25 to help it carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities: it is up to it to decide how that funding is used. For England as a whole, the Government has a commitment to enable local highway authorities to fix up to a million more potholes a year.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the impact of the EU Entry/Exit System on road haulage.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport Ministers and officials regularly meet colleagues from the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and FCDO to discuss the impacts of the EU Entry/Exit System on travel between the UK and the Schengen Area, including the impacts on freight. We are intensifying these discussions with our ministerial colleagues across government as we approach the implementation date.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that thistles and ragwort are removed from land owned by her Department between the village of Mersham and the Sevington inland border facility.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I can confirm that a cut of the field to remove the thistles and ragwort was completed by Sunday 8th September. The cut was started following an ecological walkover visit on Monday 2nd September to ensure that the works could go ahead without impacting nesting birds.