Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 105660 on Railway Stations: Disability, what further progress has been made towards finalising a public consultation to revise the Design Standards for Accessible Stations: A Code of Practice.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We are in the process of finalising a public consultation to revise the Design Standards for Accessible Stations: A Code of Practice. We will make a further announcement shortly.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published July 2021, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) encourage and support workplace disability networks, (b) achieve and maintain the highest level of Disability Confident accreditation, (c) ensure responsive and timely support to meet workplace adjustment needs and (d) develop and embed flexible working.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DfT has undertaken multiple recent steps to address the points raised.
In reference to point a) encouraging and supporting workplace disability networks:
There are a number of staff networks across DfT and arm’s length bodies covering disability. Some cover disability generally. More specific subgroups cover neurodiversity, mental health conditions and d/Deafness and hearing loss. A Board Level Champion for disability is active and engaged in this agenda. A senior director sponsors DfT’s central disability network, Ability.
Regarding work done to b) achieve and maintain the highest level of disability confident accreditation, the following recent steps have been taken:
In response to subsection c), actions taken to ensure response and timely support to meet workplace adjustment needs include
Finally, regarding DfT’s work to d) develop and embed flexible working:
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published 28 July 2021, what progress his Department has made on conducting a network-wide accessibility audit of station facilities at all 2,565 mainline railway stations in Great Britain to inform future investment decisions.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The audits started on site last September and are progressing well. 630 stations have been completed so far and we expect the rest to be complete by early summer next year.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published 28 July 2021, what steps his Department has taken towards working with the Community Transport Association and other stakeholders to understand the difficulties associated with recruiting community transport drivers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government understands that community transport services are essential for many people’s independence, yet some organisations struggle to recruit drivers qualified to drive their vehicles.
My officials are engaging with stakeholders to better understand these challenges. £200,000 is paid annually by the Department to the Community Transport Association (CTA), supporting them to continue championing inclusive and accessible community transport across the country.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published 28 July 2021, was recent steps his Department has taken to encourage local authorities to require drivers to complete disability awareness training.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Effective disability awareness training can help ensure that taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers have the knowledge, skills and confidence to provide passengers with appropriate assistance, so that they can travel independently and with confidence.
The Department wants every local licensing authority to require taxi and PHV drivers to complete this training, and will make this clear in updated best practice guidance, due to be published for consultation later in the year.
The Government also remains committed to introducing mandatory disability awareness training for taxi and PHV drivers through new National Minimum Standards for licensing authorities when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published 28 July 2021 and the £1 million made available to improve the accessibility of lifeline seaports on the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly, how many ports have applied for funding; and what proportion of the £1 million has been allocated to date.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The funding was available for both port and ferry operators serving the Isles of Wight and Scilly. All bids received have been assessed and offers have been made to all successful applicants. Full details of the awards will be published in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published 28 July 2021, what work his Department has carried out to date with consumer groups and charge point operators to set clear accessibility standards for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to ensuring an accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging network and that inclusively designed chargepoints are available for all consumers.
That is why we are partnering with national disability charity Motability to commission the British Standards Institution (BSI) to develop accessibility standards for public EV chargepoints across the country. These standards – to be finalised by summer 2022 – are being developed in collaboration with consumer groups, chargepoint operators and other stakeholders and will provide a new, clear definition of accessibility for public EV chargepoints. Guidance will consider aspects such as kerb height, cable weight, adequate space between bollards and chargepoints being of a height suitable for wheelchair users. It will also consider chargepoints in the context of their surrounding built environment to ensure pedestrians and other road users’ needs are reflected.
We have also consulted on introducing accessibility requirements at EV chargepoints via the Future of Transport Regulatory Review consultation. The consultation closed on 22nd November.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, how much funding was awarded to help the smallest bus companies to provide audible and visible information on services in 2021 in addition to the £2 million already committed and (b) if he will publish a list of companies which received this additional funding.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The National Disability Strategy aims to improve disabled people’s everyday lives and to take action to create a society that works for everyone so we can build back better, and fairer.
Within the Strategy, the government has committed to introducing Regulations by Summer 2022 to require bus companies to provide audible and visible announcements onboard their services in Great Britain, subject to final analysis. To support small operators to comply with the Regulations, the government has allocated a further £1.55 million in 2021, on top of the £2 million allocated in 2018, to the Real Time Information Group (RTIG) to distribute to those operators that most need it. The government expects that the names of the beneficiaries of this funding will be published in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department expects to publish the outcome of the Managing pavement parking consultation, which closed on 30 August 2020.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department’s consultation on pavement parking closed on 22 November 2020. We received over 15,000 responses and Ministers are now actively considering the options for addressing pavement parking. We will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps for policy as soon as possible.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, (a) what work his Department has done to date to work closely with rail companies to further develop the Passenger Assist Programme for disabled passengers and (b) whether it introduced a passenger assist app in 2021 as planned.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Department continues to work closely with the Rail Delivery Group on the Passenger Assist Improvement programme. The Department provided £700k from the ‘First of a Kind’ fund in 2018 and 2019 and made a further contribution of £250k in May 2020. We have also agreed an allowable cost of £770k for the further development of the Passenger Assist programme.
The passenger assist app was successfully introduced in May 2021.