Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Delay Repay 15 will be introduced on the Great Eastern Mainline.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As announced on 12 March, Commercial terms have now been agreed and Delay Repay 15 will go live on Greater Anglia on 1st April.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the (a) number of rail bridge strikes, (b) cost to his Department of those strikes and (c) amount recovered from insurers of vehicles involved in such strikes in each of the last three years for which data is available.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Oversized lorries hit rail bridges five times a day, almost 2000 every year.
On average, each bridge strike costs the taxpayer £13,500, adding up to £23m a year in damages and delays.
Network Rail recovered £6m in the last financial year from insurers for compensation for bridge strikes, while in previous years the recovery rate was typically between £3-5m. The rate of recovery is rising following legal precedents that allow full recovery of costs to compensate train operators for delays.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the rail industry has made on making new data available to third party retailers in the rail ticketing market.
Answered by Paul Maynard
In the Action Plan for Information on Rail Fares and Ticketing, launched on 13 December 2016, the Rail Delivery Group committed to provide better and more targeted information to website and app developers to enable them to develop new products and services for consumers by December this year.
This information will include timetable and fares data and live running information, so that they can be used to create better and consistent consumer-facing products. The overall Action Plan is a set of stretching actions to drive real improvement for passengers. Progress is reviewed regularly, working towards two key reports as set out in the Action Plan.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much compensation has been paid to passengers under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by Abellio Greater Anglia in each year for which compensation has been paid.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Government is not required to collect information on compensation paid by train operators to their customers under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which came into force for all transport providers on 1 October 2016, and does not hold this information.
It is the responsibility of train operators to ensure that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ existing compensation schemes provide the main means of redress for passengers.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to tackle non-compliance of train companies related to the provision to passengers of information relating to their rights required under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Answered by Paul Maynard
It is the responsibility of train operators to ensure they are compliant with their legal obligations and, as service providers, that their customers are made aware of their rights to compensation or other redress in cases of service failure or disruption. Train operators’ own compensation schemes provide the main means of redress for passengers.
My Department has worked with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), industry and consumer groups to identify actions to improve passenger awareness of their rights to claim compensation, including all options open to them. The ORR has also been working with the Rail Delivery Group and individual train operators over the last year to raise their awareness of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and their obligations under it.
The ORR is currently reviewing train operators’ compliance with the rules around how refunds must be paid under the CRA.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve disability awareness among bus drivers on the use of a ramp when required for disabled passengers.
Answered by Andrew Jones
I am committed to building transport networks that work for everyone, including ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport services as other members of society.
We are currently developing best practice guidance in delivering disability awareness training. This has been informed by engagement with disabled people and the bus industry, and aims to ensure that bus drivers have the knowledge and skills to provide passengers with the appropriate assistance they need, including the use of ramps for wheelchair users.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is sufficient provision of accessible taxis for disabled people in rural areas.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) provide a particularly important service for many disabled people, helping them to remain independent and to complete journeys which may not be possible using other forms of transport.
I recognise that the availability of wheelchair accessible taxis and PHVs varies across Great Britain, particularly in rural areas. I know too, however, that they can sometimes be difficult to access for some ambulant disabled people. As such we encourage local licensing authorities to use their existing powers to ensure that a range of vehicle categories are represented in their taxi and PHV fleets. We have also introduced powers in the Deregulation Act 2015 to enable the sub-contracting of PHV services across local authority boundaries, helping to ensure that wheelchair accessible vehicles are available wherever they are required.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of security at London City Airport after the recent protestor security breach.
Answered by John Hayes
We keep aviation security under constant review. The Civil Aviation Authority, as regulator, has carried out a full investigation of the incident on 6 September, and will continue to monitor London City Airport’s response to the incident and subsequent investigation. For obvious reasons we would not comment publicly on the details of this response.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of those provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which relate to rail passengers claiming compensation.
Answered by Paul Maynard
We want to strengthen the rights of rail passengers to get compensation for poor service. The Consumer Rights Act will allow rail passengers to challenge compensation amounts awarded for delays and cancellations where the train operator is at fault.
Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Act comes into force for all transport providers. We will continue to work with train operators to improve their compensation schemes.
Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34465, if his Department will take steps to allow web-users to include honours when completing Government online forms.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
My Department provides a wide variety of online forms across multiple systems. Most of these are designed to enable web users to use perform a transaction, such as to book a driving theory test. Therefore we only ask our users the minimum information required to process their requests to enable them to complete these transactions as quickly as possible.
I am mindful that there could be an additional cost to the taxpayer in making changes to online systems to capture and store additional data.