Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2023 to Question 189782 on Disability, if he will state the other seven commitments in the National Disability Strategy that his Department has fully implemented.

In addition to the Accessible Information Regulations (AIR) which were made in June 2023, the department has implemented the following seven commitments from the National Disability Strategy:

• Further developed the Passenger Assist Programme for disabled passengers and introduced a passenger assist app.
• In 2022, delivered four accessibility-focused projects as part of the DfT-funded First of a Kind Rail Innovation Competition, delivered by Innovate UK. The projects were aimed at improving communication and navigation for disabled rail passengers and others with reduced mobility.
• Supported the passage of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022 so that disabled people have specific rights and protections to be carried and receive assistance when accessing a taxi or private hire vehicle, without being charged extra for doing so.
• In 2022 DfT consulted on updated Best Practice Guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England. This contained strengthened recommendations including encouraging the mandatory provision of disability awareness training for taxi and PHV drivers. DfT intends to publish the final version of the guidance later this year.
• In 2022 provided nearly £1 million to improve the accessibility of lifeline seaports on the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly.
• The British Standards Institution (BSI) published the PAS (Publicly Available Standard) 1899 in October 2022 which set clear accessibility standards for Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure.
• Ran multiple rounds of the ‘It’s everyone’s journey’ communications campaign, with the latest activity running from September 2022 to March 2023. The campaign encourages disabled people to travel by helping to raise awareness of disabled passengers’ needs amongst non-disabled passengers.