Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with sight loss can safely access public transport while covid-19 social distancing measures are in place.

The Government remains committed to delivering inclusive transport for all passengers. Our expectation is that transport operators should continue to assist disabled passengers who need assistance, including those with sight loss, as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. I made this clear in my open letter to the rail industry on 8 April 2020.

I am also meeting regularly with key disability stakeholders, including Guide Dogs, to hear directly from them about the experiences of disabled people using transport. This means we will be able to take action quickly if we find that passengers are not receiving the assistance to which they are entitled.

The Department has published guidance for transport operators to help organisations, agencies and others (such as self-employed transport providers) understand how to provide safer workplaces and services for themselves, their workers and passengers across all modes of private and public transport. The guidance makes it clear operators need to consider accessibility at every stage of the passenger journey and that passenger assistance should be provided when requested. Service providers have duties to ensure individuals with protected characteristics, such as disabled people, the elderly and pregnant women are able to access transport networks and that everyone should be supported to access transport and comply with social distancing.