Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposals relating to reform of Compulsory Basic Training published by the Motorcycle Industry Association in its document entitled A Licence to Net Zero on (a) road safety, (b) quality of rider training and (c) the skill levels of riders.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Minister for Roads and Local Transport intends to engage with the Motorcycle Industry Association on its proposals, in the near future, to consider how they align with existing work and plans on Compulsory Basic Training and licence reform.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to help reduce road deaths of cyclists and pedestrians.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In January 2022 this Government updated The Highway Code to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses. Changes aim to initiate a positive shift in road user behaviour by making road users aware of their responsibility to use roads safely and reduce the danger they may pose to others.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase road safety in Portsmouth South.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The local council has responsibility for making decisions about local roads, based on its local knowledge and taking into account local needs.
The Department for Transport provides guidance to traffic authorities on various traffic management measures.
Portsmouth council was allocated £3.65million in 2022/23 for highways maintenance and small transport projects, which help maintain the overall road environment. Portsmouth council was additionally awarded £1.3million from the Safer Roads Fund in 2022/23.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the safety of pedestrians in (a) City of Durham constituency and (b) County Durham.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Transport updated The Highway Code on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.
The local council has responsibility for making decisions about local roads, based on its local knowledge and taking into account local needs.
Durham City Council was also awarded £528,000 from the Safer Roads Fund in 2016/17 for improvements to the A67. Pedestrian related improvements funded included pedestrian crossing points at various locations along the A67 in Barnard castle and Startforth Park.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to The Plan for Drivers, published 2 October 2023, what 20mph zones his Department expects to be affected by changes in guidance.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Local speed limits are a matter for local authorities, who have the power to set their speed limits.
While the government supports 20mph limits in the right places, we do not support them being set indiscriminately on all roads without due regard to the safety case and local support. We plan to review the current guidance to English authorities to ensure consistency on setting 20mph speed limits and to be clear about the factors that local authorities should consider when considering new 20mph schemes.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits to passenger services in Ipswich of the upgrade of (a) Ely Junction and (b) Haughley Junction.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Ely Area Capacity Enhancements (EACE) scheme would create capacity to increase trains through the Ely ‘bottle neck’ from 6.5 per hour to 10 trains per hour, doubling passenger services on the Ely-King’s Lynn and Ipswich-Peterborough routes. We anticipate that the EACE scheme will take 98,000 lorry journeys off roads every year, improving road safety and reducing road congestion.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the safety of pedestrians on rural roads (a) with Transport for London and local authorities in (i) Enfield North constituency and (ii) London and (b) in England.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Responsibility for managing London's road network is shared between Transport for London, National Highways and the London boroughs.
At a national level, the Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Key changes include the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and guidance on safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders. The changes will lead to improvements in road safety as they encourage more mutual respect and consideration for all road users.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a recent assessment of the safety of pedestrians on rural roads (a) with Transport for London in (i) Enfield North constituency and (ii) London and (b) in England.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Responsibility for managing London's road network is shared between Transport for London, National Highways and the London boroughs.
At a national level, the Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Key changes include the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and guidance on safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders. The changes will lead to improvements in road safety as they encourage more mutual respect and consideration for all road users.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the level of understanding among road users of the changes to the Highway Code introduced in January 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The January 2022 changes to The Highway Code to help improve road safety for people walking, cycling and horse riding have been communicated via:
The campaign has been supported by significant media spend, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.
- The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes increased from 36% in January 2022 to 58% in August 2022, with 83% of road users having heard of the changes by August 2022.
- The percentage of people who agreed that motor vehicles do have priority on the roads fell from 68% in January 2022 to 61% in August 2022.
- 78% of road users correctly identified the need for a 1.5m gap when passing cyclists in January 2022, rising to 84% in August 2022. Understanding that cyclists may ride two abreast also increased from 30% to 46%. The percentage of drivers reporting that they always leave a 1.5 metre gap when passing cyclists rose from 50% in January 2022 to 58% in August 2022.
- Recognition among the target audience of at least one of the campaign assets was 57% at Phase 1 and 53% at Phase 2. Of the respondents that recognised the 30 second hero assets from Phase 2, nearly nine in ten (84%) said they had done something as a result.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Highway Code's clothing recommendations for cyclists at (a) ensuring visibility and (b) keeping road users safe.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The safety of vulnerable road users is a priority for the Government, and the Department is determined to make the roads safer for everyone.
Rule 59 of The Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing to help other road users to see them in daylight and poor light, with reflective clothing and/or accessories in the dark. This advice was strengthened in the updated version of The Highway Code that was published in January 2022, and the Department ran communication campaigns in both 2022 and 2023 to highlight some of the key changes.
The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes increased from 36% in January 2022 to 58% in August 2022, with 83% of road users having heard of the changes by August.