Our £20m Rural Mobility Fund is supporting 17 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas including in North East Hertfordshire. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Travel can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone. While it is too early to assess the full impact of the pilots, early indications show Hertfordshire County Council have exceeded the journey target they had set for the first year after launch.

The Department does not currently collect data on the amount commercial operators spend each year on diesel fuel that is put into buses.

The table below shows the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) headcount of operational driving examiners (DE) for Great Britain by year since 2015. It also shows the DE headcount of St Helens Metropolitan Borough, which is solely St Helens driving test centre and the North West as defined by the Office for National Statistics.

The DVSA does not hold data relating to DEs in Northern Ireland. Practical driver and rider testing is delivered by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA).

The DVSA recognise the high demand for learners wanting to take their practical driving test and is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible. The DVSA is recruiting more than 300 additional DEs across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests and has offered financial incentives in some geographical areas where there are particular difficulties recruiting DEs.

The DVSA has a number of measures in place to increase the availability of driving tests, which includes: offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to driving examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends). In addition, we have asked management grades to conduct testing up to 40% of their time and looked at other colleagues across the business, who are qualified to deliver tests, and sought to use them to help deliver tests.

The table below shows the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) headcount of operational driving examiners (DE) for Great Britain by year since 2015. It also shows the DE headcount of St Helens Metropolitan Borough, which is solely St Helens driving test centre and the North West as defined by the Office for National Statistics.

The DVSA does not hold data relating to DEs in Northern Ireland. Practical driver and rider testing is delivered by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA).

The DVSA recognise the high demand for learners wanting to take their practical driving test and is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible. The DVSA is recruiting more than 300 additional DEs across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests and has offered financial incentives in some geographical areas where there are particular difficulties recruiting DEs.

The DVSA has a number of measures in place to increase the availability of driving tests, which includes: offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to driving examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends). In addition, we have asked management grades to conduct testing up to 40% of their time and looked at other colleagues across the business, who are qualified to deliver tests, and sought to use them to help deliver tests.

Following the developer-led junction improvement scheme that was delivered in February this year for the new Leicester City Football Club training ground, a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit was carried out at this location. The designers of the scheme are currently developing an additional package of works to address the issues identified that relate to the right turn movement of traffic from Park Hill Lane onto the A46. Until these works are undertaken, the network remains under the jurisdiction of Leicester City Football Club.

The Department provided initial written feedback to South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority on their BSIP on 31 May 2022. We then wrote to the Transport Directors of unfunded areas on 8 August 2022 offering a one-off surgery on Enhanced Partnerships and Bus Service Improvement Plans with any LTA which requests one, on a first-come first-served basis. These surgeries will offer feedback on BSIPs along with a strategic overview of the BSIP and EP process.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) spend on external consultants can be found in the DVLA’s Annual Reports and Accounts available at gov.uk. All Government departments, their agencies and arm’s length bodies must follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in awarding contracts and are required to publish all spend against individual suppliers above £10,000. Details of all Government contracts awarded from 2016 and above £10,000 (£25,000 in the wider public sector) are published on GOV.UK under Contracts Finder and can be found here. Each award notice provides information on the name of the supplier, the value of the contract, its purpose, and information on the type of awarding procedure used.

DVSA’s Annual Report and Accounts available at gov.uk set out the amount spent on consultancy.

Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of taxi and private hire vehicle stakeholders, including meetings with Uber. These meetings provide an opportunity to hear the views of the sector. Details of ministerial meetings from 2009 have been published and are available at www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings. This information is updated on a quarterly basis.

Ministers meet with a wide range of taxi and private hire vehicle stakeholders, including meetings with Uber. These meetings provide an opportunity to hear the views of the sector. Details of ministerial meetings from 2009 have been published and are available at www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings. This information is updated on a quarterly basis.

In February 2019 the Government published its response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing - which can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/923695/taxi-task-and-finish-gov-response.pdf

The Department recognises the importance of audible and visible information in ensuring disabled passengers have the information they need to travel safely, with confidence, and without the fear of a journey taking them anywhere other than their desired destination.

DfT statistics indicate that in March 2021, 45% of buses were providing audible and visible information across Great Britain. More and more services are now incorporating accessible information, but its availability remains inconsistent across the country, and the Department is determined to address this.

The Department therefore intends, subject to final analysis, to introduce Accessible Information Regulations before the end of this year. This will ensure a rapid increase in the provision of better information for passengers, with the implementation timescale, also taking account of the impact on operators. The Department will also provide Accessible Information Grant funding to help smaller operators to meet the new requirements.

The Department recognises the importance of audible and visible information in ensuring disabled passengers have the information they need to travel safely, with confidence, and without the fear of a journey taking them anywhere other than their desired destination.

DfT statistics indicate that in March 2021, 45% of buses were providing audible and visible information across Great Britain. More and more services are now incorporating accessible information, but its availability remains inconsistent across the country, and the Department is determined to address this.

The Department therefore intends, subject to final analysis, to introduce Accessible Information Regulations before the end of this year. This will ensure a rapid increase in the provision of better information for passengers, with the implementation timescale, also taking account of the impact on operators. The Department will also provide Accessible Information Grant funding to help smaller operators to meet the new requirements.

The department responded to the Director of Growth at Arun District Council on the 31^th August 2022, a copy of this response has been attached.

Local authorities are responsible for the setting their own design standards for their streets. It is not possible to design national standards as every community is different. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide the standards for their network. The Department provides good practice guidance to assist local authorities in setting design standards

Where a developer obtains planning permission for a new development they will consider how or if they wish the roads on that development to be adopted. They may seek to have roads on that development adopted by entering into an agreement with the highway authority under the Highways Act 1980, or they may decide that their development will remain private and that the roads will not become public highway – for example as in a gated community.

Local authorities can use planning conditions or section 106 planning obligations to secure a commitment from developers to provide and maintain communal spaces and facilities. It is up to developers and local planning authorities to agree appropriate funding arrangements for developments with common areas or shared services. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are responsible for planning policy.

No assessment has been made of amending the advance payment code to resolve section 38 Highways Act 1980 negotiations. We have previously published an advice note on the process of adopting private roads into the public road network and an updated version is to be published shortly.

Local authorities are responsible for the setting their own design standards for their streets. It is not possible to design national standards as every community is different. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide the standards for their network. The Department provides good practice guidance to assist local authorities in setting design standards

Where a developer obtains planning permission for a new development they will consider how or if they wish the roads on that development to be adopted. They may seek to have roads on that development adopted by entering into an agreement with the highway authority under the Highways Act 1980, or they may decide that their development will remain private and that the roads will not become public highway – for example as in a gated community.

Local authorities can use planning conditions or section 106 planning obligations to secure a commitment from developers to provide and maintain communal spaces and facilities. It is up to developers and local planning authorities to agree appropriate funding arrangements for developments with common areas or shared services. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are responsible for planning policy.

No assessment has been made of amending the advance payment code to resolve section 38 Highways Act 1980 negotiations. We have previously published an advice note on the process of adopting private roads into the public road network and an updated version is to be published shortly.

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, as amended, to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Government does not intervene or override local decisions in these matters.

Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects from forming in the first place is vital, and the Department advocates a risk-based, whole life-cycle asset management approach to all aspects of the local highway network.

To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to publish in 2019 Potholes: a repair guide.

The Government has committed £915 million per year for local highways maintenance for local highway authorities outside London and Mayoral Combined Authorities, for the three years starting 2022-23, which includes pothole funding.

When assessing bids for local transport projects, the Department considers a range of factors including alignment to strategic priorities, local context, deliverability, as well as financial, economic and commercial cases.

The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must, by law, be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It is a legal requirement for number plate suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied.

The DVLA visits number plate suppliers to monitor compliance with the legal requirements and works closely with the police and trading standards to share intelligence and support investigations and prosecutions of suppliers who do not comply.

Anyone who suspects that their number plate has been cloned should report this to the police, who are responsible for on road enforcement. Any fines or correspondence received for offences which have not been committed should be returned to the issuing authorities for investigation. Vehicle keepers can also write to the DVLA, who can issue a new registration number for a vehicle where necessary.