Every parliamentary written question tabled by Alistair Strathern this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–10 of 10 · Department for Transport
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the reliability of train services in the East of England.
The December 2025 timetable changes for the East Coast Main Line have increased capacity on the network and improved connectivity. The Rail Minister has met with the Managing Directors of train operators and their Network Rail counterparts in the East of England, to ensure continued focus on delivering good performance.
What steps her Department plans to take to reduce the backlog in driving tests.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at all driving test centres (...
What support her Department provides to highways authorities to (a) adopt and (b) repair and (c)upgrade (i) unadopted and (ii) ownerless roads that form key parts of local road networks.
Unadopted roads that are not maintained at public expense by a highway authority are known as private streets, as defined by Section 203(2) of the Highways Act 1980. The responsibility for management of private streets rests with the owner, or more usuall...
What steps her Department is taking to increase the rate of implementation of step free access on the rail network.
Since 2006, the Access for All (AfA) programme has delivered step free access at more than 250 stations across Great Britain. We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the acc...
What plans her Department has to improve accessibility at (a) Arlesey station and (b) Hitchin station.
We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
What steps her Department is taking to fund road maintenance in Hitchin constituency.
This Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously, and is committed to maintaining and renewing our road network as a priority; on which Ministers will say more in future. Maintenance of the local highway network within Hertfordshire, including the constituency of Hitchin, is the responsibility of Hertfordshire County Council. For 2024/25, Hertfordshire County Council has been allocated over £ 25 million to help it maintain its local highway network. Future funding beyond 2024/25 is a matter for the next Spending Review.
What recent estimate her Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel in Hitchin constituency.
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Hitchin constituency is not available. Information for the Hertfordshire local authority is given below, where available. Alternative data for the former Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency is also offered where relevant. Car ownership According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 56,667 licensed cars as at end March 2024 in the former Hitchin and Harpenden Constituency. Bus usage According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 20.8 million local bus journeys taken in Hertfordshire. Train usage According to Office of Rail and Road statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 17.8 million passenger rail journeys within East of England that started or ended in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire. There were also 52.6 million journeys that started or ended in Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire that ended or started from regions other than the East of England. Active travel usage According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2021 and November 2022, 78.2% of adults walked or cycled at least once per week in North Hertfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District) and 73.8% of adults walked or cycled at least once per week in Hertfordshire (County).
What the average cost of bus fares is in (a) Hitchin constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) North Hertfordshire.
The information requested regarding the average cost of bus fares is not available. The Department produces quarterly bus fare statistics in the form of a local bus fares index. However, this data is not available specifically for (a) Hitchin constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) North Hertfordshire.
What the average waiting time was between booking and taking a driving test in Hitchin constituency in the latest period for which data is available; and how many people are waiting to take a test in that constituency.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards. To increase the number of available test slots, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners. To increase the number of car driving test slots, the DVSA deployed eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which created over 145,000 additional test slots. Driving examiners from areas with lower waiting times continue to travel and test in those centres with longer waiting times. This is in addition to the DVSA recruiting additional examiners across the country into areas where waiting times are highest. The DVSA is unable to calculate the waiting time between booking and taking a driving test. The table below shows the June 2024 average waiting time, number of booked car practical driving tests, and available tests as of 22 July 2024 at the test centres that serve the constituency of Hitchin: DTCJune 2024 average waiting time in weeksBooked testsTests available in 24 week booking windowLetchworth16.5156078Stevenage24104353Luton12.5240495
Whether she plans to take steps to improve train services in Hitchin constituency.
Govia Thameslink Railway is introducing additional peak only services between King’s Cross and Hitchin in December 2024. There is also a wider plan to increase peak time capacity on the route to King’s Cross, which would benefit services out of Hitchin, however this is dependent on the future wider East Coast Mainline timetable recast. Alongside this, Hitchin will benefit from the East Coast Digital Programme, a £1.8 billion investment in infrastructure, which will introduce digital signalling, improving punctuality and reliability of services, with the potential to further improve service frequencies, dependent on demand and business case.