Speeches by Greenwood.

“I can confirm that the station is being constructed to allow all Great Western services to call, but no decision has been made on the future timetable. None the less, building the station requires realignment of the Great Western main line to curve around new platforms. Unfortunately, that means that even trains that d…”

“As the hon. Gentleman says, this Government are committed to increasing the number of people who walk and cycle for short journeys. If there is something that my colleagues in the Department and I can do to unblock things and get them moving, we will do it. Questions were asked about investment in Welsh railways. I ass…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Betts. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) on securing this debate about the future of Aldridge train station. I also congratulate the hon. Members for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and for Wokingham (Clive Jones), who used the oppor…”

“I accept that the West Midlands combined authority had cost pressures and that it does not have sufficient funding to complete all the projects that were set out in its original plan to the timetable that was envisaged. The right hon. Lady is correct that the money has been reprogrammed to be used on other projects, bu…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Road Transport (International Passenger Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2024. It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair this afternoon, Mr Efford. The draft instrument will amend domestic legislation in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to underpin the UK’s i…”

“I had forgotten that would happen at 7 pm. The introduction of four East West Rail passenger trains per hour on top of existing passenger and freight services would represent a significant uplift in the rail traffic passing over the level crossing. On one level, that is a benefit, including to the hon. Gentleman’s cons…”

“I am happy to give the hon. Member that assurance, and I certainly would not disagree with the Rail Minister. I can also assure him that the proposed road diversions and any further enhancements required to minimise the impact of these diversions will be funded as part of the East West Rail project and that the local a…”

“I thank the shadow Minister for his consideration of the draft instrument. I welcome his support. I will respond to him in writing, if I may, on the technical specifications that he mentioned. I am aware of the comments that were made when the instrument was debated in the other place; I will be meeting the DVSA shortl…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Bicester and Woodstock (Calum Miller) on securing this debate, and I thank him for continuing to raise the issue of the London Road level crossing in his constituency. I recognise the concerns that he raises on behalf of local residents, and I appreciate the strength of those concerns…”

“Is there something more you want to add, Loveday, in terms of our advice to learner drivers?”

“The regions are split by four zones. Zone A is Scotland and north-east England, and the average waiting time is 17.1 weeks before you get to 10% of available slots. In Zone B, which is Wales and north-west England, it is 16.8. In Zone C, which is midlands and south-west England, it is 21.4. In Zone D, London and south-…”

“Emma, you are probably best placed to talk about that because it pre-dates me being in post.”

“It is clear to me that industrial relations have not always been where I would want them to be as a Minister responsible for holding DVSA to account. I want us to be able to recruit and retain driving examiners. They are the people who provide the tests. I really appreciate the hard work that they do, and we want them …”

“From my perspective, no one should be subject to abuse and assault at work, and we absolutely have to take action to address that. It was an interesting suggestion in the first session that potentially you could reduce it by not giving people their result at the end of their test verbally but by emailing them afterward…”

“One of the big changes is recruiting more driving examiners and absolutely ramping that up. There is always going to be an attrition rate in any role. You recruit people and some people leave. We need to make sure that the numbers that we are recruiting are significantly higher so that we see a net increase in the numb…”

“Not without increasing the pay of other people on the equivalent grade.”

“Loveday can speak to this. It is not that people are not applying for the jobs. People are applying for them. There is quite a high drop-out rate between someone coming for interview and starting the training process and actually becoming a driving examiner. A question for me is whether we are getting the right people.…”

“I don’t think that is correct.”

“To come back to the broader point and then to yours, Catherine, as the Chair said, in terms of supply, increasing the supply of tests is the most important, and that is going to be achieved through recruiting and retaining more driving examiners and providing more tests—some of that is asking people to work overtime an…”

“Sorry, the past target?”