Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require all new homes to have an electric car charging point.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following changes to the building regulations in December 2021, all new or majorly renovated homes with associated parking in England require the installation of an electric vehicle chargepoint. Larger parking areas are also required to install cable routes to facilitate the installation of additional chargepoints in the future. These requirements also apply to non-residential buildings such as shops and workplaces.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of low emission zones as a means of tackling air pollution in urban areas.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The 2017 Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) plan sets out the actions Government is taking to deliver compliance with legal limits for NO2 in the shortest possible time. This includes a national-level assessment of the potential impact of charging Clean Air Zones in achieving this objective.
As a result of the plan, Government continues to support a number of local authorities to produce local plans that identify and implement measures to tackle NO2 exceedances in their areas. These plans must be supported by suitable evidence to demonstrate the type of intervention required, and whether this needs to include a Clean Air Zone.
Local Authorities have existing powers to implement charging zones as a means of achieving air quality and other environmental objectives where they deem this to be appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Budget 2020’s commitments on electronic vehicle charging infrastructure and consumer incentives for ultra-low emission vehicles, what assessment they have made of the likely annual reduction in overall domestic transport emissions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Budget 2020 commitments are an integral part of our strategy for decarbonising road transport. The commitments are a key part of a package of measures that will enable a mass transition to zero emission vehicles and see the carbon emissions from road transport reduce between now and 2050. The benefits of this funding from a climate change perspective go considerably further than the direct emissions savings generated by the resulting higher short-term uptake of zero emission vehicles.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a litter cleaning key performance indicator has been developed for inclusion in the next Road Investment Strategy for Highways England.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Performance Framework for the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) covering the period 2020-21 to 2024-25 is being finalised.
In Draft Road Investment Strategy 2 - Government objectives published in October 2018, the Department recognised the contribution the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment) will make to framing the final RIS. The Plan seeks to improve the management of litter as part of a wider goal to make positive environmental enhancements from the investment we make.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which new freight transport routes across the English Channel between the UK and the EU are being considered as part of the contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The routes agreed for increased freight capacity with DFDS and with Brittany Ferries will run from the Ports of Immingham and Felixstowe (DFDS) and Poole, Plymouth and Portsmouth (Brittany) to destinations in Germany (Cuxhaven), the Netherlands (Vlaardingen) and France (Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, and Roscoff). The route agreed with Seaborne Freight is between Ramsgate and Ostend in Belgium.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which organisation has responsibility for clearing litter from motorways and trunk roads; and whether they also have powers to issue civil penalties to the owner of a vehicle from which litter is seen to be thrown.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Highways England are responsible for cleaning litter on motorways and a small number of A roads. Local Authorities are responsible for clearing litter on all other A roads and All Purpose Trunk Roads.
District councils in England (outside London) have powers to issue civil penalties to the keepers of vehicles from which litter is thrown onto their roads. All local authorities can also prosecute or issue fixed penalties in lieu of prosecution for littering offences on any road within their area, including motorways. Highways England do not have any enforcement powers in respect of littering offences on the roads from which they are responsible for clearing litter.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will release the Department for Transport’s "Road to Zero" strategy, which was due to be published in March 2018.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government published the "Road to Zero" strategy on 9th July. The full document is available in the Libraries of both Houses and can also be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-emissions-from-road-transport-road-to-zero-strategy
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps for the protection of nesting birds, as set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, are being taken during Network Rail’s clearance of trackside vegetation.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Network Rail is the fourth largest land owner in the United Kingdom, and in the past four years has made significant progress in the way it manages vegetation growing alongside train tracks.
Following discussions with Mark Carne, Chief Executive of Network Rail, about their approach to vegetation management, and the Tree Council and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Government has commissioned a review into Network Rail’s vegetation management. While it is clear that Network Rail wants to get this right, and there is a ‘gold standard’ of vegetation management on some lines, it is concerning that tree management is carried out during the nesting season, when it can have the greatest effect on wildlife.
The review will report to the Rail Minister in summer this year. In the meantime, Network Rail have been asked to suspend all felling during the current nesting reason, except where it is safety critical.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many trees they estimate will be felled during the programme to clear vegetation alongside railway lines; and what plans are in place to plant new trees on Network Rail land.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Network Rail is the fourth largest land owner in the United Kingdom, and in the past four years has made significant progress in the way it manages vegetation growing alongside train tracks.
Following discussions with Mark Carne, Chief Executive of Network Rail, about their approach to vegetation management, and the Tree Council and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Government has commissioned a review into Network Rail’s vegetation management. While it is clear that Network Rail wants to get this right, and there is a ‘gold standard’ of vegetation management on some lines, it is concerning that tree management is carried out during the nesting season, when it can have the greatest effect on wildlife.
The review will report to the Rail Minister in summer this year. In the meantime, Network Rail have been asked to suspend all felling during the current nesting reason, except where it is safety critical.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will reconsider the rejection of a grant application to deliver buses with lower emissions in Brighton and Hove, given that City Council’s evidence of high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and airborne fine particles in the city centre.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government recently announced the allocation of £40m from the Clean Bus Technology Fund and does not plan to reconsider that decision. As the volume of bids received exceeded the available budget we had to prioritise those projects expected to make the greatest contribution to bringing local NO2 concentrations within statutory limits within the shortest possible time.