Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Motorcycle Industry Association and Zemo Partnership report Realising the Full Potential of Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles: A Joint Action Plan for Government and Industry — The Route to Net Zero, published in February 2022, what steps they are taking to reform the licencing regime for powered light vehicles, as set out in action six of that report.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is open to discussing ideas for reform of the existing licensing regime for powered light vehicles known as L category vehicles where they do not compromise safety standards. The Government intends to engage with the Motorcycle Industry Association in the coming weeks to discuss and consider how they align with existing work and planning linked to licencing reform.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Commissioners appointed to oversee the responsibilities of Birmingham City Council are intending to accept the negotiated new contract for the maintenance of road services, in time to ensure a handover at the expiration of the current contract on 31 January 2024; and if they do not plan to do so, what steps are the taking to ensure alternative arrangements are made for road maintenance in the city.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is currently considering the Business Case for a revised contract for Birmingham Highways Maintenance following the failure of Birmingham's original PFI deal. A decision is expected in due course.
Highways maintenance is a critical and statutory function for all Local Authorities and the government will continue to support authorities to fulfil this function.
Commissioners have oversight of strategic financial decision-making at the Council and they will want to be satisfied that the contract achieves value for money for Birmingham residents. They are providing advice and challenge to the council, and are able to make decisions directly, if necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Avanti about that company's plans to reduce services between London, Birmingham, Manchester and North Wales from December; whether they were aware of those reductions when they awarded the company a new nine year contract for the franchise; and if they were, whether they required Avanti to make those service reductions as part of the contract.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Planned timetable reductions, between 10 December 2023 and 1 January 2024, were agreed in accordance with the requirements set out in Avanti’s contract. These temporary changes are necessary to ensure that Avanti can provide a more reliable service for its passengers and to minimise unplanned, short-notice cancellations. It is expected that service levels will be fully restored in the new year.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current UK capacity to produce sustainable aviation fuel; what will be the capacity required to meet their Jet Zero Strategy targets; and whether they are on track to achieve the Jet Zero Strategy targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Jet Zero Strategy sets a clear goal of net zero aviation emissions by 2050 but recognises that there are multiple pathways to achieving that goal. In the “Jet Zero illustrative scenarios and sensitivities” document published alongside the Jet Zero Strategy four different scenarios assume different levels of sustainable aviation fuel uptake by 2050.
To track progress against targets, the Government has set a CO2 emissions reduction trajectory based on the “high ambition” scenario that sees UK aviation emissions peak in 2019. Provisional estimates for 2022 UK international aviation greenhouse gas emissions show that they are 29% below 2019 levels. Progress will be monitored against the emissions reduction trajectory on an annual basis from 2025 and the overall strategic approach reviewed every five years.
The Government is introducing an ambitious set of policies to support the growth of the UK Sustainble Aviation Fuel sector and meet Jet Zero targets. Emissions savings are being secured through a mandate, which will be introduced from 2025 and will require at least 10% of UK aviation fuel to be derived from sustainable sources by 2030. In the 2023 consultation, the trajectories for sustainable aviation fuel uptake from 2025 to 2040 demonstrated how these trajectories align with the 2050 scenarios and ambition set out in the Jet Zero Strategy.
The Government is also kick starting a domestic sustainable aviation fuel industry through £165 million funding from the Advanced Fuels Fund to support first of a kind plants to reach commercial scale. The UK does not currently have any large scale dedicated production facilities, but this funding will help to deliver the commitment to have at least five commercial SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025. The Government has also recently committed to design and implement a revenue certainty mechanism to further support the development of a UK industry. The government has published a delivery plan, outlining how such a scheme can be delivered by 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 19 September (HL Deb col 1332), why there are NATS staff shortages at Edinburgh, Manchester and Bristol airports; and whether those shortages are similar to those at Gatwick cited by the Minister in her answer.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
UK aviation operates in the private sector, and Air Traffic Control tower services are a commercial matter for the individual airports. In this case, it will be for Manchester and Bristol airports to engage with NATS to ensure appropriate resourcing.
In regard to Edinburgh, NATS is not the provider responsible for the operation of the Air Traffic Control tower at the airport.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to develop a National Transport Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department has articulated its long-term strategic approach to the UK’s transport network through a range of publications, covering both specific modes of transport and cross-cutting policy issues such as freight.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of take-up of electric vans; what assessment they have made of the impact on the targets contained in their paper Consultation on a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and CO2 emissions regulation for new cars and vans in the UK, published on 30 March; and whether they have any plans to exclude electric vehicles weighing 3.5–4 tonnes from the requirement to be fitted with a tachograph.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department continuously monitors the uptake of electric vans through national statistics and engagement with industry. As of March 2023, there were almost 50,000 battery electric vans registered in the UK. This number continues to grow and so far this year, 5% of all new van registrations have been battery electric.
The Government will be publishing its response to the consultation shortly, which will set out the final policy design of the ZEV mandate.
The Department continues to assess the regulatory framework to support the transition to ZEVs, including rules on driving hours and tachographs, without compromising on road and public safety.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statistics from Eurocontrol that on 28 August over 2,000 flights were cancelled; whether they have assessed why those figures differ from the figure supplied by NATS that 1,500 were cancelled; and what is their explanation for the difference between the NATS figure that 575 flights were delayed and the higher figures supplied by airlines.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
NATS Preliminary Report into the Technical Failure of 28 August, stated that, while at that time it was not clear exactly how many flights had been cancelled the number was likely to exceed 1,500 with around a further 575 being delayed.
The independent review, announced by the Civil Aviation Authority on 6 September 2023 will include an assessment of the findings of NATS’ preliminary report. It is important that we now await the outcome of the review, which will include looking at the information on consumer impact including the number of cancellations and delays and the lessons are learned from the events of 28 August.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to meet their ambition for aviation energy efficiency to increase by 2 per cent per year; and what assessment they have made of the reasons why the current level of improvements to aviation energy efficiency is below the ambition at 1.4 per cent per year.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In July 2022, the Government published the Jet Zero Strategy, setting out our approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
The Strategy set out an emissions reduction trajectory and committed to the ‘high ambition’ scenario, which included an average annual fuel efficiency improvement of 2% per annum between 2025 and 2050. Whilst the average annual improvement figure is 2%, we expect the pace of progress to vary by year depending on technological development and adoption.
The Government is supporting the development of new low and zero-carbon emission aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute with £685m of funding over three years. The Government published a Call for Evidence for airport operations in England to be zero emission by 2040 in February 2023, and is supporting airspace modernisation by providing £9.2m of funding between 2020-2023.
In July 2023 we published the Jet Zero Strategy One Year On document which sets out the progress and achievements since July 2022 and the key challenges ahead in meeting Jet Zero. We have committed to reviewing progress against our emissions reduction trajectory annually from 2025 and to with a full review of the Strategy every 5 years.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they became aware that train operators Southeastern, South Western and Govia Thameslink Railway had halted recruitment of new ticket office staff; and whether they are aware of any other train operators which have taken similar action prior to the start of consultation on ticket office closures; and what assessment they have made of the ability of train operators to fulfil their contractual legal obligations having halted the recruitment of ticket office staff.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Train operators manage their own vacancies, staffing levels and recruitment processes in line with their annual business plans and are expected to deliver their contractual obligations as good and efficient operators.