Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the supply of high-voltage engineers in the rail industry.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department works closely with the National Skills Academy for Rail to attract more talent into the rail industry. As part of this, the website “Routes into Rail” highlights career opportunities within the sector. The Department intends to develop a longer-term strategy for the rail workforce exploring productivity, efficiencies, skills, and diversity.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the incidence of HGVs hitting railway bridges.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Department has previously invested £3 million to help create a digital road map developed by Ordnance Survey for SatNavs, which includes information on height and weight restrictions.
In addition, the Department works with bridge owners, including Network Rail, to raise driver awareness of, and offer advice on, avoiding low bridges. It has published a suite of documents under ‘Prevention of bridge strikes: a good practice guide’ on the government website.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Northern Powerhouse rail proposals, whether the proposed new route alignment between Bradford and Huddersfield involves tunnelling; and, if so, what proportion of the route will be tunnelled.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The government is working closely with Network Rail to develop and programme the delivery of specific schemes announced by Network North. Further development work will confirm the preferred route between Bradford, Huddersfield and Manchester. Options that have been considered to date do not involve tunnelling between Bradford and Huddersfield. Information will be shared once this work is more mature.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Northern Powerhouse rail proposals, what proportion of the proposed new route alignment between Huddersfield and Manchester will involve tunnelling.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The government is working closely with Network Rail to develop and programme the delivery of specific schemes announced by Network North. Further development work will confirm the preferred route between Bradford, Huddersfield and Manchester. Options that have been considered to date do not involve tunnelling between Bradford and Huddersfield. Information will be shared once this work is more mature.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Northern Powerhouse rail proposals, whether the new Bradford railway station will replace Bradford Interchange and Bradford Forster Square, or just Bradford Interchange.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
It is the government’s current intention that the new station at Bradford, would likely replace Bradford Interchange to provide improved transport links to Bradford City Centre. This investment will support Bradford to unlock further economic potential, supporting wider regeneration in the city.
The government is working closely with Network Rail and Bradford City Council to assess potential station options and locations. Further information will be shared when this work is more mature.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the combustion of synthetic fuels or biofuels of similar chemical composition to fossil kerosene has the same net radiative forcing effect as burning fossil kerosene when used as aviation fuel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Aviation has climate impacts from both CO2 emissions and other (non-CO2) emissions, that need to be addressed. The impact of CO2 emissions can be quantified, while scientific evidence suggests that non-CO2 impacts from aviation currently represent two thirds of the net effective radiative forcing (ERF). However, this is not a fixed number and is scenario dependent, and there are large uncertainties that exist over the magnitude of non-CO2 impacts on the climate.
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) can deliver significant greenhouse emission savings. Scientific evidence suggests that SAF could also have a positive impact in reducing non-CO2 emission impacts. Recent research indicates that SAF can produce 50-70% fewer soot particles, which could reduce the overall warming effect of contrails.
Through the Jet Zero Strategy, we aim to address non-CO2 emissions by better developing our understanding of their impacts and potential mitigations.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they used in the development of the Jet Zero strategy; and in gathering any such evidence, what assessment they made of the risk that sustainable aviation fuels may not have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions in the medium term.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Jet Zero Strategy was developed considering a wide range of evidence including over 1,500 responses to the Jet Zero Consultation, launched in July 2021, and the Jet Zero: Further Technical Consultation which was published in March 2022. We received consultation responses from members of the public, and a broad spectrum of organisations including from the aviation and aerospace industries, NGOs and environmental groups.
Alongside consultation responses, we considered external evidence produced domestically and internationally, including from the UK Climate Change Committee, the World Economic Forum, the International Council on Clean Transportation, the European Union, the United States and the International Civil Aviation Organization.
This evidence informed policy development, as well as the modelling of four scenarios each with a different mix of technologies to illustrate alternative pathways for reaching net zero aviation by 2050. Within these scenarios, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) account for up to 10% emissions reductions in 2030, and up to 32% in 2040, demonstrating the potential impact of SAF in the medium-term. The range of scenarios modelled aims to reflect the range of potential outcomes, recognising the current early stages of development of new fuels and technologies.
To support the development of a UK SAF industry, through the Jet Zero Strategy we committed to putting a SAF mandate in place with a target of at least 10% SAF in the UK jet fuel mix by 2030; and having at least five UK SAF plants under construction, supported through our £165 million advanced fuel competition.
The nascent nature of decarbonisation technologies means that we do not yet know the optimal technological mix for achieving Jet Zero. We have therefore committed to reviewing our approach every five years and adapting our Strategy if necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority relating to the withdrawal of some bus services in that area.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government regularly engages with bus operators and Local Transport Authorities regarding the provision of bus services in England. Departmental officials have been in contact with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to outline the support on offer from the Department to the Local Transport Authority regarding the withdrawal of bus services in the area and to understand how the Combined Authority intends to address this.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 19 April (HL Deb, col 1639), what assessment they have made of the need to review the Airports National Policy Statement to bring it into line with domestic and international climate targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
On 16 December 2020, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier Court of Appeal decision and declared that the Airports National Policy Statement is lawful. We are carefully considering the Court’s judgement.
The Government have always been clear that Heathrow expansion is a private sector project which must meet strict criteria on air quality, noise and climate change, as well as being privately financed, affordable, and delivered in the best interest of consumers.
In the coming months, we will launch a consultation setting out the steps to reach net zero aviation emissions by 2050.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 19 April (HL Deb, col 1639), what assessment they have made of the need to review the (1) National Policy Statement for Ports, and (2) National Policy Statement for National Networks, to bring them into line with (a) domestic, and (b) international, (i) climate, and (ii) biodiversity, targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
As noted in the Freeports Bidding Prospectus, Government intends to review the National Policy Statement for Ports in 2021. In deciding when to review the NPS, due consideration will be given to the impact of changes in policy of both climate and biodiversity targets.
The case for reviewing the National Networks National Policy Statement remains under active consideration as part of the Secretary of State’s duties under the Planning Act 2008. Developments in domestic environmental policy and our international commitments, are assessed against the three considerations the Secretary of State must take into account in deciding whether to review an NPS set out in section 6 of the Act.