Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 16 June (HL8161), what precautions they are overseeing or initiating in seeking to minimise future disruption at UK airports.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The resilience of the UK aviation sector is important, and key to its success. It is the responsibility of the industry to manage demand, recruit, and roster staff. The aviation sector has increased resilience, with ground handlers, airlines, airports and air traffic control providers all undertaking significant recruitment campaigns, whilst investing in new infrastructure, equipment and technology.
The Aviation Minister regularly writes to industry to seek assurances from the aviation sector that they have sufficient resilience plans to manage operations effectively over peak periods, and the department continues to work closely with the sector to understand any potential risks and mitigating actions.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many charging points for electric vehicles (1) are available, and (2) have been confirmed in each the next three years, at service stations on each motorway.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There has been strong progress from industry on the rollout of chargepoints on our Strategic Road Network (England’s motorways and major A-roads). There are now over 5,560 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargers (excluding Tesla-only superchargers) within one mile of the Strategic Road Network (Zapmap, April 2025), which includes over 1180 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints specifically at motorway service areas in England, (industry data, April 2025). This means charger numbers on the Strategic Road Network, including at motorway services, have nearly quadrupled in the last three years (Zapmap and industry data, 2022 – 2025).
Government is continuing to work closely with industry to support their ambitious plans to continue rolling out chargepoints at sites to meet demand, and to address barriers to further roll-out.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what projects they have authorised for driverless vehicle trials; for what periods the trials will run; and subject to what conditions.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Currently there are no automated vehicles on UK roads operating without a safety driver. There are, however, several organisations who have tested, or are at present testing, vehicles with a safety driver under our existing ‘Code of Practice: automated vehicle trialling’. The Code of Practice is available to support those planning to undertake a trial of automated vehicle technology with a safety driver and sets out their legal responsibilities.
Some of these trials have been, and currently are, Government funded including projects operating at the National Exhibition Centre and in Cambridge from park & ride sites to the Biomedical Campus. A recently completed CCAV funded project also saw a shuttle service operating in Sunderland, linking the city to the hospital.
The Government announced on 10 June that it will accelerate the timeline for the introduction of Automated Passenger Services (APS) regulations, as set out in part 5 of the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act 2024, subject to the outcome of a consultation later this summer. These regulations will help facilitate early commercial pilots of automated passenger services, which could include those that are taxi-and private hire-like in England and bus-like in GB from spring 2026. These pilots will drive innovation, attract investment, and help shape the final automated vehicles framework, which we aim to have in place by the second half of 2027.
APS pilots will be subject to the vehicle passing all relevant technical and safety approvals and local licensing authority (including taxi licensing authority for taxi like services) or bus franchising body consent being secured before any deployment can take place. Permits issued to enable deployments will include conditions for the service, which could include, for example: the number of vehicles, the type of vehicles, and the period for which the permit is granted for. If these conditions are not adhered to, the permit may be suspended or withdrawn.
The Secretary of State must also consider whether and to what extent granting a permit for an automated passenger service is likely to help improve understanding of how these services should best be designed for and provided to disabled and older passengers. Accessibility considerations will be set out in non-statutory guidance and related permit conditions can be enforced through the permitting process.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the closure of Heathrow Airport due to the fire at the North Hyde substation on 21 March.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The UK aviation sector is predominantly privately operated therefore airports are responsible for managing their own contingency plans and ensuring that they are robust and meet their own individual circumstances.
The Department does not formally assess the impact of individual resilience issues due to the complexity of the impact and vast range of indirect impacts across the economy.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress being made towards developing road-worthy autonomous vehicles, and what steps they are taking to enable autonomous vehicles to be driven on roads legally.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
To achieve our ambitions for the automated vehicle sector, we are working at pace to implement the regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles in the second half of 2027.
We are exploring options for accelerating early commercial pilots in advance of full implementation and will update on this work soon. By combining long-term regulatory certainty with near-term trialling opportunities, we are creating the right conditions for a thriving self-driving vehicles market.
Alongside developing our domestic regulations, we are playing a leading role in work to align international rules and regulations on self-driving, which will enable our companies to export globally. This work is anticipated to complete in early 2027.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the carriage of freight by rail.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and is committed to supporting its growth.
We encourage modal shift from road to rail through the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme which has a budget of £18 million. The scheme has been extended to March 2026.
Under our plans to reform the railway, there will be a statutory duty on Great British Railways to promote the use of rail freight and there will be an overall rail freight growth target set by the Secretary of State, with clear and meaningful targets for rail freight growth within pre-defined periods.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to lowering the legal alcohol limit for drivers as tested by a breathalyser.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. The Department is currently considering policy options in this area.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the use of electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government is reducing the upfront costs of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by providing plug-in vehicle grants for vans, trucks and motorcycles, taxis and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Drivers of ZEVs also benefit from favourable tax rates, such as generous company car tax incentives. They are also exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) until April 2025, after which electric vehicles will continue to have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the provision of charging points for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are now over 70,000 public charging devices in the UK, supporting drivers to switch to EVs, alongside 680,000 private chargepoints in England alone. The Government is committed to working with industry to further accelerate the rollout of affordable, accessible charging infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Government is supporting the rollout of tens of thousands of local chargepoints, which are especially important for drivers without off-street parking. The Government also offers grants to support the installation of private chargepoints in certain residential and commercial properties and provides advice and guidance to support the planning and delivery of charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce deaths and injuries on roads.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has announced that it intends to publish a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. Work is already underway on this.