Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to include disabled people in policy making in (1) the Department for Transport, and (2) Active Travel England.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is committed to delivering a transport network which puts passengers and their needs at its heart. A key facet to this is seeing disabled passengers able to make the journeys they want and need – doing this easily, confidently, with dignity and without extra cost.
The Department has created the People and Equalities Centre of Excellence to further drive the Department’s focus on delivering for every passenger, including those with protected characteristics, and utilises the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, as its statutory adviser on transport accessibility, to support and review transport policies.
We are committed to discharging our responsibility to give due regard to protected characteristics, set out in the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act more widely, when developing and delivering transport policy.
We regularly engage with disabled people’s organisation and other representatives covering visible and less visible disabilities. For example, in the development of the Department's Integrated Transport Strategy, the team have run ‘people’s panels’ for disabled people and neurodivergent people to allow their views to be heard, reviewed and included, as we prepare this key strategy. Similarly, in producing an Accessibility Roadmap for Rail (due to be published later this year), we have built on recent years research and engagement to ensure that it is focused on the right actions, and are engaging with accessibility organisations on the draft itself.
Active Travel England (ATE) does not set policy. ATE routinely works with Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and disabled representative organisations to improve its output.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support local authorities (1) to reduce clutter on, and (2) to improve maintenance of, footways.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government allocates capital funding to local highways authorities to enable them to maintain and improve their road networks. This includes footways and the provision of street furniture such as benches, bins and cycle racks. In 2025/26, the Department has made a record investment of £1.6 billion which is a £500 million increase compared to 2024/25, and £24 billion of capital funding was committed at the Spending Review to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country between 2026/27 and 2029/30.
The Department also provides guidance to local authorities and encourages best practice. The “Inclusive Mobility” guidance document provides advice on designing an accessible public realm and includes recommendations on placing street furniture in a way that does not create obstructions for disabled people.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many freight trains they expect to use East West Rail per day.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The current scope of EWR enables up to two new freight train paths per day per direction from Felixstowe, routed via Cambridge, through to Oxford and beyond, and around two new freight train paths per day from Southampton, routed via Oxford, Bletchley and onto the West Coast Main Line. Other enhancements on the network would be required for freight to exceed these levels.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the passenger and freight trains on East West Rail will be powered.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
At the recent non-statutory consultation, EWR Co confirmed their preference for discontinuous electrification to power passenger services once the full route is open from the mid-2030s. The rolling stock used for freight services will be a matter for freight operators to decide.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many passengers they expect to travel between Oxford and Cambridge each day on East West Rail.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
EWR Co are continuing to model forecast passenger numbers and are working with the Government to understand overall trends.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the yearly targets for manufacturers of electric vehicles will be in line with the Climate Change Committee's balanced net zero pathway.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
We are continuing to analyse responses to the technical consultation on zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate policy design, and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course. We remain committed to targets entering into force from January 2024.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to impose sanctions on local authorities that have not used grants under the Emergency Active Travel Fund to introduce relevant measures to encourage or facilitate active travel; and what sanctions these will be.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department for Transport has consistently made clear to local authorities that it reserves the right to claw back funding for active travel schemes where it is not satisfied that it has been appropriately spent. In determining future funding allocations, it will take into account local authorities’ track record in delivering active travel schemes.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the funding awarded from the Emergency Active Travel Fund to Oxfordshire County Council to support the Jericho Low Traffic Neighbourhood has been used for the purpose for which it was awarded.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department has asked all local authorities, including Oxfordshire County Council, to monitor and evaluate the impacts of their active travel schemes, and will take this into account in determining future funding allocations. The detailed design of local schemes is however, a matter for local authorities.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 28 October (HL39), what estimate they have made of the total area, in hectares, of trackside vegetation cleared by Network Rail during the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Network Rail (NR) is one of Britain’s largest landowners, responsible for 20,000 km of track and 52,000 hectares of land in its estate. Since 2016, NR has recorded operational vegetation management across 9,749 hectares. Total figures in hectares are not available for before 2016 as some vegetation management was then recorded in track miles. Vegetation management on NR’s estate includes the removal of some trees where necessary, but also periodic trimming of trees or hedges.
As a responsible landowner, NR must effectively manage the natural environment on its estate. It is currently developing a biodiversity strategy that will ensure the protection and enhancement of biodiversity while still ensuring the safety and performance of the railway.
Asked by: Lord Krebs (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 28 October (HL39), what assessment they have made of the impact of clearance of trackside vegetation by Network Rail on the UK’s carbon budget.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government expects Network Rail to achieve no net loss in biodiversity by 2024, and net gain by 2040 as the primary environmental objective of its lineside vegetation management. Network Rail does not currently calculate the carbon impact of vegetation clearance. As a responsible landowner Network Rail must effectively manage the national environment on its estate, whilst ensuring the safety and performance of the railway,
The Government believes that the railway should make a significant contribution to achieving our objective of net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 2050.