Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what their target is for the number of electric car charging points to be installed; and by when.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have targets for en-route charging on the Strategic Road Network, to ensure there are enough chargepoints to enable long distance journeys:
We have not set targets for the total number of public chargepoints and we expect local authorities to work with the private sector to meet the charging needs of residents, businesses and visitors. Electric vehicle drivers will require rapid chargepoints to enable long distance journeys, but for many drivers, home charging on driveways and garages is expected to be the most convenient option for shorter journeys. Further, the Government has announced it will require new homes and homes undergoing major renovation with associated parking to have a chargepoint installed.
The Government’s forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK. The strategy will focus on how we will unlock the chargepoint rollout needed to enable the transition from early adoption to mass market uptake of EVs. We will set out our next steps to address barriers to private investment, level up charge point provision, and regulate to protect consumers. The strategy will clearly establish the Government’s expectations for the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in the planning and deployment of charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether electric scooters are legally required to have lights.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government held a consultation in 2018 to consider cycling offences causing serious injury or death as well as reviewing existing cycling offences.
The Government believes that there should be a separate framework of cycling offences, as compared with motoring offences, because it may not be proportionate to apply offences and their corresponding penalties intended for drivers of motor vehicles, to cyclists. The response to the consultation will be published before the end of this year but early next year at the latest.
On e-scooters, privately-owned e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements, and they can only be ridden on private land with the permission of the landowner. The law is very clear and there are existing penalties for improper use.
Although it is not a specific offence to cycle and use headphones, cyclists could be prosecuted by the police for careless or dangerous cycling. Cyclists and users of trial e-scooters have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and need to concentrate like all other road users and should not do anything that would affect their concentration and put themselves and other road users in danger.
For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, there are laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution.
In the UK, e-scooters are treated like any other motor vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The Government is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. We require trial e-scooters to meet minimum standards on the e-scooter design, including what lighting is required through administrative vehicle orders issued by the Secretary of State under s.44 and s.63 of the Road Traffic Act. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward legislation to make the use of headphones while (1) cycling, or (2) operating electric scooters, an offence.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government held a consultation in 2018 to consider cycling offences causing serious injury or death as well as reviewing existing cycling offences.
The Government believes that there should be a separate framework of cycling offences, as compared with motoring offences, because it may not be proportionate to apply offences and their corresponding penalties intended for drivers of motor vehicles, to cyclists. The response to the consultation will be published before the end of this year but early next year at the latest.
On e-scooters, privately-owned e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements, and they can only be ridden on private land with the permission of the landowner. The law is very clear and there are existing penalties for improper use.
Although it is not a specific offence to cycle and use headphones, cyclists could be prosecuted by the police for careless or dangerous cycling. Cyclists and users of trial e-scooters have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and need to concentrate like all other road users and should not do anything that would affect their concentration and put themselves and other road users in danger.
For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, there are laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution.
In the UK, e-scooters are treated like any other motor vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The Government is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. We require trial e-scooters to meet minimum standards on the e-scooter design, including what lighting is required through administrative vehicle orders issued by the Secretary of State under s.44 and s.63 of the Road Traffic Act. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward legislation for cycling offences; and whether these will include offences related to the use of electric scooters.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government held a consultation in 2018 to consider cycling offences causing serious injury or death as well as reviewing existing cycling offences.
The Government believes that there should be a separate framework of cycling offences, as compared with motoring offences, because it may not be proportionate to apply offences and their corresponding penalties intended for drivers of motor vehicles, to cyclists. The response to the consultation will be published before the end of this year but early next year at the latest.
On e-scooters, privately-owned e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements, and they can only be ridden on private land with the permission of the landowner. The law is very clear and there are existing penalties for improper use.
Although it is not a specific offence to cycle and use headphones, cyclists could be prosecuted by the police for careless or dangerous cycling. Cyclists and users of trial e-scooters have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and need to concentrate like all other road users and should not do anything that would affect their concentration and put themselves and other road users in danger.
For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, there are laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution.
In the UK, e-scooters are treated like any other motor vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The Government is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. We require trial e-scooters to meet minimum standards on the e-scooter design, including what lighting is required through administrative vehicle orders issued by the Secretary of State under s.44 and s.63 of the Road Traffic Act. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the market costs for COVID-19 PCR tests for the general public; and what steps are they taking to lower these costs.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are committed to working with the travel industry and private providers to reduce these costs and since requirements were introduced for international travel testing, the costs have fallen significantly. We have reduced the cost of NHS Test and Trace tests for international arrivals from £88 to £68 for ‘green list’ arrivals or fully vaccinated ‘amber list’ arrivals and from £170 to £136 for two tests for ‘amber list’ arrivals who are not fully vaccinated. By the end of October, fully vaccinated passengers travelling from non-‘red list’ countries will be able to replace their day two test with a cheaper lateral flow test, reducing the cost of tests on arrival into England.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the base cost for a COVID-19 PCR test.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have, if any, that businesses have been overcharging for COVID-19 PCR tests.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department has received no such evidence.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they collect data on the percentage of cycling accidents that take place after dark where the cyclist does not have lights on their bicycles; and if so, how many such accidents took place in England's cities in the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Statistics on reported personal injury road accidents are compiled from data reported by the police in the STATS19 collection system.
STATS19 does not record whether a cyclist involved in an accident has lights on their bicycle, but does include contributory factors assigned by police officers which give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident, without assigning blame.
In urban areas of England in 2019, the contributory factor ‘Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility’ was assigned to a pedal cyclist in 134 personal injury road accidents. This represents 2% of such accidents where a police officer attended the scene and at least one contributory factor was reported.
Road safety statistics are reported on a calendar year basis. The latest annual published statistics are for 2019. Data on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2020 will be published in September 2021.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been (1) injured, and (2) killed, in cycling accidents that have taken place (a) in a city, and (b) after dark, in the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Statistics on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain are compiled from data reported by the police in the STATS19 collection system.
In 2019, 14,616 people were injured and 46 people were killed in reported road accidents in Great Britain which involved at least one pedal cycle and occurred in an urban area.
In 2019, 3,786 people were injured and 29 people were killed in reported road accidents in Great Britain which involved at least one pedal cycle and occurred in darkness. Darkness means half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise.
Road safety statistics are reported on a calendar year basis. The latest annual published statistics are for 2019. Data on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2020 will be published in September 2021.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have issued to police forces in England about the prosecution of cyclists not using lights on their bicycles after dark.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has not issued any such advice. The enforcement of cycling offences is entirely an operational matter for individual chief officers of police.