Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure adequate availability at petrol stations of E5 ethanol fuel once E10 becomes the standard grade of fuel sold.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On the 4 March the Government published the consultation paper
“Introducing E10 petrol”. As set out in that consultation we are proposing that, should E10 be mandated as the standard grade of petrol in the UK, we will also introduce legislation that would keep E5 petrol available.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Scotland about when the Caledonian Sleeper train carriages were originally expected to be in service; and when they are now expected to be so.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Under the devolved arrangements relating to the railways in Scotland, the Caledonian Sleeper service is solely the responsibility of the Scottish Government and operates under a franchise procured by Scottish Ministers. It has therefore not been the subject of substantive discussions between the Scottish and UK Governments in recent years.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by the Prime Minister on 5 September (HC Deb, col 157), whether they will contribute (1) funding, and (2) any other support towards extending the Borders rail route to Carlisle.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government is committed to working with the Scottish Government to drive forward the innovative, cross-border Borderlands Deal. We will be working with local partners to agree a deal which will see significant investment to transform the local economies within the Borderlands area.
We can confirm that the Borderlands have sought funding for feasibility work on the extension of the Borders Railway as part of their Borderlands Growth Deal submission to both governments on Friday 28 September.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they propose to apply the European directive on testing motorcycles in 2018, given that the directive is deferred to 2022; and whether they will reconsider that decision to allow more time to consult further with motorcycle producers, users, and clubs.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
In Great Britain, for road safety reasons, motorcycles are already included in the vehicle testing regime, despite this not being required by European rules until 2022. EU Directive 2014/45/EU on periodic technical inspections of vehicles makes a number of changes to roadworthiness testing requirements, which must be implemented by 20 May 2018. It updates some of the technical test standards, broadly reflecting developments in vehicle and testing technology and the regulatory environment, such as improved emissions standards. It is important that our roadworthiness testing requirements keep pace with improving vehicle standards.
Alongside the changes required by the Directive by 20 May 2018, the Government has decided to apply the relevant technical changes to motorcycle testing because there are road safety and environmental benefits of doing so. There was a public consultation in 2016 about the changes.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, prior to the introduction of the exemption from MOT tests for vehicles aged 40 years and over, they plan to issue guidance to motor retailers to avoid valuable historic vehicles in good condition which are registered with the DVLA being scrapped under scrappage discount schemes.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government has no plans to provide specific guidance on scrappage of vehicles of historical interest. Legislation will introduce a 40 year rolling exemption from MOT testing for these vehicles, providing they have not been substantially altered.
Officials are working, including with advice from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, to finalise draft guidance on how to identify whether a vehicle has been substantially altered and this will be published before the legislation comes into force in May 2018. We have not so far seen significant evidence of scrappage discount schemes encouraging the scrappage of valuable older vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to deferring the introduction of new regulations concerning the MOT testing of older vehicles until they have fully consulted all interested parties on the detail of their proposal.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government ran a consultation from 22 September 2016 to 2 November 2016 on its proposal to amend the exemption given to vehicles manufactured before 1960 and received over 2,217 responses. After careful consideration of the responses received, the Government amended the exemption to vehicles manufactured over 40 years of age on a rolling basis, subject to the vehicle not being “substantially changed”. The Government published a modified definition of “substantial change” at the same time as it’s response to the consultation. The Government continues to undertake discussions with stakeholders and the publication of revised guidance on substantial change is planned for later this year, before the regulations come into force on 20 May 2018.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Scottish Government about re-opening the rest of the Waverley route from Edinburgh to Carlisle following the partial opening to Tweedbank.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In line with the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence, the promotion and construction of railways that start, end and remain in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government. We look to the relevant local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the Transport for the North partnership, in developing a comprehensive transport strategy for the North of England, to decide whether to engage with the Scottish Government and other stakeholders on the commissioning of such assessments.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the decision by the government of Sweden to abolish testing for all road vehicles over 50 years old, what consideration they have given to applying a similar rule in the UK.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A consultation has been completed about exempting more vehicles of historic interest from testing, given an increased flexibility offered by changes in EU-wide standards, to which Sweden is also responding. The UK already exempts pre-1960 vehicles from testing and consideration is being given to changing that threshold, with a lead consultation option of exempting most vehicles more than 40 years old.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government whether, before creating any new category of road vehicles of historic interest, they will engage in consultation with representatives of the estimated 250,000 users of such vehicles; and how many such vehicles they estimate to exist.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Transport ran a public consultation about possible changes related to the testing of vehicles of historic interest, with a preferred option to move from the current position of an exemption for pre-1960 vehicles to a rolling 40 year exemption for vehicles which have not been substantially modified. There were more than 2,200 responses, including many from users and owners of historic vehicles. These responses are currently being considered and we hope to announce a response to this consultation later this year.
An initial impact assessment was prepared which assessed that there were about 192,000 pre-1960 registered vehicles which are currently exempt from the MOT requirement. The preferred option identified in the consultation exempted an estimated further 278,000 vehicles. A final validated impact assessment will be published along with the consultation response summary.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on consumers of the cost of domestic flights on routes on which airlines have a monopoly or near monopoly; and whether they intend to investigate commercial practices whereby administrative charges are imposed on consumers who wish to change their flight details after having purchased fully flexible tickets.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is not able to get involved in regulating the level of fares set by airlines operating in the UK, or abroad. Since the inception of the Single European Aviation market, any EU airline may establish the fare structure it wishes.
The Government has made no assessment on the impact of the costs of domestic flights, but has focused on ensuring connectivity to the regions.
However, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has started work on unfair contract terms with the airlines, in accordance with the CAA’s Strategic Plan 2016-2021. The work will include a review of the airlines’ terms and conditions with the aim of ensuring the rights and obligations of the consumers and businesses are fair and balanced and consumers are not being penalised by unfair contract terms.