Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that airlines which have significant market power in the low-cost carrier sector do not misuse their prominent market position.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The UK has a competitive aviation market, which operates predominantly in the private sector. Airports invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines are well placed to deliver services to their customers by responding to demand for routes. Whilst we recognise the importance of maintaining a thriving and competitive aviation sector in the UK to deliver connectivity, levelling up and the supporting the Union, it is for airlines to determine the routes they operate based on their own assessment on whether routes are commercially viable.
Under competition law, responsibility for investigating individual competition issues falls to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition authority. As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to investigate competition cases which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate. The CMA also has powers to conduct detailed examinations of why particular markets may not be working well, and decide what remedial action is appropriate. Concerns about market competition can be submitted to the CMA.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of competition amongst airlines in the low-cost carrier sector.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The UK has a competitive aviation market, which operates predominantly in the private sector. Airports invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines are well placed to deliver services to their customers by responding to demand for routes. Whilst we recognise the importance of maintaining a thriving and competitive aviation sector in the UK to deliver connectivity, levelling up and the supporting the Union, it is for airlines to determine the routes they operate based on their own assessment on whether routes are commercially viable.
Under competition law, responsibility for investigating individual competition issues falls to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition authority. As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to investigate competition cases which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate. The CMA also has powers to conduct detailed examinations of why particular markets may not be working well, and decide what remedial action is appropriate. Concerns about market competition can be submitted to the CMA.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of how best Highways England could implement Dr Geraint Coles’ proposals to reinstate the Chesterfield Canal route under the M1.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
I would encourage the Honourable Member to get in touch with National Highways who would be happy to discuss this matter.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce a sub-mandate on power-to-liquid fuels to help decarbonise aviation.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will have a key role in driving down carbon emissions in the UK aviation sector and the Government is fully committed to accelerating its development. The Government recognises the long-term potential of power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels specifically, due to the feedstock availability and high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions they can achieve. However, PtL fuel costs are significantly higher than the cost of SAF produced through any other pathway and the production of these fuels is not expected to be widespread until the late 2030s.
Last year we consulted on proposals to introduce a SAF mandate in the UK, including mechanisms to accelerate the technological and commercial development of PtL fuels specifically.. We are currently reviewing evidence provided in response to the consultation and wider resources to determine which mechanism may be most effective in reducing the cost of and stimulating investment in PtL production. We will provide further clarity in the upcoming government response to the SAF mandate consultation.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review National Highways' decision not to replace the section of the Chesterfield Canal which runs under the M1.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
National Highways continues to work closely with the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust to improve biodiversity and aquatic life in the canal and would welcome a visit from the MP to discuss this work.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to local authorities on delivering the UK electric vehicle infrastructure strategy.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Our UK electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy sets out our vision and commitments to make EV charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station. It also defines the role and responsibilities of local authorities in the delivery of charging infrastructure, and provides a vision for national rollout. Of the £2.5 billion of Government funding committed to the EV transition since 2020, over £1.6 billion will be used to support charging infrastructure.
To ensure that the transition to electric vehicles takes place in every part of the country, we are pledging at least £500m to support local chargepoint provision. As part of this, the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund will provide approximately £400m of capital and £50m of resource funding to support English local authorities to work with industry and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. We have launched a £10m pilot as a springboard for the development of the full fund.
We have launched a local government knowledge hub on gov.uk to make information and guidance on local EV chargepoint planning and delivery easy to access. The LA Hub carries an extensive list of guidance from government and external bodies related to EV infrastructure rollout. The website also acts as a central portal to highlight new and upcoming policies and support from central government. We will also continue to fund Energy Saving Trust to run the Local Government Support Programme providing free, impartial advice to local authorities in England to help them develop local policies and strategies to support EV uptake.
More widely, as committed in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we have now published a range of decarbonisation ‘toolkits’, to support local authorities with their plans and policies to reduce carbon emissions from transport. This includes guidance on car clubs and fleet electrification.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on establishing a headquarters for Great British Railways.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The shortlist of towns and cities for the Great British Railways headquarters will be announced shortly – after which a public vote will be held to help determine the winner.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make a decision on the potential extension of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to cover hydrogen produced from nuclear energy.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Further to a public consultation earlier this year, we have introduced legislation which would expand support under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) to renewable hydrogen used in fuel cell rail and non-road transports, and in maritime vessels. To further stimulate investment in renewable hydrogen production, we also proposed in the consultation to reward renewable hydrogen more flexibly under the RTFO. A Government Response on proposals to improve flexibility will be published very soon.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take steps to reform the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to stimulate investment in hydrogen production.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Further to a public consultation earlier this year, we have introduced legislation which would expand support under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) to renewable hydrogen used in fuel cell rail and non-road transports, and in maritime vessels. To further stimulate investment in renewable hydrogen production, we also proposed in the consultation to reward renewable hydrogen more flexibly under the RTFO. A Government Response on proposals to improve flexibility will be published very soon.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to offer incentives to support (a) people and (b) organisations to purchase hydrogen vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government offers grants to offset the higher upfront cost of zero emission cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes and taxis and is also supporting the development of hydrogen vehicles, particularly larger vehicles like HGVs and buses.
We will be expanding our Zero Emission Road Freight Trials programme to trial three zero emission HGV technologies at scale on UK roads, including hydrogen fuel cells. Furthermore, local areas will be able to apply for funding for both battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses depending on which technology is best suited to their local areas. Funding schemes include the £120m Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas Scheme – open to bids from local authorities – while at SR21 £355m of new funding was made available for zero emission buses.