Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of toll charges at the Tamar crossings on the (a) profitability and )b) sustainability of local businesses in South East Cornwall constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Transport Charges &c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1954 sets out that when considering applications for changes to tolls, the Minister must “have regard to the financial position and future prospects of the undertaking and shall not make any revision of charges which in his opinion would be likely to result in the undertaking receiving an annual revenue either substantially less or substantially more than adequate to meet such expenditure on the working, management and maintenance of the undertaking and such other costs, charges and expenses of the undertaking as are properly chargeable to revenue, including reasonable contributions to any reserve, contingency or other fund.”
In respect of the current application for changes to the tolls at the Tamar crossings, local businesses will have been able to make their views known during the consultation process and during the public inquiry.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help tackle delays caused by (a) tolls and (b) traffic to emergency service vehicles on the Tamar (i) bridge and (ii) ferries.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government acknowledges that the Tamar Crossings are an important local issue. Toll management is a matter for local determination through the Tamar Joint Committee and we recognise the benefits of the recently formed Tamar 2050 Programme Stakeholder Panel which will help oversee key decisions.
It is, of course, essential that emergency vehicles are able to travel swiftly to deal with urgent incidents. The Joint Committee maintains a very close working relationship with the emergency services. Although it is not possible to offer a dedicated emergency route on the bridge, this close level of engagement helps to ensure that emergency vehicles can cross as quickly as possible.
Ferry crews are given clear guidance when managing access for emergency vehicles and their subsequent departure.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to improve the (a) infrastructure for and (b) accessibility of electric vehicle for users in South East Cornwall.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle. As of March 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 75,305 publicly available charging devices, up 32% on this time last year.
Cornwall Council have been allocated over £6m capital and resource funding through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI) Fund to increase local public chargepoints across the area. The LEVI Fund will support the installation of at least 100,000 local chargepoints across England.
We are aware that disabled EV drivers face specific barriers when using public chargepoints. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles co-sponsored the accessability standard, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) 1899, along with national disability charity Motability. The Government has been actively encouraging relevant parties to adopt its specifications, building on improvements already being made in the sector. The Government is supporting the 24-month review of the PAS, which is being led by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and concludes early in 2025.