Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the number of publicly available roadside electric vehicle chargers that will be required for the phase-out of the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Huntingdon has 81 publicly available chargepoints as of 1 July 2024. The number of future public chargers required in a local area is dependent on a number of factors, such as electric vehicle (EV) uptake, levels of off-street parking and types of charging option. Local authorities play a key role in ensuring an area has a clear EV charging strategy.
The Government is supporting local authorities through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund. Through the fund, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which includes Huntingdon, has been allocated £5,437,000 capital funding to transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were also allocated almost £542,000 in capability funding to secure dedicated in-house expertise to plan and procure the delivery of local chargepoints across their area.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring franchising plans to guarantee the consideration during the planning phase of bus services to villages that do not receive any.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is determined to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions. It has set out a plan to achieve this, based on giving local leaders the tools they need to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities they serve, including those in rural or isolated areas.
As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, ensuring networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will increase powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many settlements in Huntingdon constituency do not have a daily bus service.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
At present, the majority of bus services in England outside London are provided on a commercial basis by private operators. The government does not hold information on individual bus routes. The government is determined to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions. It has set out a plan to achieve this, based on giving local leaders the tools they need to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities they serve.
As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will introduce a Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England. We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on these ambitions.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of building a new railway station at Alconbury Weald in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is aware of long-standing local aspirations for an East Coast Main Line station at Alconbury Weald that would align with the new housing being developed in the area. The Secretary of State announced that she has commissioned an internal review of the Department's capital portfolio. This will support the development of a long-term strategy for transport, that delivers a modern and integrated network with people at its heart. It will consider a fundamental reset to how we approach capital projects, to ensure that transport infrastructure can be delivered efficiently and on time, supporting our strategic objectives. I encourage any project proposal to consider how the scheme links to wider government commitments concerning economic growth, but regret that I am not yet able to comment on individual schemes or proposals at this time.