Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her department holds on the number of road traffic collisions involving both electric vehicles and pedestrians.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The number of road traffic collisions involving both battery electric vehicles and pedestrians in Great Britain, for the last 5 years is shown in the table below:
Year | Collisions |
2020 | 59 |
2021 | 139 |
2022 | 292 |
2023 | 448 |
2024 | 591 |
Data and statistics on personal injury road collisions and casualties in Great Britain are based on data reported to the Department by police forces via the STATS19 data collection system. Data on vehicle propulsion are sourced from DVLA vehicle registration figures.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress she has made on taking steps to reduce the drink drive limit; and when she plans to publish (a) a draft of and (b) a consultation on the road safety strategy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.
We are considering a range of policies under the new Road Safety Strategy; the first for ten years. This includes the case for changing the motoring offences, such as drink driving.
We are considering concerns raised by campaigners and bereaved families.
We will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the use of alcohol-interlocks on vehicles of people convicted of drink driving.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In 2021, the Government commissioned PACTS (Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety) to publish a report on alcohol interlocks.
www.pacts,org.uk/locking-out-the-drink-driver-using-alcohol-interlocks-to-reduce-drink-driving-in-the-uk/
Government keeps motoring offences under review, including those for drink driving.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish a new road safety strategy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Improving road safety is one of my key priorities. Too many people are killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. That is why we are developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course. At the Transport Select Committee in April 2025, the Secretary of State set out that we hope to publish the Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many alcohol industry representatives Ministers in his Department have met since July 2024.
Answered by Mike Kane
Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report entitled The cycling opportunity, published by Sustrans on 11 September 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department welcomes the findings of this research and will consider its recommendations carefully as we develop our future plans for active travel.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an estimate of the average economic benefit of buying a bicycle to (a) an individual and (b) society.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not made an estimate of the economic value of buying a bicycle. A report by Transport for Quality of Life, titled ‘The UK cycle industry: current economic and employment benefits and its decarbonisation-driven growth potential’ published in 2023, suggests an annual economic benefit of £1,800 per cyclist.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of building a railway station in Galgate.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Local Transport Fund granted £494 million to Lancashire to take forward local transport projects. The Government believes that local authorities are best placed to promote and take forward transport schemes that will most benefit their local areas. I would therefore encourage local stakeholders to work together to develop proposals and a business case for schemes such as a railway station in Galgate.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the economic impact of electrifying the railway line between Lancaster and Morecambe.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Electrification, alongside alternative technologies such as hydrogen, battery and bi-modes, will play an important role in meeting our Net Zero targets. We are working with the Great British Rail Transition Team to bring forward options to decarbonise the whole network including Lancaster to Morecambe for government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of the HS2 budget will be allocated to transport upgrades in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The PM has set out that all of the savings from Phase 2 of HS2 will be spent in the North. This includes investing £3.3bn to tackle potholes and extending the bus fare cap until the end of 2024 in England which will help improve transport for users in the region. The new Local Integrated Transport Settlements and future rounds of the Major Road Network programme will provide further opportunities for investment over the coming decade. We continue to invest in the region through our existing programmes, such as the improvements to the A585 between Windy Harbour to Skippool which is due to open in March 2024.