Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason her Department has chosen to decline to support more open access services along the Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley via Newcastle route.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As detailed in the 4 February response to the Office of Rail and Road, the Department did not support Lumo’s applications to operate additional Open Access services between London Kings Cross and Newcastle, and to extend existing Newcastle/Edinburgh services on to Glasgow, due to concern over the capacity of the East Coast Main Line and the consequential detrimental effects on reliability; and also the impact of the revenue reduction to existing services on the route, which would diminish revenue and thus increase subsidy from taxpayers to the railway as a whole. Access to the network, however, is currently a matter for the Office of Rail and Road in its capacity as independent regulator, and it will now consider the Department’s response alongside those from other consultees, and its statutory duties before making, a decision.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help increase the availability of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have committed £200m funding in the Autumn budget to support charging infrastructure rollout. This is on top of over £6 billion in private investment committed out to 2030, and bolsters existing grants and funding to support chargepoint installation. There are now over 74,000 public chargepoints in the UK, with almost 20,000 new chargepoints added and a 45% increase in rural chargepoints in 2024. On 24 December, we announced a range of measures to remove barriers to chargepoint rollout, including to improve grid connections for chargepoints.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the (a) Secretary of State for Levelling Up and Communities and (b) devolved Administrations on the potential impact of (i) tram and (ii) light rail projects on active travel infrastructure.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Transport has regular discussions with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, as well as with the devolved administrations. However, no specific discussions have taken place with these bodies regarding the impact of light rail projects on active travel infrastructure.
Local transport authorities are responsible for bringing forward mass transit projects, including developing proposals regarding technology choice, route selection and alignment. The Department encourages authorities to consider how mass transit schemes can provide effective integration with other modes, including active travel.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support scientific innovation in sustainable transport research.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Net Zero Innovation Board oversees the Government’s portfolio of research supporting the transition to net zero and is chaired by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser. The Department for Transport is investing £377m over the current Spending Review period into research & development on decarbonisation.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the level of VAT applied to electric vehicle charging on his electric vehicle policies.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has committed to keeping the transition to electric vehicles affordable for consumers across the UK. Taxation policy and its impacts are taken into consideration when developing policies that will support and accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles. Taxation is a matter for HM Treasury and the Chancellor keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The records available to the Department for Transport via the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), as declared by suppliers on their permanent recruitment frameworks, for each of the last three years are as follows:
2020/21 | £100,044.62 |
2021/22 | £45,532.00 |
2022/23 | £189,376.90 (to date) |
Note: Recruitment consultancies are used by the department to attract the talent and specialist skills required to deliver its strategic objectives and services. It is possible, but unlikely, that some spend has occurred that has not been declared by suppliers, although the Department’s internal finance system does not record data in such a way that allows this to be cross-checked. These totals are inclusive of recruitment to the Department for Transport and its Executive Agencies (DVSA, DVLA, MCA, VCA and ATE) and for both senior civil service (SCS) and delegated grade recruitment. The figure for 20/21 was higher than expected due to a higher volume of recruitment targeted at individuals with specialist/hard to recruit skills. The increase in 22/23 over the previous year results from a renewed focus on the department’s places for growth agenda and a growing focus on recruiting outside London.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on head-hunters in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Due to the financial reporting system in the department it is not possible to separate out spend associated with external recruitment consultancy services from all other consultancy spend for the majority of departmental recruitment.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in his Department in each year since 1 January 2016.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.
This applies only where a Minister is under 65 and is not appointed to a ministerial office within three weeks of leaving government.
Individuals may waive the payment to which they are entitled. That is a matter for their personal discretion, but this approach has been taken in the past.
Details of such payments are published in departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1027301/Salaries_of_Members_of_Her_Majestys_Government_-_Financial_Year_2021-22_-_Publication.pdf.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress he has made on reaching a reciprocal arrangement for the recognition of driving licences with Italy.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has successfully agreed arrangements with Italy for the mutual recognition of photocard licences. As such, visitors with UK photocard licences will not need to carry an additional International Driving Permit when driving in Italy.
We have also secured interim arrangements with the Italian authorities which will allow UK licence holders resident in Italy to continue to use their valid UK licence until the end of this year. We are working with the Italian Government to finalise a permanent licence exchange agreement as soon as possible.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the end of freedom of movement on the haulage industry; and what steps the Government is taking to tackle HGV driver shortages.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU delivers a good outcome for UK-based international hauliers. The vast majority of journeys to and from the EU will be able to continue without the need for any additional permits, and UK hauliers also retain rights to do work within and between EU Member States, again with no extra bureaucracy.
UK hauliers will, of course, have to ensure that they comply with the immigration rules applied by EU Member States. The rules for British Citizens taking up work or providing a service in the EU will depend on the rules in individual EU Member States, as some Member States may require a visa and/or work permit from British Citizens intending to work or to provide a service there.
The Department for Transport is working across Government and with the road haulage industry to address the current HGV driver shortage, which is an issue affecting many countries worldwide. For example, the International Road Transport Union predicts a gap of 185,000 drivers by 2027 in Germany.
The Government has already taken firm action, including through training for jobseekers, additional funding for apprenticeships, and taking measures to increase lorry driver testing capacity to bring new drivers into the industry as soon as possible.