Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking with the rail industry to ensure it can access a greater share of competitive research and development funding through UKRI and Horizon Europe.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) play a critical role in helping the rail industry reduce its emissions and costs, optimise operations, improve resilience and safety and enhance passenger experience. The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with Horizon Europe, through the European Rail Joint Undertaking (ERJU), to collaborate. DfT officials represent the UK on the ERJU States Representative Group (SRG) to promote the UK rail sector and, working alongside Network Rail, access available funding for projects that are aligned to UK Government priorities. The Department of Transport also supports UK rail industry RD&I though funding the Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), First of a Kind (FOAK) programme, amongst other RD&I programmes. The FOAK programme aims to accelerate and increase the adoption of innovation within rail and received approximately £7.7m between FY2022-23 and FY2024-25.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role the Global Centre of Rail Excellence will have in supporting offline testing of new trains.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in developing its proposal for world-class research, testing and certification site in South Wales. Department for Transport officials contribute through the cross-government GCRE steering group, which also includes representatives from the Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government, to discuss options for Government support for the proposal and to ensure alignment with Government Industrial Strategy and other priorities.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the Welsh Government to ensure that the opportunity of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence is maximised as part of its Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in developing its proposal for world-class research, testing and certification site in South Wales. Department for Transport officials contribute through the cross-government GCRE steering group, which also includes representatives from the Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government, to discuss options for Government support for the proposal and to ensure alignment with Government Industrial Strategy and other priorities.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to help the Welsh Government ensure the Global Centre of Rail Excellence facility in South Wales is being supported to project completion.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in developing its proposal for world-class research, testing and certification site in South Wales. Department for Transport officials contribute through the cross-government GCRE steering group, which also includes representatives from the Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government, to discuss options for Government support for the proposal and to ensure alignment with Government Industrial Strategy and other priorities.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to use rail industry procurement to support the Global Centre of Rail Excellence opportunity.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department of Transport continues to engage closely with the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in developing its proposal for world-class research, testing and certification site in South Wales. Department for Transport officials contribute through the cross-government GCRE steering group, which also includes representatives from the Department for Business and Trade and Welsh Government, to discuss options for Government support for the proposal and to ensure alignment with Government Industrial Strategy and other priorities.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of varying fuel prices at nation-wide service station providers; and what steps she is taking to ensure equity for customers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The local pricing of fuel at forecourts is a commercial matter for retailers. The Competition and Markets Authority has powers to monitor competition in the road fuel retail market. The government has committed to introduce legislation to implement Fuel Finder which will increase price transparency and enable drivers to compare prices. Additionally, recognising that pump prices are significantly higher in some rural locations, the Rural Fuel Duty Relief scheme supports motorists by providing a 5 pence per litre reduction to the standard rate of fuel duty in designated areas.
Policies introduced by the Department for Transport impacting road fuel prices tend to apply UK wide, for example the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The RTFO does not give rise to price pressures which would necessitate regional or geographical variations in pricing at forecourts.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current level of spending on heavy rail infrastructure in Wales is.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail’s planned investment in the Wales rail network in the current financial year is £259m. Investment in the Core Valley Lines is the responsibility of Transport for Wales.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding her Department plans to provide for rail infrastructure in Wales in each of the next three financial years; and whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the rate of electrification of railways in Wales.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Investment in rail infrastructure in Wales in future years will be considered as part of the current Spending Review, which is expected to conclude in spring 2025. In considering this we will have regard to the investment priorities identified by the Wales Rail Board.