Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Highways England's roadside litter clearing duties.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government sets National Highways performance targets on litter as part of its Road Investment Strategies. These are based on the percentage of the Strategic Road Network where litter conditions are graded at B or above under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Litter Code of Practice. Progress towards the targets is monitored by the Office for Road and Rail, including through annual reports to Parliament. In 2023-24 National Highways' performance improved when compared to the previous year, and 59.2% of its network met the target. The ORR is continuing to challenge NH on the actions it is taking to address litter on the Strategic Road Network. Further details on litter management by National Highways can be found here: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/environment/communities/litter-on-motorways-and-major-a-roads/.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the levels of noise pollution on roads (a) in Oxfordshire and (b) nationally.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is responsible for creating noise maps as part of implementing the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006. The Department for Transport has not therefore made its own estimates.
DEFRA’s latest round of noise mapping, published in October 2024, was undertaken using a new geospatial noise model to calculate noise exposure levels with a higher level of accuracy and coverage than ever before. The latest maps of road noise take into account all public roads in England and the details on road noise can be found online at https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/6c7a54b5-bb79-4c90-923a-d3a33d0a3d9a/environmental-noise-directive-end-noise-mapping-agglomerations-england-round-2
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance Active Travel England have issued on the use of compulsory purchase order powers for active travel routes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To date Active Travel England has not issued any guidance on the use of compulsory purchase order powers. A range of approaches to establishing rural active travel routes will be set out in guidance due to be published later this year, including case studies on the use of compulsory purchase orders.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the document entitled Guidance to support local authorities in the design and delivery of active travel routes will be published; and whether this guidance will include the use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers for active travel routes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
ATE is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas and expects to publish this later this year. Officers in ATE are currently seeking the input of stakeholders on the document, and the current draft includes case studies on the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders for active travel routes.
Compulsory purchase orders has a high bar with a requirement for public authorities to demonstrate a compelling case in the public interest. An alternative approach to creating new active travel routes is public path creation under the Highways Act 1980, rather than outright purchase of the land through a CPO.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2024 to Questions 51723 and 51724 on Active Travel: Construction, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of using compulsory purchase orders to progress active travel routes; and if he will collate data on how many local authorities have used compulsory purchase orders for this purpose.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department currently has no plans to make an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes or produce a centralised record of their use by local authorities.
Compulsory purchase for active travel has a high bar with a requirement for public authorities to demonstrate a compelling case in the public interest. An alternative approach to creating new active travel routes is public path creation under the Highways Act 1980, rather than outright purchase of the land through a compulsory acquistion. Active Travel England will set out further guidance on a range of approaches to establishing rural active travel routes in the Design Guidance that will be published later in the year.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Compulsory Purchase Order powers in progressing active travel schemes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes and there is currently no centralised record of how many active travel schemes in England have relied on these powers. Local authorities can use their compulsory purchase powers for a wide range of purposes in order to facilitate specific schemes, including active travel routes.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many active travel routes in England have used Compulsory Purchase Order powers to facilitate their construction.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes and there is currently no centralised record of how many active travel schemes in England have relied on these powers. Local authorities can use their compulsory purchase powers for a wide range of purposes in order to facilitate specific schemes, including active travel routes.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with her EU counterparts to help (a) improve the accessibility and (b) increase the use of UK blue parking badges in the EU.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has ongoing discussions with individual countries regarding continued recognition of the UK Blue Badge across the European Union (EU).
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the impact of cutting weights of Volumetric Concrete Mixers on (a) lorry miles on concrete deliveries, (b) lorry journeys on concrete deliveries and (c) the tonnage of CO2 produced by lorry making concrete deliveries.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department engaged with hon. Members and industry stakeholders through correspondence prior to the announcement. Additionally, industry and interested parties were given the opportunity to present views and evidence on this topic as part of the Call for Evidence between October and December 2023.
The call for evidence sought views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The following factors were considered: reduction in payload per journey, increased waste, and increased vehicle mileage. Information received did not provide any compelling evidence for permitting a weight limit exemption specifically for VCMs. As part of its consideration of the evidence, the Department for Transport has assessed the potential environmental impacts in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 which requires Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy.
Current exemptions to weight limits for VCMs will expire in 2028. This policy is being maintained.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with (a) hon. Members and (b) the trade associations who contributed to the volumetric concrete mixers review prior to announcing the findings.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department engaged with hon. Members and industry stakeholders through correspondence prior to the announcement. Additionally, industry and interested parties were given the opportunity to present views and evidence on this topic as part of the Call for Evidence between October and December 2023.
The call for evidence sought views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The following factors were considered: reduction in payload per journey, increased waste, and increased vehicle mileage. Information received did not provide any compelling evidence for permitting a weight limit exemption specifically for VCMs. As part of its consideration of the evidence, the Department for Transport has assessed the potential environmental impacts in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 which requires Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy.
Current exemptions to weight limits for VCMs will expire in 2028. This policy is being maintained.