Oral Answers to Questions

Jo Gideon Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to (a) support people to switch to and (b) install the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles by 2030.

[Jo Gideon (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to (a) support people to switch to and (b) install the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles by 2030.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Rachel Maclean)]

We are investing over £2.8 billion‎ to help people buy zero emission vehicles and accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure.

[Rachel Maclean]

I am delighted to hear the support of my hon. Friend’s constituents in Kensington, which is shared of course by people across the UK. As ever, my hon. Friend is actually one step ahead of the Government. We are launching a consultation to improve drivers’ experience of using public charge points, and we will soon respond to the consultation on requiring new homes and non-residential properties to be fitted with charging infrastructure.

[Jo Gideon]

I am delighted to hear that Stoke-on-Trent’s £29 million transforming cities fund proposal has now been approved, and I want to thank the Minister and the Secretary of State for all the hard work they have done to help me, other local MPs and the city council to get this across the line. As I have said on many occasions, this will be a real game changer for public transport in our city. As we look to revolutionise the way we move around our city, does the Minister agree that it is right to look for investment from the active travel fund to complement bus and train travel with an e-bike hire system and to build a sustainable local network for charging electric vehicles?

[Rachel Maclean]

I share my hon. Friend’s enthusiasm for e-bikes. I got one in the lockdown, and it is absolutely brilliant for the hills of Redditch. She will be pleased to hear that the Prime Minister’s cycling and walking plan includes a commitment to create a national e-cycle support programme. As part of this, we have launched a £1 million e-bike extension fund to enable the increased use of e-bikes, with a particular focus on those hard-to-reach groups, so I would encourage Stoke-on-Trent to consider making an application. As well as this, we are investing £1.3 billion across the country to accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure for her constituents.