First elected: 8th June 2017
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Increase funding for research into Endometriosis and PCOS.
Gov Responded - 24 Aug 2020 Debated on - 1 Nov 2021 View John Lamont's petition debate contributionsEndometriosis and PCOS are two gynaecological conditions which both affect 10% of women worldwide, but both are, in terms of research and funding, incredibly under prioritised. This petition is calling for more funding, to enable for new, extensive and thorough research into female health issues.
FIONA'S LAW - Women should be allowed a yearly Cervical screening
Cervical screening needs to be every year.
This is because women are dying, mothers, wives, daughters, granddaughters and sisters are dying.
Increase funding for urgent research into devastating motor neurone disease
Gov Responded - 7 Apr 2021 Debated on - 12 Jul 2021 View John Lamont's petition debate contributionsWe ask Government to significantly increase targeted research funding for motor neurone disease (MND).
A new investment of £50m over 5 years could kickstart a pioneering MND Research Institute.
This would lead to better, faster and more definitive research outcomes and hope for those with MND.
Do not give consent for another Scottish Independence Referendum
The SNP government appears solely intent on getting independence at any cost.
Pet Theft Reform: Amend animal welfare law to make pet theft a specific offence.
Gov Responded - 16 Jul 2019 Debated on - 19 Oct 2020 View John Lamont's petition debate contributionsWe propose to amend the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to make pet theft a specific offence, distinct from that of inanimate objects; and in sentencing, the courts must consider the fear, alarm or distress to the pet and owners and not monetary value.
Make pet theft crime a specific offence with custodial sentences.
Gov Responded - 31 Mar 2020 Debated on - 19 Oct 2020 View John Lamont's petition debate contributionsPet Theft Reform 2020: Revise the sentencing guidelines in the Theft Act 1968 to reclassify pet theft as a specific crime. Ensure that monetary value is irrelevant for the categorisation of dog and cat theft crime for sentencing purposes. Recognise pet theft as a category 2 offence or above.
These initiatives were driven by John Lamont, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
John Lamont has not been granted any Urgent Questions
John Lamont has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Minimum Service Obligation (High Street Cashpoints) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Huw Merriman (Con)
Banking and Post Office Services (Rural Areas and Small Communities) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Luke Graham (Con)
Collective Defined Contribution Pension Schemes Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Paul Masterton (Con)
Food Advertising (Protection of Children from Targeting) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Kirstene Hair (Con)
It is important that Departments continue to respond to requests for access to information during this period as a key means of supporting transparency. We recognise that Departments face a range of pressures, and in some cases may not have access to the information requested. The Cabinet Office continues to provide advice to support delivery, in line with guidance issued by the Information Commissioner.
Where possible civil servants are working from home during the COVID-19 crisis. Departments have been issued with working from home guidance as well as a practical working from home toolkit. This includes information on the safe and secure use of technology and data as well as advice on wellbeing, mental health and staying connected. Departments are creating their own guidance packages specific to their employees and are encouraging employees, their line managers and teams to have regular conversations during this period.
I refer the Hon Member to the statement given by my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 28 April 2020.
As announced at the Spending Review in 2020, the Government has made available more than £6 billion in total to develop and procure COVID-19 vaccines.
The UK Government has procured vaccines on behalf of all four nations of the country and Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. As a consequence, a total of 8,169,061 vaccinations have been administered in Scotland as of 17 October 2021 with 81.1% of those aged 12 and over fully vaccinated.
Start Up Loans, offered by the Government’s British Business Bank, provide government-backed loans and support for businesses who struggle to access other forms of finance. Since the scheme launched in 2012 to the end of July 2021, the total value of Start Up Loans issued in the Scottish Borders was £796,381, with 95 loans issued.
The Government is committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to introduce a new right to an additional week of leave for unpaid carers.
The consultation on Carer’s Leave ran from March to August 2020, setting out detailed policy proposals to create a new employment right for one week’s unpaid leave.
The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course, setting out the way forward.
The UK Government has secured early access to 407 million vaccines doses through supply agreements with seven separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with:
In addition, we announced a non-binding agreement in February 2021 with CureVac for 50 million doses and have a reservation agreement with GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur for 60 million doses.
It has not proved possible to respond to my Hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
In 2018/19, the latest scheme year for which we have data, £341 million was spent on energy bills support for low income and vulnerable households across Great Britain.The scheme provided 2,220,194 rebates, worth £140, to Core Group and Broader Group recipients, and over £30 million worth of support through Industry Initiatives activities across Great Britain.
The breakdown of scheme spend, as well as the report for the 2018/19 scheme year, can be found in the Ofgem scheme reports: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/social-programmes/warm-home-discount/warm-home-discount-reports-and-statistics.
The UK Government has secured early access to 355 million vaccines doses through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers, which have been purchased for the whole of the UK.
Hunterston B has been generating low carbon electricity for more than 40 years. Over its lifetime, it has produced enough low carbon energy to power the whole of Scotland for 8 years.
The Capacity Market ensures security of electricity supply by providing all forms of capacity with the right incentives to be on the system and to deliver electricity when needed. It secures the capacity we need, including new capacity to replace aging power stations as they retire, through auctions held either four years or one year ahead of delivery (T-4 and T-1). To date, these capacity auctions have secured the majority of the capacity that Great Britain needs until 2023/.
Hunterston B holds capacity agreements for around 0.9 GW of capacity in 2020/21 and 2021/22. In light of EDF Energy’s decision to end generation at Hunterston B by 7 January 2022, we will have the opportunity to secure replacement capacity in the T-1 auction for 2021/22 if required.
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) has been introduced to help small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2000 and £50,000.
As of 10 May, over 268,000 loans have been issued in the UK with a total value of over £8.3 billion.
Issuing new loans is the priority for lenders and the British Business Bank and we are working to ensure that companies receive the full benefits from the support being provided.
At this time, we are unable to provide a breakdown of funding or number of applications by region. We are working with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and the lenders on regular and transparent data publication going forward.
We have confirmed our commitment to put an end to unabated coal power generation from 2025, and on 4 February 2020 my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to consult on bringing forward the coal closure date to 1 October 2024. A closure in 2024 would mean that in 10 years we have reduced our reliance on unabated coal generation from around a third of our electricity supply to zero. We will consult on this in due course.
As a result of our existing policies, including carbon pricing and our support for renewables, we have already made great headway in reducing our reliance on coal, which fell from 39% in 2012 to less than 3% in 2019.
The Government introduced the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Act on 1January 2019 to protect GB consumers on default tariffs This followed the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) two-year investigation into the energy market, which concluded that energy customers on default and standard variable tariffs were being significantly overcharged.
The cap currently protects around 11 million households on default tariffs across GB. Ofgem estimate that the tariff cap is saving consumers between £75 and £100 per year on average and a total of £1 billion annually.
Ofgem currently employs 385 staff plus 20-40 contractors in its Glasgow office. Ofgem is committed to their presence in Glasgow and are exploring new office premises, but do not have a specific target number of staff to be based there.
Dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021, hosted in Glasgow by the UK in partnership with Italy, will be set out in due course following further discussion with parties.
Great Britain has a reliable energy system and maintaining a safe and secure energy supply is a key priority for this Government.
Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, we have been in daily contact with gas and electricity operators, the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), National Grid Gas (NGG), and Ofgem, to ensure our energy system is able to respond to changes in demand during this unprecedented time.
The ESO and NGG have procedures in place to manage the effects of a pandemic and are closely monitoring electricity and gas demand over this period. Currently, electricity and gas margins are adequate and there is sufficient supply to meet demand.
The implementation of the Government policies to delay the spread of Covid-19 is resulting in a measurable reduction in the national demand for energy. The ESO recently published its Summer Outlook report to help energy companies with their planning, as well as set out the procedures it has in place to manage the anticipated effects on supply and demand during the pandemic.
We are confident that electricity and gas supplies will keep flowing.
On 25 March Companies House announced that all businesses could apply for a three-month extension for filing their accounts, with those citing issues around COVID-19 immediately granted an extension. To support this measure Companies House developed a fast-tracked, online system that takes businesses just 15 minutes to complete. There have so far been over 50,000 successful applications. This was supplemented on 28 March when the Government announced it will offer further extensions should circumstances require.
On 16 April Companies House announced that companies issued with a late filing penalty due to COVID-19 will have appeals treated sympathetically and that it has temporarily paused the strike off process to prevent companies being dissolved. This will help ensure businesses struggling to update their records because of the crisis, are not struck off the register.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme opened for applications on 23 March. As of 21 April, over £2.8bn worth of loans have been issued to over 16,000 businesses.
The Department is planning to publish a Heat and Building Strategy later this year, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings, including existing residential properties. These include the deployment of energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating as part of an ambitious programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions on how we achieve the mass transition to low-carbon heat. We are developing policies to deliver low carbon heating in the 2020s and put us on the pathway to delivering net zero by 2050.
The Department is planning to publish a Heat and Building Strategy later this year, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings, including existing commercial properties. These include the deployment of energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating as part of an ambitious programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions on how we achieve the mass transition to low-carbon heat. We are developing policies to deliver low carbon heating in the 2020s and put us on the pathway to delivering net zero by 2050. We are spending £2.8bn under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) between 2018 and 2021 to encourage the deployment of low carbon heating in homes and businesses. The Non-domestic RHI scheme has been open to commercial, industrial, public sector, not for profit and community generators of renewable heat since November 2011.
The Russian state is waging an aggressive information campaign, including using disinformation spread by official Russian Government accounts to try and justify Russia’s unacceptable military action in Ukraine.
DCMS is working closely with major social media platforms, including Twitter, to ensure disinformation, and coordinated inauthentic or manipulated behaviour, is removed in line with platforms’ terms of service, and authoritative content which accurately depicts the ongoing situation in Ukraine is promoted across their services.
On Wednesday 23 March 2022, the five football associations of the UK and Ireland submitted a joint expression of interest to host the UEFA European Championships 2028. The UK Government supported this step and we believe that hosting EURO 2028 would be a fantastic opportunity for the whole of the UK and Ireland.
My officials have worked closely alongside the football associations, the government of Ireland and the Devolved Administrations throughout this process, and we will continue to engage closely as we develop our potential bid.
All local areas in the United Kingdom will receive funding to deliver bespoke adult numeracy programmes from April 2022. Multiply will help people improve their basic numeracy skills through free digital training, flexible courses and tutoring. It will be a new UK-wide offer launching in spring 2022, which will help people build their confidence, remove barriers to learning, and tailor delivery to meet learner and employer needs.
We estimate that up to 500,000 learners across the UK could gain a recognised qualification and/or improve their numeracy skills through Multiply.
All local areas in the United Kingdom will receive funding to deliver bespoke adult numeracy programmes from April 2022. Multiply will help people improve their basic numeracy skills through free digital training, flexible courses and tutoring. It will be a new UK-wide offer launching in spring 2022, which will help people build their confidence, remove barriers to learning, and tailor delivery to meet learner and employer needs.
We estimate that up to 500,000 learners across the UK could gain a recognised qualification and/or improve their numeracy skills through Multiply.
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the UK and New Zealand includes ground-breaking provisions on both animal welfare and environmental protection
The forward-looking provisions in the animal welfare chapter are largely unprecedented in other FTAs. We have secured non-regression and non-derogation clauses on animal welfare. This means both countries are committed to not lowering their animal welfare standards or make exceptions for their producers in a manner that materially affects trade. The chapter includes strong commitments to work with New Zealand bilaterally and in international fora to progress animal welfare standards.
The Environment chapter demonstrates our global leadership on climate and environmental protection. It will liberalise tariffs on the largest list of environmental goods in any FTA to date and encourage trade and investment in low carbon services and technology. It includes commitments to tackle environmental challenges such as illegal wildlife trade, air pollution, marine pollution and litter, and promote biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and the transition to a circular economy. The chapter also affirms our commitments to implement multilateral environmental agreements, including the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and Paris Agreement.
This Government has an ambitious programme of legislative and non-legislative measures that go further than ever to ensure the highest level of animal welfare standards. Our Action Plan for Animal Welfare provides an overview. As part of this, we have introduced the Animal Sentience and Kept Animals Bills and intend to legislate further in an Animals Abroad Bill.
The ban on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products in 2018 was developed based on evidence of harm to the marine environment from microplastics, and specifically evidence of microbeads directly entering the marine environment through the water treatment process. It aimed to create a level playing field between businesses that had already taken voluntary action and those that continued to use microbeads. An impact assessment was carried out before the ban was implemented. The impact assessment can be found here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2017/178/pdfs/ukia_20170178_en.pdf.
More evidence is required to understand the full impact of microplastics, including microbeads, on the marine environment. We have been working to understand other sources of microplastics into the marine environment. This includes a Defra funded study, which investigated the sources and pathways of microplastics from tyres and textiles into the ocean:
Supermarkets have been working at pace to expand the total number of delivery and click and collect slots.
The Government is working to ensure that approximately 1.8 million people in England identified by the NHS as being at higher risk of severe illness if they contract Coronavirus have access to the food they need. We have shared with supermarkets the details of those who have registered as extremely clinically vulnerable and need help accessing food. These details are processed by the supermarkets, who match these names against their own customer databases. They then offer people the option of priority access to online delivery.
We are also working quickly to support people who do not fall into the category of being clinically extremely vulnerable, but still need help getting essential food supplies. This includes those who are elderly, disabled or have health conditions that make it difficult for them to get the food they need. We are speaking to food retailers, delivery organisations and volunteer groups to help prioritise those individuals to access essential food. Most supermarkets are offering prioritised delivery and click and collect slots to those they have identified as vulnerable from their customer databases (for example by age, shopping habits or previous use of vulnerable customer helplines). We are working closely with retailers and local authorities to stand up a service to allow local authorities to refer vulnerable people to supermarkets for a priority delivery or click and collect slot.
The Government has well-established ways of working with the food industry during disruption to supply situations. The Government has regular engagement across the industry who continue to monitor the situation closely, taking the necessary steps to address issues where they arise.
Following a significant spike in consumer demand, we have now seen stock levels in supermarkets improve. To support the food sector, the Government temporarily relaxed competition law and regulations relating to driver hours and delivery times so that the sector could work together to keep putting food on the shelves.
We welcome the actions that industry is taking, including hiring more staff, and prioritising delivery slots and shopping times for those that need them most. We are grateful for the extensive support and positive collaboration that the industry has shown. We will continue these conversations to keep food supply chains flowing and make sure people have the food and products they need.
Thanks to rapidly increasing testing capacity, the government has expanded eligibility to all essential workers with symptoms of coronavirus, including those working in the food and drink industry.
The DFID Secretary of State regularly speaks with counterparts in the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) on a range of issues. DFID officials have also been working closely with the IFIs and have had initial conversations on the possibility of financing potential COVID-19 vaccines and treatments in developing countries. We also worked with the World Bank Group, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and others, to launch a brand-new scheme to ensure global vaccine production at the UK-hosted Global Vaccine Summit, on 4 June. The COVAX Advance Market Commitment for COVID-19 vaccines is aimed at incentivising vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of a potential COVID-19 vaccine and to ensure future access for low- and middle-income countries. The UK has contributed over £48 million ($60.6 million) to this initiative.
The UK is at the forefront of efforts to develop coronavirus vaccines. As agreed by the G20, we support a global approach to the rapid development and scaled up manufacture of vaccines with equitable access to all who need them, including in the poorest countries. We are working with international partners, industry and researchers to support an approach to accelerate research and development, scale up global manufacturing capacity and ensure funding to deliver this aim.
The UK is a strong supporter of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is supporting the development of vaccines that will be available throughout the world. We have pledged £250 million of UK aid to CEPI, the biggest donation of any country to date. CEPI is supporting the development of 10 COVID-19 vaccine candidates, such as the University of Oxford’s vaccine research.
UK aid has also supported Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for 20 years. We are its biggest donor, helping to immunise over 760 million children and saving over 13 million lives worldwide. Gavi will play a key role in making a new COVID-19 vaccine available and affordable.
UK support, through CEPI, GAVI and others, will help facilitate the end-to-end development and distribution of a successful vaccine.
Our negotiating strategy is based on the results of one of the largest public consultations in UK history, and we are speaking to businesses and interest groups in every part of the UK to ensure their voice is heard.
On the 19th May I had a one-to-one conversation with NFU Scotland, and on the 26th May I held a joint roundtable with the National Farmers Union (NFU) NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, and Ulster Farmers' Union.
On the 16th June, I held a further joint roundtable with the regional farmers unions to provide an update on negotiations of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement, ahead of the publication of the Agreement in Principle document on the 17th June.
HM Government is focused on an ambitious programme of bilateral talks with the US during the four-month tariff suspension, and is making progress towards a settlement that works for the whole of the UK and keeps harmful tariffs off.
The Secretary of State for International Trade engages with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on this issue at every opportunity, and both are committed to finding a fair and permanent settlement to the disputes, that paves the way for an even stronger trading relationship.
The Secretary of State for International Trade looks forward to meeting with the US Trade Representative at the earliest opportunity, date subject to Senate confirmation processes.
We expect the meeting might cover the UK’s ambitious trade agenda with our largest trading partner, promoting free, fair and sustainable trade. We would expect this to include the UK-US Free Trade Agreement; priorities on the global stage such as reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), digital and environmental trade; and the swift resolution of trade disputes that are an unhelpful backdrop to the UK-US trade relationship.
The Government takes the negative impact of US tariffs on key UK products, including cashmere, very seriously. These tariffs are unnecessary, unhelpful and harm industry on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Secretary of State for International Trade continues to raise the issue of tariffs with the US administration at every opportunity. Most recently in early August, the Secretary of State visited the US and raised this issue with Ambassador Lighthizer, pressing for the removal of tariffs and a settlement to the Airbus and Boeing disputes as soon as possible.
As at 8 July 2022, there are 22 people waiting to take a category F (tractor) driving test in the Scottish Borders.
To accommodate the tractor testing manoeuvres, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) conducts category F tests at the closest, suitable location to the candidate’s home address. The DVSA allocates the most suitable examiner to do this. As the test does not take place at a DVSA test centre, the examiner needs time to travel to and from the meeting point for the test as well as the time to conduct the test itself.
The DVSA does not calculate an average waiting time for the category F test as the very low test demand and non-standard booking procedure for tractor tests could distort the waiting time, which would not be representative.
The table below shows the number of car (category B) tests that are booked at the following driving test centres (DTC).
| Duns DTC | Hawick DTC | Galashiels DTC | Kelso DTC | Peebles DTC | Berwick Upon Tweed DTC |
Number of car (category B) tests booked | 40 | 118 | 499 | 91 | 100 | 212 |
Average waiting time in weeks for a car (category B) test | 24 | 17 | 24 | 6 | 16 | 9 |
Driving test centre type | Remote | Remote | Permanent | Remote | Remote | Remote |
UK Government Transport Ministers regularly engage with their counterparts in the Scottish Government to discuss matters of shared interest, including improving cross-border transport connectivity.
The Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) draft recommendations include improvements to the A75 and A77, routes that were also highlighted in the independent Union Connectivity Review carried out by Sir Peter Hendy and published in November 2021. The UK Government has invited the Scottish Government to work in partnership to consider the recommendations of the Union Connectivity Review and identify solutions which work best for the people of the UK.
Data on domestic charging devices funded by the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) are presented in the table. Figures are from 1 July 2021.
| EVHS funded charging devices |
Scottish Borders | 352 |
Scotland | 11,582 |
UK | 157,652 |
The Department holds data on plug-in car grants but this database does not provide the geographic breakdown required.
The table below shows, up to the end of December 2020, the number of plug-in car grant eligible models registered for the first time in the respective geographies. The right hand column provides an estimate of the maximum financial value of the grant support for these vehicles. This was calculated from vehicle registration data by applying amount of available grant for eligible models at the time of registration. This estimate does not mean that every car registered received the grant or that other cars did not receive the grant before the end of December 2020 but had not registered the car yet.
Area of registration | Number of registrations for eligible models | Maximum potential grant support awarded 1 |
Scotland Borders Unitary Authority | 308 | £1.1 million |
Scotland | 17,266 | £61 million |
UK | 301,096 | £1,066 million |
7 Scottish local authorities have been awarded grants totalling £1,065,381 through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), up to July 2021. The Scheme is administered on the Department’s behalf by Energy Saving Trust, who offer expert advice and support to local authorities throughout the application process. Energy Saving Trust, in partnership with the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, also hosts a library of webinars and guidance documents focussing on the challenges that authorities face when installing charging infrastructure, while promoting the available funding.
In early 2022, in collaboration with the Institution of Engineering and Technology, we will publish an EV infrastructure guide for local authority EV officers, to assist with the transition to ZEVs. This guide will cover the steps needed to take in order to deploy chargepoints for residents. Scottish local authorities were involved in the scoping of the document and will be asked to comment at consultation stage in due course.
The Government wants to ensure that drivers can benefit from the transition to zero emission vehicles. The On-Street Residential Chargeoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. £20 million is available in 2021-22 to UK local authorities through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
Data on domestic charging devices funded by the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) are presented in the table. Figures are from 1 July 2021.
| EVHS funded charging devices |
Scottish Borders | 352 |
Scotland | 11,582 |
UK | 157,652 |
The Department holds data on plug-in car grants but this database does not provide the geographic breakdown required.
The table below shows, up to the end of December 2020, the number of plug-in car grant eligible models registered for the first time in the respective geographies. The right hand column provides an estimate of the maximum financial value of the grant support for these vehicles. This was calculated from vehicle registration data by applying amount of available grant for eligible models at the time of registration. This estimate does not mean that every car registered received the grant or that other cars did not receive the grant before the end of December 2020 but had not registered the car yet.
Area of registration | Number of registrations for eligible models | Maximum potential grant support awarded 1 |
Scotland Borders Unitary Authority | 308 | £1.1 million |
Scotland | 17,266 | £61 million |
UK | 301,096 | £1,066 million |
7 Scottish local authorities have been awarded grants totalling £1,065,381 through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), up to July 2021. The Scheme is administered on the Department’s behalf by Energy Saving Trust, who offer expert advice and support to local authorities throughout the application process. Energy Saving Trust, in partnership with the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, also hosts a library of webinars and guidance documents focussing on the challenges that authorities face when installing charging infrastructure, while promoting the available funding.
In early 2022, in collaboration with the Institution of Engineering and Technology, we will publish an EV infrastructure guide for local authority EV officers, to assist with the transition to ZEVs. This guide will cover the steps needed to take in order to deploy chargepoints for residents. Scottish local authorities were involved in the scoping of the document and will be asked to comment at consultation stage in due course.
The Government wants to ensure that drivers can benefit from the transition to zero emission vehicles. The On-Street Residential Chargeoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. £20 million is available in 2021-22 to UK local authorities through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has had regular discussions with Transport Scotland when making decisions around its testing services.
On 16 March, the First Minister of Scotland introduced an updated Strategic Framework for COVID-19. The Framework sets out the aim to move back to a levels system from the last week of April 2021. If the data allow, in Scotland, category F driving tests will resume on 26 April 2021 at the earliest.
The Secretary of State for Transport has been and will continue to engage with his counterpart in the Scottish Government to discuss domestic Covid-19 policy.
The Transport Secretary has had discussions with Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson about the Union Connectivity Review ahead of its launch in October 2020.
| Duns | Hawick | Peebles | Galashiels | Kelso |
Apr - Sept 2017 | 66 | 235 | 224 | 496 | 140 |
Apr - Sept 2018 | 64 | 176 | 124 | 442 | 116 |
Apr - Sept 2019 | 63 | 202 | 139 | 426 | 130 |
Apr - June 2020 * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* TO NOTE:
No driving tests were conducted between April and June 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
We cannot provide figures beyond 30 June 2020 as they have not yet been published officially and to release them externally would breach the Statistics and Registrations Service Act 2007.
The promotion of railway infrastructure projects in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government but the new timetable that Network Rail is developing for the East Coast Main Line will make provision for stops at the proposed new stations at Reston and East Linton.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) estimates that over 400,000 driving tests, have not been conducted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This data is based on the DVSA’s original forecast of driving test demand that covers March 2020 up to the present day.
The Government has made available £330bn of support through loans and guarantees to support UK businesses. Changes were made on 3 April to ensure that more businesses, particularly those that are SMEs, like many road haulage companies, can benefit from them. Additionally, the job retention scheme which has now been launched will help further by enabling businesses to claim up to £2,500 a month towards staff wages.
The Government is working with the road haulage industry to identify barriers to accessing the available government support measures.