Jonathan Edwards
Main Page: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)Department Debates - View all Jonathan Edwards's debates with the Department for Transport
(13 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hammond
The Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) is looking precisely at how to increase take-up of the smarter driving training courses.
Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)
As the Secretary of State knows, the Department turned down a joint private and public consortium bid, including Cardiff and Bristol councils and the Energy Saving Trust, for a network of electric car-charging points between both cities on the M4. Will he explain to the people of south Wales why he turned down that bid?
Mr Hammond
The number of bids exceeded the available resources for the second wave of plugged-in places pilot schemes. All the bids were evaluated, and those that represented the greatest value for money were allowed to proceed. The promoters of the unsuccessful bids have been debriefed by the team in the Department, so they will have a detailed understanding of why their bid, on this occasion, failed. I hope that they will be encouraged to resubmit a bid in the next wave.