Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of public charging points in Staffordshire Moorlands for electric vehicles; and if he will ensure that there are adequate public charging points for such vehicles in the Staffordshire Moorlands ahead of the phasing out of non-electric vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Our vision is to have one of the best infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles (EVs), and we want chargepoints to be accessible, affordable and secure. The transition to zero emission vehicles is supported by a £2.8 billion package of measures. Of this £1.3 billion is being targeted to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure across the UK. Local authorities are able to take advantage of the £20 million On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), which assists them with the cost of installing chargepoints on residential streets. In addition, in the recent Spending Review Government committed £90 million to fund local EV charging infrastructure, which will support the roll out of larger charging schemes and rapid hubs. Government has recognised that cost is not the only barrier facing local authorities in the provision of public charging points and will publish an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy this year to address the remaining barriers in infrastructure delivery. We are determined to work with industry to ensure that all rural areas like the Staffordshire Moorlands have a joined up and reliable public electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The Government does not keep a record of public chargepoints as many of these are installed and operated privately. Nationally, Government and industry have supported the installation of over 19,000 publicly available charging devices. This includes over 3,500 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the period of validity of a Theory Driving Test Certificate in response to the covid-19 lockdown restrictions that were imposed on people learning to drive.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The two-year validity period of the theory test certificate is set in legislation and the Government has taken the decision not lay further legislation to extend it. The primary reason is that the two-year validity is in place to ensure that a candidate’s theoretical knowledge remains current. Extending the validity would provide less reassurance that this is the case, particularly over a period when a candidate was also unlikely to be having driving lessons. It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date as learners prepare to take their practical test.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2020 to Question 52118 on Bus Services: Coronavirus, whether he plans to make additional support available to private coach companies over summer 2020 to help them during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 8 August the Government announced a new £40 million funding package for school transport. Local authorities have discretion as to which mode offers the best value for money when procuring vehicles from September, however it is expected some will procure coach support where group sizes are large enough and this is logistically possible.
The Department for Transport has been in regular contact with representatives of the coach industry and we continue to work closely with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) extend the temporary exemption for fee paying school children on non-Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations compliant transport and (b) allow for more fare-paying passengers for children travelling to faith schools.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This Government is committed to building an inclusive transport system which allows all passengers to travel on accessible modes of transport. We recognise however that the Covid19 pandemic has hit the coach industry hard and this has had an adverse impact on coach operator’s ability to invest in compliant vehicles.
We have therefore offered a further time-limited exemption for closed door home-to-school services until the end of the 2020/21 academic year. We anticipate that this will enable home to school services to continue to operate, enabling children to get to school, including private and faith schools.