Asked by: Kenneth Stevenson (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the £950m dedicated to the rapid charging fund is invested efficiently to drive decarbonisation in the transport sector.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A reliable, accessible and visible public charging network to support EV drivers on long journeys is essential. There are now over 5,560 open-access, rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints within 1 mile of the Strategic Road Network (England’s motorways and major A roads) (Zapmap, April 2025). This is an increase of over 60% since January 2024 (Zapmap Jan 2024 – April 2025).
The market has changed significantly since the previous government announced the Rapid Charging Fund in 2020, including increased private sector investment in infrastructure, a changed regulatory environment, and improvements in battery technology.
We will ensure taxpayers' money is used as efficiently as possible to make the transition to electric vehicles a success. The Rapid Charging Fund pilot was launched in 2023 to better understand where to target government support.
We will apply learning from the pilot and continue working with industry to inform future policy to boost charging infrastructure on the Strategic Road Network.
Asked by: Kenneth Stevenson (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support the decarbonisation of Heavy Duty Vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to decarbonising heavy-duty vehicles, and is supporting this through programmes such as the Plug-in Truck Grant, the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, further funding for the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas programme, and a bus decarbonisation measure in the Bus Services Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
Asked by: Kenneth Stevenson (Labour - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential economic merits of introducing a Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate for Heavy Duty Vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government believes that more needs to be done to decarbonise the road freight sector. We are considering our regulatory approach to decarbonise new non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles and will engage with stakeholders in due course.