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Written Question
Railway Stations: Bristol
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish its decision on the reopening of St. Anne's railway station in Bristol.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

I hope to be able to provide further information in due course.


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report by the Office for Budget Responsibility entitled Economic and Fiscal Outlook November 2023, published on 22 November 2023, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of the revised forecast of electric vehicle take-up in 2027 on greenhouse gas emissions.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The report published by the Office for Budget Responsibility includes revised forecasts for electric vehicle take-up, which are made independently of Government.

These forecasts now more closely align with projections produced by the Department, reflecting the ZEV targets set out in the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes Order 2023, introducing a Zero Emission Vehicle mandate GB-wide.

A comprehensive Cost Benefit Analysis accompanying this legislation includes the assessment of carbon savings out to 2050, with analysis estimating 411MTCO2e in carbon savings for GB between 2024-2050


Written Question
Shipping: Exhaust Emissions
Wednesday 15th November 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce international shipping emissions independently of the International Maritime Organisation.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The UK proudly hosts the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and is committed to acting through the IMO to address international shipping pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

A decade of concerted action at international level has seen effective reductions in pollutant emissions and the UK took a leading role in advocating for the global IMO sulphur cap for marine fuels in 2020.

Domestically the Government published guidance to support UK ports to reduce pollutant emissions and since April 2010 applied limits to sulphur content of marine fuels for ships at berth.

To complement UK climate leadership at the IMO, particularly in securing the ambitious IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy (July 2023), the UK has been a driving force on the development of clean maritime technologies, with announcements at London International Shipping Week’s Clean Maritime Day on Green Shipping Corridors through the Clydebank Declaration and launching a £1.5 million International Green Corridor Fund in September 2023, as well as the winners of the over £80 million Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition, which will see zero emission vessels deployed in the UK by 2025.

We will also set out how we will take ambitious action domestically in the forthcoming refreshed Clean Maritime Plan, which will set out an ambitious and credible pathway to net zero GHG emissions for the sector, considering the impact of our own domestic action and international measures, as these develop through the IMO.


Written Question
Shipping: Exhaust Emissions
Wednesday 15th November 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the update to the Clean Maritime Plan.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As per my response on 04 September, the department is working to publish an update to the Clean Maritime Plan as soon as possible.


Written Question
Bus Services: Franchises
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of franchising more local bus services.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Government will support any Local Transport Authority wishing to franchise their bus services.

The Bus Services Act 2017 provides automatic access to franchising powers to Mayoral Combined Authorities in England.

Other authorities can request those powers from the Secretary of State but need to demonstrate that they have the capability and resources to deliver franchising, and that franchising is the best option to deliver improvements for passengers.

The Department is currently revising the Bus Services Act 2017 Franchising Scheme Guidance, published in November 2017, to provide updated and detailed advice on the franchising process.

Regarding the current action on Go North East, I hope both sides can come to a mutually acceptable agreement that delivers for passengers.


Written Question
Bus Services: Public Service Obligations
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to issue new guidance on socially and economically necessary bus services.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department plans to publish new guidance on socially and economically necessary services during this Parliament.


Written Question
Driving Licences: Older People
Monday 17th July 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to expedite the processing of priority medical driving licence renewal cases.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The length of time taken to deal with a driving licence application where the applicant has declared a medical condition depends on the medical condition(s) involved and whether further information is required from third parties. This can include NHS healthcare professionals or the applicant themselves, before a licensing decision can be made. In around 50% of cases, the DVLA is awaiting information from a third party before any further action can be taken.

The DVLA triage applications when they are received and are prioritised on a case-by-case basis, for example if the customer needs a licence quickly for work or travel purposes.

To help reduce waiting times for customers, the DVLA has introduced a simplified licence renewal process for some medical conditions. This change has significantly reduced the need for further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver. The DVLA is considering if more medical conditions can be added to this process in the future.


Written Question
Railway Stations: Bristol
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide an update on the feasibility study into the prospects of reopening St. Anne's railway station in Bristol.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The strategic outline business case for the proposed re-opening of St Anne’s station has been submitted to my Department as part of the Restoring Your Railway programme. An announcement on the next steps for the project is expected in due course.


Written Question
Cycleways: Finance
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the level of funding required to maintain the National Cycle Network; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government has not made an assessment of the level of funding required to maintain the National Cycle Network (NCN). The NCN is made up of over 12,000 miles of signed on and off-road routes across the UK. Sustrans manage the NCN and rely on a variety of partners to maintain and grow the Network, including landowners, highway authorities, and national and local government.


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Infrastructure
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to improve infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government is working with industry to improve electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. There are now over 42,000 public chargepoints, alongside hundreds of thousands in homes and workplaces. The Government estimates that by 2030, around 300,000 public chargepoints will be needed as a minimum. The Government expects to see a market-led roll-out for the majority of chargepoints with over £6 billion of investment already committed.

The Government’s funding interventions are focused on two sectors: high powered chargers on the strategic road network through the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) and local on-street charging through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI).

The LEVI fund will support local authorities to work with industry to transform the availability of charging infrastructure for drivers without off-street parking. The Government has announced a further £381 million of LEVI funding (£343 million capital and £37.8 million resource), which will be made available over the next two financial years. The RCF will future-proof the electrical capacity at strategic locations to support ultra-rapid en-route charging.

The Government is also working to improve the experience of people using public chargepoints. In the coming months, the Government will regulate to mandate open data to ensure consumers can locate the right chargepoints for their needs, mandate 99 per cent reliability across each rapid charging network and will aim to introduce contactless payment provision for all new chargepoints over 8kW