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 support research and development of zero emission flight technology in the UK.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
My Department works closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on decarbonising aviation and technology, including through the Jet Zero Council.
The Government is supporting the development of new low and zero-carbon emission aircraft - co-investing £3.9 billion with industry in aerospace research and technology from 2013 to 2026 through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme. The recent Spending Review has extended our commitment to co-invest in aerospace by guaranteeing funding for the ATI Programme to 2031. Government is also funding the £15 million ATI-led FlyZero project. This in-depth research study has brought together experts from across industry and academia to explore the potential for zero-carbon emission aircraft.
As part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the Government is supporting research into Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure through £3 million of funding this financial year. This includes research activity on the integration of hydrogen into airports. In September, we announced the award of fifteen grants to organisations as part of this project, the details of which may be found on www.gov.uk here:
Winners of £3 million zero emission flight aviation competition announced - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We are also investing up to £125 million, matched by £175 million from industry, in the Future Flight Challenge, to enable the use of new forms of electric and autonomous aircraft.
To deliver on the opportunities presented by hydrogen across the economy, including in aviation, the Government published the first ever UK Hydrogen Strategy, alongside policy detail on its support for low carbon hydrogen production across the UK.
This package details the key steps needed this decade to deliver our ambition for 5 giga watts of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 and sets the context for a further scale up on the way to net zero.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list every policy paper, consultation and report focused on tackling sexual harassment on public transport and on streets commissioned and published by his Department since May 2010.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Everyone has the right to feel safe when travelling and using public spaces. The Department for Transport is working closely with Home Office on the Government’s cross-departmental strategy to address Violence Against Women and Girls.
Everything the department has published on this important policy issue is in the public domain.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on barriers to obtaining insurance for campervan conversions as a result of DVLA vehicle classification.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The issue of obtaining insurance for vehicles that have been converted for use as a motor caravan has been raised with the stakeholders in the insurance industry. They have confirmed that there are insurance companies which will insure vans or other vehicles that have undergone this type of conversion. In some cases, customers may need to provide evidence to an insurer that the conversion work has been carried out to a professional standard.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing on traffic levels in North Kent; and what discussions he has had with local authorities on reducing congestion.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As scheme promoter for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing, National Highways has forecast the impact on the entire road network, including in North Kent, using the Lower Thames Area Model, which is a strategic highway model built specifically to assess the impact of the Project.
National Highways’ forecasts are regularly updated and shared with the local community and stakeholders. The most recent traffic forecasts formed part of National Highways’ recent Community Impacts Consultation, which can be accessed at: https://ltcconsultation.highwaysengland.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Operations-update.pdf.
National Highways works closely, and meets regularly, with local authorities to identify further improvement schemes which could be adopted and measures which could be taken to further reduce congestion in the area.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of traffic in and around Dartford in the last five years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department continues to work with National Highways to monitor levels of traffic on strategic roads in and around Dartford, with a focus particularly on the Dartford Thurrock Crossing. The design capacity of the Crossing is 135,000 vehicles per day, but it is not uncommon for over 180,000 vehicles to use the Crossing each day with over 50 million vehicles making the crossing each year.
In four of the last five years (2015/16 to 2018/19) traffic volumes have increased at the crossing (by 8%, 2.7%, 3.1% and 0.5% in those four years compared to the previous year), and volumes reduced in 2.5% in 2019/20. Traffic levels were affected by the pandemic but appear to be returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will publish the datasets used for the mode by mode decarbonisation pathways contained in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has no immediate plans to publish the mode-by-mode datasets underpinning the decarbonisation pathways contained in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP). Further data on decarbonisation pathways for different modes will be shared as and when required for the future development of policy, in line with consultations committed to in the TDP.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average wage for heavy goods vehicle drivers in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 Q1 and (d) 2021 Q2.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) suggests that the median gross hourly pay for large good vehicle drivers in 2019 was £12.02. The provisional data for 2020 suggests that the median gross hourly pay was £11.80.
Evidence including from the industry suggests there has been a significant increase in wages for HGV drivers during Summer 2021.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the role of carbon offsetting in his plans to decarbonise the UK's strategic road network by 2050.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Highways (formerly Highways England) published its “Net Zero Highways Plan” in July, setting out how it will achieve net zero for the whole strategic road network (SRN) by 2050. National Highways’ focus is to achieve net zero rather than carbon neutral. This means reducing emissions to zero, or close to zero, with minimal use of offsets for residual emissions. As National Highways works towards net zero, it is using carbon offsets for projects being delivered in the interim. National Highways’ plans also include planting additional trees on its own land to lock up carbon.
National Highways is committed to 100% corporate emissions being net zero in 2030 without purchased offsetting. By 2040, 100% of National Highways’ maintenance and construction schemes will also be net zero, and where there are residual emissions these will be offset using robust certified ‘removal’ offsets. National Highways has set a net zero, rather than a carbon neutral, goal to keep our focus on emissions reduction and innovation to get to close to near zero schemes.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vocational driving examiners are employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency as at 8 September 2021; and how many such examiners have been recruited in 2021 to date.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As at 8 September 2021, 279 vocational driving examiners are employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
The DVSA is currently undergoing an external campaign to recruit more vocational driving examiners. This year, the DVSA has trained eleven existing members of staff to become vocational driving examiners.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the current number of large goods vehicle driving tests conducted weekly by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In line with the Statistics and Regulations Service 2007, The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is expected to officially publish statistics covering April 2021 to June 2021 on or around 23 September 2021. The DVSA will also publish statistics covering July 2021 to September 2021 on or around 23 December 2021.
As of 6 September 2021, the DVSA has an eight-week waiting time for vocational driving tests and four weeks for Driver CPC. Large goods vehicle tests are those falling under the driving licence category C. The DVSA currently has 19,962 Category C vocational practical driving and 1,488 category C CPC test appointments booked from 6 September 2021 onwards.