Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 10 September 2024 to Questions 3805 and 3806 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if she will hold discussions with (a) public and (b) private bodies on taking steps to ensure that new charging points offer guaranteed high speed chargers for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government communicates regularly with chargepoint operators, trade associations and industry to discuss the rollout of fast and reliable chargepoints.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will introduce a road safety campaign to reinforce the importance of safe driving around horses and their riders.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government's flagship road safety campaign, THINK!, aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.
The THINK! Campaign plays an important role in raising awareness of, and encouraging compliance with, new road safety legislation. This has recently included changes to The Highway Code, which were made on 29 January 2022 and aimed to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and horse riding.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of Government cars are (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hybrid and (d) electric.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Within the operational fleet of the Government Car Service the cars are:
(a) 16.8% petrol
(b) 1.9% diesel
(c) 47.6% hybrid
(d) 33.6% electric
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Transport Authorities work collectively to enhance cross-boundary bus routes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government is determined to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions. The government has set out a plan to achieve this, based on giving local leaders the tools they need to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities they serve, including considering how cross-boundary bus routes can improve the experience for bus passengers. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will introduce a Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England. We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on these ambitions.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the £2 bus fare cap on increasing bus usage in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Leicestershire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The £2 fare cap was launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) on 1 January 2023 and is set to remain in place until the end of December 2024.
The DfT published an interim report in September 2023 setting out emerging trends in key outcomes from the first two months of the scheme. It is available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-2-bus-fare-cap/2-bus-fare-cap-evaluation-interim-report-february-2023.
Patronage in the East Midlands and Leicestershire appears to be continuing to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with (a) public and (b) private bodies on implementing more disability accessible electric vehicle charging points at public venues.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government wants everyone to be able to make the switch to electric vehicles, which is why we strongly encourage chargepoint procurers and operators to adopt the British Standards Institution Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1899:2022 standard. This was sponsored by the Government and Motability, providing specifications on designing and installing accessible public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints.
The Government is actively encouraging relevant parties to adopt its specifications, building on improvements already being made in the sector. It is also encouraging local authorities to incorporate accessibility into their procurement models.
The Government and Motability Foundation is working with advocacy groups, industry and other stakeholders to review the effectiveness and implementation of PAS 1899. This working group is expected to make its final recommendations in February 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve access to electric vehicle charging points across the motorway and A road network.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are now over 960 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid (150kW+) chargepoints at motorway service areas across England.
The Rapid Charging Fund pilot will fund a portion of the cost of upgrading electrical capacity at motorway service areas, where it is not commercially viable for industry to do so. This will support the rollout of ultra-rapid (150kW+) chargepoints.
Government is also collaborating with National Highways on the Energy Storage Systems project. This project is focusing on motorway service areas where the current electrical capacity is limited. National Highways are procuring and installing batteries to support the installation of ultra-rapid chargepoints.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of bringing railway contracts into public ownership on outstanding multi year projects that (a) update fleets, (b) improve timetables and (c) support infrastructure improvements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The process of transitioning railway passenger services into public ownership will not impact existing multi-year projects to update fleets, improve timetables and support infrastructure improvements. Existing projects can continue unless there is a good reason for review. The continued operation of rolling stock is one of the considerations when taking operators back into public ownership. The Department will work closely with private sector Train Operating Companies and Network Rail during the transition process to understand the position of any such projects and build these into transition planning if appropriate.
Railway passenger services currently operated by private sector companies under contract to the Secretary of State will transfer into DfT OLR Holdings Ltd (DOHL) when current contracts end or reach their contractual break point. DOHL is tasked with undertaking transfers efficiently and effectively, with no disruption to passengers and employees. DOHL has managed four successful transfers in recent years and is scaling up to ensure the successful transfer of more services into public ownership.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her policy is on the lane rental scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government generally supports ways of working that incentivise effective co-ordination, planning and delivery of road and street works. The Government is still in its early stages and is carefully considering next steps in this policy area.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing railway contracts into public ownership in order of operational performance.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has been clear that passenger train operations will transfer to a public-sector operator as current contracts end or reach their contractual break point, avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators. The Secretary of State is continually monitoring performance and will not hesitate to take appropriate action when operators fall short, up to and including termination if the relevant contractual conditions are met.