Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Midlands Rail Hub on economic growth in Hinckley and Bosworth constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Midlands Rail Hub would unlock thousands of homes and drive economic growth, with better connections regionally and nationally and more reliable trains. This means more opportunities for the people of Hinckley.
In December the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a ‘zero-based’ review, to ensure every line of spending – including the transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the cross-Government motor insurance taskforce plans to next meet with the stakeholder panel of industry experts; and what the subjects for discussion will be.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce met for the first time on 16 October 2024 and the Secretary of State is keen to reconvene again soon. We will provide updates on the Taskforce in due course.
The taskforce is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sector. This taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the cross-Government motor insurance taskforce last met; what the outcomes were of that meeting; and what the date is for the next meeting of the taskforce.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce met for the first time on 16 October 2024 and the Secretary of State is keen to reconvene again soon. We will provide updates on the Taskforce in due course.
The taskforce is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sector. This taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums.
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 plans to take to ensure that (a) rising mobilisation, (b) due diligence and (c) general programme delivery costs are (i) monitored and (ii) restrained during the transfer of train operator services to public ownership; and whether she plans to publish those costs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In line with established Departmental arrangements, a robust governance framework and spending controls have been put in place for the Public Ownership Programme. The Programme will also be included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio.
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 resolve the strike action by the RMT on Avanti West Coast.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State expects the operator and RMT to do everything they can to avoid further industrial action, and to minimise disruption to passengers in the meantime.
As part of our plans to reform the railways, we are determined to move towards a seven-day working week and end the overreliance on rest day working, giving passengers the certainty and reliability they deserve.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Public chargepoints for electric vehicles, published on 13 December 2024, what discussions her Department has had with (a) industry leaders and (b) local authorities on compliance with the chargepoint accessibility standard for electric car chargepoints.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Publicly Available Standard 1899 was co-sponsored by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and the national disability charity Motability. The standard was developed in close collaboration with industry, disabled users, accessibility experts, charities, consumer groups and the devolved administrations. PAS 1899 provides specifications on designing and installing accessible public EV chargepoints, meeting the industry need for standardised guidance on what accessible public chargepoint design consists of and how it can be deployed.
Whilst compliance with PAS 1899 is voluntary, legal obligations pertaining to the Equality Act 2010 have to be adhered to.
The Government, in collaboration with the British Standards Institute and Motability, is spearheading the Technical Working Group conducting the two-year review of PAS 1899, with results anticipated by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Public chargepoints for electric vehicles, published on 13 December 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ensuring compliance with the electric chargepoint accessibility standard on (a) industry and (b) local authorities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Publicly Available Standard 1899 was co-sponsored by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and the national disability charity Motability. The standard was developed in close collaboration with industry, disabled users, accessibility experts, charities, consumer groups and the devolved administrations. PAS 1899 provides specifications on designing and installing accessible public EV chargepoints, meeting the industry need for standardised guidance on what accessible public chargepoint design consists of and how it can be deployed.
Whilst compliance with PAS 1899 is voluntary, legal obligations pertaining to the Equality Act 2010 have to be adhered to.
The Government, in collaboration with the British Standards Institute and Motability, is spearheading the Technical Working Group conducting the two-year review of PAS 1899, with results anticipated by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
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 9 December 2024 to Question 17895 on South Western Railway: Nationalisation, Question 17896 on C2C: Nationalisation and Question 17897 on Abellio Greater Anglia: Nationalisation, what the evidential basis is for the expectation that transfer costs will be less than the fees provided to private operators.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Based on previous mobilisations undertaken by the Department and DfT Operator (DfTO), we have an understanding of the base level costs associated with transfer from a private sector operator to public ownership. For example, as set out in the Explanatory Note to the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, mobilisation and due diligence costs are estimated at £1m to £1.5m per transaction. However, the exact costs of each transfer cannot be determined until engagement with each operator has commenced.
For comparison, savings in fees no longer payable to private operators are expected to be between £110m and £150m per annum, once all services have transferred into public ownership from the ten current private-sector operators.
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 representatives of the motorcycle sector on improving safety of motorcyclists on the road.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads, including motorcyclists who are overrepresented in casualty statistics. A representative of the motorcycling sector attended a Ministerial roundtable on 7 October to discuss road safety and motorcycle stakeholders also have regular meetings with officials from the Department.
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 local authorities on ensuring (a) major new road infrastructure design is safe for motorcyclists and (b) pothole funding ensures smooth roads for (i) motorcyclists and (ii) other road users.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local authorities are responsible for setting their own design standards for their roads. They are subject to various legal duties in managing their roads, including to promote road safety. It is for them to ensure road infrastructure is safe and fit for purpose and is designed and delivered in a way that takes account of all road users’ needs.
This Government is committed to tackling the poor state of our roads. As announced in October’s Budget, the Government is providing local highway authorities in England with an additional £500 million funding for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year. This will help them to provide smoother, safer roads for motorcyclists and other road users. Further details of this will be set out shortly.