Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 4.72 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, whether she plans to hold a consultation on the rolling stock strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is in the early stages of formulating a rolling stock strategy. The strategy will include considerations around the timelines for new build, refurbishments, and potential cascades which will provide more visibility to the rolling stock market.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish his Department's approved budget for the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Anthony Browne
HM Treasury will publish the Supplementary Estimates for 2023-24 by the end of the current financial year. This will include the Department for Transport's final, approved budget for the 2023-24 financial year.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to extend the requirement for all publicly-funded buses to have additional flexible space for a second wheelchair user or pushchair to all buses.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) require buses and coaches in scope of the PSVAR to incorporate a wheelchair space and boarding ramp or lift.
We require buses funded by the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme to incorporate additional accessibility features, including a second wheelchair space or flexible area.
Regarding this requirement, as part of a review of the PSVAR, the Department has launched a Call for Evidence. We are asking for views on how effective the PSVAR have been in improving accessibility, and how it might evolve so that buses and coaches continue to meet the access needs of all passengers.
Respondents will have the opportunity to provide the Department with their views on bus design, including sharing any perspectives they may have on features such as an additional flexible space. Upon completion of analysis of the Call for Evidence and review of the PSVAR, it is our intention to publish the Department's response to the evidence submitted.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to assess the adequacy of the funding available to local authorities for road safety measures.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
Road safety spending is devolved to local authorities. They set their own priorities with their knowledge of their areas and local needs and considerations.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November 2020, how much of the £1.3bn the Government planned to spend to accelerate the roll out of EV charging infrastructure has been spent to date; and in which areas of the UK he plans to invest under that Plan.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to decarbonising transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. It has already spent over £2 billion to support the transition to zero emission vehicles. This funding has focused on reducing barriers to the adoption of such vehicles, including offsetting their higher upfront cost, and accelerating the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure.
Government spend on charging infrastructure for the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22 is set out in the table below.
Project/Scheme | 20-21 | 21-22 |
Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme and its predecessor Domestic Recharging Scheme. | £24,426,000 | £54,910,000 |
Workplace Charging Scheme | £1,536,000 | £5,803,000 |
On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme | £6,028,000 | £20,578,000 |
This does not include finalised spending on infrastructure schemes for the 2022/23 financial year, which will be available in due course.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the deployment of EV charging infrastructure happens across all areas of the country. Last summer the Government launched the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Pilot, accelerating the delivery of chargepoints across the country. It has now expanded this LEVI pilot scheme to an additional sixteen local authorities, from West Sussex to Rotherham and Cumbria.
Work is being undertaken to develop the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF). This year, the Government will launch a public consultation on the RCF and a pilot scheme.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many electric vehicle charging points were installed in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022; and what recent assessment he has made of progress on the Department's plan to support the UK market to reach 300,000 public electric vehicle charging points by 2030.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Data held by the Department on electric vehicle charging devices in the UK is sourced from those installed or funded under government approved grant schemes, and from the electric vehicle charging platform Zap-Map. Charging devices not supplied via these schemes or recorded on Zap-Map are not included and the true number of charging devices will likely be higher than recorded in these figures.
The below table provides the data available for (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (ii) 2022. Figures are correct as at 1 October 2022, except for Zap-Map which are as at 1 February 2023.
Calendar year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
a.) Public charging devices (see note 1) | 4,270 | 7,600 | 8,680 |
b.) Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme | 54,197 | 115,799 | 70,682 |
c.) Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant sockets installed | - | - | 972 |
d.) Workplace Charging Scheme sockets installed | 6,257 | 11,093 | 11,891 |
The Government expects around 300,000 public electric vehicle chargepoints by 2030, as set out in the electric vehicle infrastructure strategy. The Government will focus intervention on two crucial sectors: high powered chargers on the strategic road network and local on-street charging.
We will accelerate the rollout of high powered chargers on the strategic road network through the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF). The Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund will support local authorities in England to work with industry and transform the availability of local on-street charging.
Table notes:
- indicates data not collected as grant scheme not running in this time period
1) Zap-Map data counts charging devices publicly available at any given point, with decommissioned chargepoints removed from the data supplied to us. Therefore, the number of installed public chargepoints in each given year is likely to be higher as this accounts for the number decommissioned and removed from the data.
2) The data across these sources and the columns in the table should not be summed to create a total as the public charging device statistics and EVHS statistics count charging devices whereas WCS and EVCG counts charging sockets, making them incompatible to sum together.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Marine Accident Investigation Branch will conclude its inquiry into the 32 deaths in the Channel on the 24 November 2021.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
The MAIB anticipates that it will circulate its draft report of the investigation for consultation early in the New Year and aims to publish its final report later next year.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the French coastguard’s call logs from 24 November 2021 relating to fatalities in the Channel; and if he will launch a public inquiry into that incident.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch announced on 3 February that they were commencing an investigation into the tragic events of 24 November 2021.
The Government has confirmed to the families that it is committed to ensuring that a full and thorough investigation is carried out into the tragic 24 November incident. We await the report from the MAIB’s investigation to consider the scope and form of any further investigation.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions her Department has had with representatives of (a) the Rail Delivery Group, (b) the Office of Rail and Road and (c) Train Operating Companies on wider roll-out of (i) Driver Only Operation and (ii) Driver Controlled Operation.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department has ongoing discussions with these organisations on a range of matters, including Driver Only Operation and Driver Controlled Operation.
Trains have operated safely in the UK for many years as driver only, or driver controlled. The Office of Rail and Road as the independent safety regulator has scrutinised this approach.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on which recent dates (a) she and (b) officials in her Department have met with representatives of the Rail Delivery Group to discuss industrial relations.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Officials meet generally at least weekly with senior representatives from industry including from Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to discuss industrial relations.
The Secretary of State has also met representatives of RDG since taking up office.