Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the car insurance taskforce has made on its work; and when he expects it to report.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is committed to tackling the high costs of motor insurance. The cross-government motor insurance taskforce, launched in October 2024, has been comprised of ministers from relevant government departments, the Financial Conduct Authority and Competition and Markets Authority. It has been supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sectors.
This taskforce had the 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.
The taskforce’s final report is intended to be published shortly.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Great British Railways Retail will be required to comply with the statutory Code of Practice on retail market conduct managed by the Office of Rail and Road.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The retail industry code of practice announced in the Government's response to the Railways Bill consultation will incorporate clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) should interact with all market participants. The code of practice will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). GBR’s licence will require it to comply, with the ORR able to demand corrective action if it considers that GBR has not done so.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2025 to Question 51729 on Railways: Electrification, when she plans to publish the whole-life costs for (a) full and (b) partial electrification for all rolling stock traction types.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Officials from the Department for Transport are working closely with Network Rail to produce their new 'Long-term Planning for Rail Decarbonisation' strategy, this strategy will include an examination of the whole life costs of each option to upgrade traction to set out a realistic, affordable, and deliverable approach to a net zero railway. We expect Network Rail to engage with industry as part of the development of this strategy and we expect to see a draft of this strategy before the end of this year.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pu if she will list all reports and documents that train operators have (a) submitted to and (b) discussed with her Department on the reliability of battery (i) bi-mode, (ii) tri-mode, (iii) battery/electric hybrid and (iv) fully electric trains.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department officials are working closely with train operators and Network Rail to build a full understanding of the different traction opportunities as we work towards Net Zero in rail by 2050.
The rail industry has developed a range of evidence supporting the known case for the reliability and performance benefits of electric traction over diesel traction in rail. This includes work by the Rail Safety & Standards Board, the Railway Industry Association, and Network Rail, examples of which are provided below.
It is also important to note that these technologies, particularly battery, are rapidly developing and our understanding is constantly growing with the support of Network Rail and our train operators.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason 3-year Network Railcards have been discontinued.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Network Railcard was introduced by British Rail in 1986 on a one-year basis, which continues to exist. There has been no withdrawal of a three-year Network Railcard, which has never existed.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2025 to Question 51730 on Railways: Electrification, if she will list all reports and documents that train operators have (a) submitted to and (b) discussed with her Department on the acceleration capability of trains powered by (i) batteries, (ii) overhead catenary systems and (iii) contact rail systems for operating speeds of up to 125 miles per hour.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department officials are working closely with train operators and Network Rail to build a full understanding of the different traction opportunities as we work towards Net Zero in rail by 2050.
The Rail Industry has developed a range of evidence supporting the known case for the reliability and performance benefits of electric traction over diesel traction in rail. This includes work by the Rail Safety & Standards Board, the Railway Industry Association, and Network Rail, examples of which are provided below.
It is also important to note that these technologies, particularly battery, are rapidly developing and our understanding is constantly growing with the support of Network Rail and our train operators.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had meetings with Yutong on the supply of (a) buses and (b) batteries to the UK.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To date the Secretary of State has not had any meetings with Yutong on the supply of buses and batteries to the UK.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) buses and (b) batteries manufactured by Yutong that are supplied to bus companies operating in the UK.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information on the number of Yutong electric buses operating in the UK is already published as part of the vehicle licensing statistics.
The Department does not hold data on whether batteries manufactured by Yutong are supplied separately to bus companies operating in the UK.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve data collection on e-bike (a) collisions and (b) journey purpose.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
E-bikes (both privately owned and as part of bike share schemes) are currently included within the pedal cycle category within the STATS19 system used by police forces to record data on personal injury collisions and overseen by the Standing Committee on Road Injury Collision statistics. The Committee have agreed to explore whether the guidance on reporting of vehicle types, including e-bikes, can be improved.
At a population level, we understand there to be a low rate of usage of e-bikes. As and when usage grows, there is the potential for further insight via the National Travel Survey.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact Avanti West Coast’s non-tilting 110mph (a) Class 805 and (b) Class 807 trains on the capacity of the West Coast Main Line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new Avanti trains of classes 805 and 807 will make a material improvement to journeys formerly made on the Voyager trains, and will not reduce the capacity of the West Coast main line.