Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What steps he is taking to improve charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government’s vision is to have one of the best infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles, and we want chargepoints to be accessible, affordable and secure. The Government’s grant schemes fund chargepoints at homes, workplaces and on residential streets. The £400m public-private Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will add thousands more public chargepoints to the 17,000 already installed. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act gives Government new powers to regulate the chargepoint market and improve the experience for consumers.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce carbon emissions from shipping.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK was a leading participant in the April 2018 negotiations that led to the Initial International Maritime Organization Greenhouse Gas Strategy. The UK continues to play a leading role in efforts to address carbon emissions from international shipping.
Domestically, we will be launching our Clean Maritime Plan in Spring 2019. This will set out plans to address both greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions from shipping, and will underpin our long-term vision of zero emission shipping.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of extending rail electrification from Bristol to Taunton.
Answered by Claire Perry
No such assessment has been made. Network Rail is currently assessing the case for further electrification of the rail network. It plans to publish a draft update to the industry electrification strategy in early 2016, taking into account the outcome of the review by Sir Peter Hendy of Network Rail’s programme of rail investment.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase investment in rail infrastructure and services to provide additional public transport support for construction of Hinckley Point C nuclear power station.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department has provided £2.8m funding to Somerset Council to upgrade transport links before construction begins. It will help guide the Council on the development of business cases for road, rail and public transport changes and on bidding for funding to support this, including seeking an appropriate contribution from third parties.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his ministerial counterparts on ensuring that road and rail links through Somerset are protected by stronger flood defences and mitigation measures.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department for Transport continues to meet regularly with Somerset County Council to discuss a number of issues related to transport, including resilience. The Minister with responsibility for roads, my Hon Friend, the Hon Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), recently sent a letter to all local highway authorities in England with respect to this including reminding councils of their duties in respect to clearing drains and gullies to prevent the risk of surface water flooding on the local road network . In addition the Department for Transport provided over £22 million, as part of the Government response to the flood events of 2013/14 and the Somerset Flood Action Plan. This funding helped in raising the main road into Muchelney and also installing four culverts at Beer Wall to reduce the risks of flooding and local communities being cut-off in the future.
Following flooding incidents in 2012-14,Network Rail iscurrently implementing a £31million package of schemes to improve the resilience of the Great Western route through the Thames Valley and the West of England. Work has already been completed at Whiteball Tunnel, near Taunton.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Hinckley Point C nuclear power station project is served by a road and rail network resilient to climate change.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department has provided £2.8m funding to Somerset Council to upgrade transport links before construction begins. It will help guide the Council on the development of business cases for road, rail and public transport changes and on bidding for funding to support this, including seeking an appropriate contribution from third parties.