Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of minibuses to the accessibility of transport in the UK.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Government has funded 17 demand responsive transport (DRT) pilots in 15 local authorities under the Rural Mobility Fund to evaluate how smaller vehicles and DRT can be used to improve accessibility. The pilots seek to provide real-world experience and data about how different DRT models work and provide an opportunity to better understand the challenges associated with introducing DRT in rural and suburban settings.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the ability of the national minibus fleet to meet national passenger demand for minibus services.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria is being used to decide the headquarters of the Great British Railways organisation.
Answered by Wendy Morton
A competition to select a national headquarters for Great British Railways, to be based outside of London, ensuring skilled jobs, investment and economic benefits are focused nationwide, has now been launched.
Six selection criteria will be used to inform, support and complete the selection process. These will be:
The GBR transition team will shortlist the best applications in May, after which a public vote will help determine the winning location.
More details on each of the criteria are given within the ‘Guidance to Applicants’ on the GBRTT website, available at the following link.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the (a) £2.5 billion total funding and (b) additional £620 million for electric vehicle charging his Department plans to allocate to London; and what that funding allocated to London is planned to be used for.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Building on the £1.9 billion from Spending Review 2020, the Government has committed an additional £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles to support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with a particular focus on local on-street residential charging, and targeted plug-in vehicle grants. The total funding committed by this Government to both electric vehicle grants and infrastructure is £2.5 billion.
To date, grant funding for both electric vehicles and their supporting charging infrastructure has been demand led so there is no specific amount of funding for either that has been allocated to London. We encourage all Local Authorities, electric vehicle drivers and workplaces in London to apply for grant funding through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint, Electric Vehicle Homecharge and Workplace Charging Schemes to assist with the cost of buying and installing electric vehicle chargepoints on residential streets, at drivers’ homes and at workplaces.
We are considering the design of new schemes to ensure good provision across the country. Our forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will set out how the Government will intervene to address the gaps between the current market status and our vision, and how we will monitor progress going forward to 2030.