Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish statutory guidance for local authorities on public electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Answered by Jesse Norman
A variety of tools and examples of best practice are available for local authorities to utilise through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Support Body, which was appointed by the Government. This includes a ‘Knowledge Repository’,which provides local authorities with articles and guidance on electric vehicle infrastructure. This is available to all local authorities in England at no cost.
In addition, the Government is currently working, with the Institute of Engineering and Technology, on guidance to aid local authorities as they plan their electric vehicle infrastructure. The guidance is expected to be published later this year.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to introduce legislative proposals to (a) create Great British railways and (b) progress contractual reforms for train operators.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are working closely with the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) and the sector and will progress legislation when parliamentary time allows. Many reforms and tangible benefits for rail users can be delivered ahead of legislation, including workforce reform, continuing the rollout of Pay-As-You-Go ticketing, simplifying fares, building local partnerships as well as the publication of the first draft of the Long-Term Strategy for Rail.
New Passenger Service Contracts will balance the right performance incentives with simple, commercially driven targets that ensure a central role for the private sector in delivering for passengers. We will consult with the market to develop and design the detail of the new contracts, before launching competitions in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 17 February 2020 to Question 13938 of that session, what recent estimate he has made of the average number of passengers on a public service bus route.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The average bus occupancy in England for 2021/22 was 9.5. This was an increase on the previous year, when it was 5.7. Both of these figures are impacted by movement restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, the average bus occupancy had remained steady in England at about 12.5 from 2017/18 to 2019/20.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of constructing Reading Green Park station.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department anticipates the cost of constructing Reading Green Park station will be £25.123m. Government funding of £4.8m was awarded to the project as part of the second round of the New Stations Fund, with remaining funding coming from local sources. The station is currently forecast to open in early May 2023.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the implementation of the Government's road building schemes on annual levels of carbon emissions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government always considers the climate impact of its actions, which is why the UK has been so successful in reducing our carbon emissions to date. In the case of road building, that involves looking at embedded carbon, where DfT projects have pioneered reducing the carbon associated with construction, and carbon from vehicles operating on a new road.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road users have been stopped and investigated for breaking the legal noise limits or for using illegal modified exhausts in the last five years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Enforcement of vehicle noise requirements on the road is the responsibility of the police, consequently the Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of fines, stops or investigations related to vehicle noise requirements.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road users have been fined for (a) breaking legal noise limits and (b) using illegal modified exhausts in the last five years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Enforcement of vehicle noise requirements on the road is the responsibility of the police, consequently the Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of fines, stops or investigations related to vehicle noise requirements.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of the number of (a) cars and (b) vans on the road in (a) 2030, (b) 2040 and (c) 2050.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Vehicle numbers are estimated as an intermediate step in the process of forecasting of future vehicle milage.
In 2022 the Government published the National Road Traffic Projections (NRTP)1, which projects future demand for road transport under a range of scenarios. The outputs provided below correspond to the ‘core’ scenario of the NRTP. As set out in the NRTP there is significant uncertainty related to forecasts of this nature and a range of alternative futures are also feasible. These projections are estimated using DfT’s Road Carbon and Fuel Fleet (RoCaFF) model which forecasts changes in fleet composition and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-analytical-assurance-framework-strength-in-numbers/dft-register-of-business-critical-models-april-2021
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-road-traffic-projections
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) ensure that hard shoulders are reinstated along every motorway and (b) abolish the smart motorway programme on all UK motorways.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government has decided to cancel plans for the construction of all new smart motorway schemes. Restoring the hard shoulder while maintaining capacity would be hugely disruptive and come at enormous cost.
The added congestion caused would push motorists from motorways, the safest roads in the country, onto roads that are less safe, putting all road users at increased risk.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the introduction of zero-emission aircraft.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government published the Jet Zero Strategy in 2022 which sets out its approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050. The Strategy considered the potential for zero emission flight alongside other measures.
The Government is investing a record £685 million over three years into R&D in the UK aerospace sector through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme. The Department announced in February £113 million of co-investment with industry in three Rolls-Royce led projects on hydrogen in aviation as well as funding towards Vertical Aerospace, who are developing a battery-electric aircraft in the South-West of England.
As part of the Jet Zero Council, the Department has also established a dedicated Delivery Group to convene activity across Government, industry and academia on the development of Zero Emission Flight.