Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to her Department was of ministerial severance payments in each year from 19 December 2019 to 30 May 2024; which Ministers received a severance payment; and how much each Minister received.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 19 December 2019 to 30 May 2024 the cost of ministerial severance payments are as follows:
19 December 2019 – 31 December 2019: nil
1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020: nil
1 January 2021 – 31 December 2021: nil
1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022: £41,575
1 January 2023 – 31 December 2023: £7,920
1 January 2024 – 30 May 2024: nil
The following Ministers received a severance payment of the following value:
Grant Shapps MP received a compensation payment of £16,876 when he left Government on 6 September 2022.
Karl McCartney MP received a compensation payment of £5,593 when he left Government on 7 September 2022.
Robert Courts MP received a compensation payment of £5,593 when he left Government on 18 September 2022.
Kevin Foster MP received a compensation payment of £7,920 when he left Government on 25 October 2022.
Katherine Fletcher MP received a compensation payment of £5,593 when she left Government on 26 October 2022.
Jesse Norman MP received a compensation payment of £7,920 when he left Government on 13 November 2023.
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 the Institution of Civil Engineers and All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure report entitled What are the public behavioural changes required to meet net zero?, published in February 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his polices of the finding that funding safe active travel infrastructure may support people looking to change their behaviour to reduce carbon emissions; and what steps his Department is taking to incentivise transport choices that reduce carbon emissions.
Answered by Guy Opperman
This Government’s approach to decarbonisation is not to stop people doing things, but to enable people to do the same things differently and more sustainably. The Government set out its plans for decarbonising transport in its 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) and has continued to build on these plans.
The Government agrees that funding safe active travel infrastructure can enable more people to choose walking, cycling and wheeling for short journeys, and that this in turn can reduce carbon emissions. The TDP includes an assessment of the carbon savings that are projected to be delivered by the Government’s current and projected future support for active travel. This support includes the investment of around £3 billion over the current Parliament, much of which will directly support the roll-out of safe and attractive active travel infrastructure.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 15716 on Parking: Pedestrian Areas, what his planned timetable is to respond to the Local Government Association's report entitled The Path to Inclusive Footways, published on 10 February 2024.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government welcomes the report from the Local Government Association, which it will consider in the development of future policies and programmes.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what was the CO2 intensity for new internal combustion car engines in each of the last three years.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The carbon intensity of newly registered passenger vehicles is measured in grams of CO2 emitted per kilometre driven. The last three years of data held on the fleet wide average CO2 emissions of newly registered petrol and diesel cars in the UK shows an increase over time. Excluding zero emission vehicle registrations, the provisional average for new petrol cars only in 2020 was 140.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre, 143.3 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2021 and 143.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2022. The provisional average for new diesel cars only in 2020 was 153.8 grams of CO2 per kilometre, 161.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2021 and 164.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2022. When considering the overall fleet of new cars, including zero emission, the average CO2 intensity has decreased over the last three years. The provisional average for 2020 was 126.6 grams of CO2 per kilometre, 118.5 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2021 and 110.8g grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2022. This data set is available at: Vehicle licensing statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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 report entitled The path to inclusive footways, published by the Local Government Association on 10 February 2024, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the views of local authorities on proposals to improve management of pavement parking.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Local authorities are responsible for parking restrictions and already have powers to address pavement parking by implementing Traffic Regulation Orders. The Department has consulted on further options to help local authorities outside London tackle this issue and has been giving careful consideration to the views expressed by the LGA, individual councils and all other respondents. We will publish a formal response when final decisions have been taken.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased car (a) sizes and (b) weights on (i) road safety and (ii) climate change.
Answered by Guy Opperman
A width limit for passenger cars is already in place. All vehicles are required to meet rigorous requirements for safety to protect occupants and other road users and stringent environmental standards. With respect to climate change, our Zero Emission Vehicle mandate will put us on a pathway to ensuring that, by 2035, all new cars and vans will be zero emissions at the exhaust.
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 introduce a specific width limit for passenger cars.
Answered by Guy Opperman
A width limit for passenger cars is already in place. All vehicles are required to meet rigorous requirements for safety to protect occupants and other road users and stringent environmental standards. With respect to climate change, our Zero Emission Vehicle mandate will put us on a pathway to ensuring that, by 2035, all new cars and vans will be zero emissions at the exhaust.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which of the commitments in the 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan have been (a) completed and (b) abandoned; and when he plans to complete each of the remaining commitments.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The Government’s 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) set out 78 commitments to support decarbonisation of the UK’s transport system by 2050. Since then, significant progress has been made with over a third of these commitments having been delivered or exceeded within three years. For example, the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate entered into force in January 2024 - the world’s most ambitious national level regulation of its kind. We regularly review our transport decarbonisation policies to ensure they are on track and are committed to publishing our progress and reviewing our net zero pathway at least every five years.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a list of civil enforcement areas that were granted to local authorities for the enforcement of bus lanes in 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman
No additional local authorities were granted bus lane enforcement powers in 2023.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to publish his Department's response to its consultation entitled Ending the sale of new, non-zero emission buses, coaches and minibuses, published on 26 March 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The National Bus Strategy and Transport Decarbonsiation Plan contained a commitment to set a legal end date for the sale of new diesel buses and set an expectation for when the entire bus fleet will be zero-emission.
In spring 2022, the Department consulted on determining the exact date for ending the sale of new, non-zero emission buses. Calls for evidence about the decarbonisation of coaches and minibuses were also conducted. We will provide further information in due course.