Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the availability of hydrogen vehicle refuelling stations.

The Government has provided capital funding to support an early network of hydrogen refuelling stations. £5m has been allocated to build or upgrade 12 stations to enable the launch of fuel cell electric vehicles by vehicle manufacturers. This has helped secure the UK as one of five global launch markets for fuel cell electric vehicles. In addition, earlier this year £23m of extra funding was announced to increase the uptake of fuel cell electric vehicles alongside the expansion of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. The funding competition for the first phase of this programme is now closed and all proposals are currently undergoing assessment.