Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of additional road vehicle movements per year resulting from the decision to reduce the budget for rail freight mode shift revenue support grants.

Following the final bid round of 2016/17, the maximum number of lorry journeys that Mode Shift Revenue Grant (MSRS) support would help to remove from Britain’s roads is 983,162 for that year. Funding allocated at the first bid round for 2017/18 and 2018/19 will help to remove up to 796,854 and 776,497 lorry journeys respectively.

These are estimates not definitive figures. This is because awards may not be delivered in full. There are also some further bid rounds to come for 2017/18 and 2018/19, which may increase the figures or alter what is covered by this grant and the parallel Waterborne Freight Grant scheme.