Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money is allocated in the current financial year to the Mode Shift Revenue Support Grant; and what plans they have, if any, to increase this allocation in view of the benefit of reducing demand for lorry drivers and the associated reduction in pollution.

The Government is providing £20m through its mode shift freight grant schemes in 2021/22 to support rail and water freight services on routes where they deliver environmental benefits over road haulage but are more expensive to operate.

The Government is supportive of modal shift of freight from road to rail wherever possible and is exploring the potential to increase rail freight capacity on the rail network to help reduce carbon emissions from the freight sector.