Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of changing regulations on the weight of vans during the transition to electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Electric powertrains can make zero emission vans heavier than their petrol or diesel equivalents. To incentivise the uptake of electric vans with a viable payload (weight of goods they can carry), the Department has increased the regulatory weight threshold from 3.5 tonnes to 4.25 tonnes for driver licence and operator licence rules.
The Department has announced plans to further optimise these driver licence rules by removing current conditions for utilising this additional weight allowance. The Government is also reviewing weight thresholds that impact regulations for electric vans in other areas, including roadworthiness testing (MOT) and drivers’ hours rules. Safety is a primary consideration in assessing any changes to regulatory weight thresholds.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of Grangemouth Refinery on UK energy self-sufficiency.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The owners of Grangemouth refinery, Petroineos, recently announced that they were putting in place the enabling works for a future transition to an import terminal. Petroineos have not taken a decision on when refining operations will cease but they anticipate they will continue until at least May 2025.
The impact of a cessation of refining operations on UK energy self-sufficiency will depend on the supply and demand for fuels at the time. The Government’s Net Zero policies to increase use of electric vehicles and renewable transport fuels, will progressively reduce demand for conventional fuels.
The UK already both imports and exports fuels to balance demand and supply. The Petroineos plans should continue to ensure that customer needs are met.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions have been brought by local authorities under the Highways Act 1980 against motorists seeking to charge electric vehicles on the street.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions for criminal offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tools.
Offences covered include the offence of ‘other obstruction, waiting and parking offences’, where this offence is most likely to be covered. However, to identify whether the prosecutions are for charging electric vehicles on the street specifically would require examination of individual court records, which would be of disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address any misinformation surrounding electric vehicles; and what consideration they have given to reintroducing incentives for purchasing electric cars.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As committed in the Plan for Drivers, the Government has published factual information on electric vehicle (EVs) and EV charging infrastructure, to address misinformation surrounding EVs.
Due to the success of the Plug-in Car Grant in driving the growth of the EV market, the Government is now targeting its incentives toward charging infrastructure and grants for harder to transition vehicles. In June 2022, the Government published a public evaluation report, highlighting that while the plug-in car grant was vital in building the early market for EVs, it had since been having less of an effect on demand.
The Government continues to provide tax incentives to encourage the uptake of EVs. EVs currently pay zero rates of VED and from 2025, they will continue to have preferential first year rates in comparison to the most polluting vehicles. Favourable rates of company car tax for EVs have been confirmed out to April 2028.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what conversations Ministers and officials have had with local authorities which have published local guidance against, or sought to restrict, the use of cable gullies or cable protectors to charge electric vehicles; and what was the outcome of those conversations.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of the Plan for Drivers, the Government has committed to providing guidance for local authorities on the safe and effective use of cross-pavement solutions. This guidance is being drafted and officials have engaged several local authorities as part of this process, including site visits. Local authority feedback will be reflected in the guidance, which we intend to publish in Spring 2024.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many motorway service stations do not have chargepoints for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Out of 114 motorway service areas in England, only three do not have any open-access (can be used with any vehicle) chargepoints. These are Leicester Forest East Southbound, Leicester Forest East Northbound and Tebay Southbound. However, Tebay Southbound does have Tesla only chargepoints.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to mitigate the rising cost of insurance for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance.
It is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
However, the Department will continue to engage with motor insurance stakeholders to understand the challenges facing motor insurance providers and any potential solutions. The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on delivering the Joint Action Plan on Realising the Full Potential of Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government continues to engage with industry to deliver the joint Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) and Zemo Partnership Action Plan where appropriate. To address actions 2 and 3 on growing and developing the supply chain, the Government made up to £350,000 of funding available for research and development projects to grow the zero emission motorcycle supply chain in the UK. The Department is also working with the recently established “Powered Light Vehicle Community” to address action 9 on creating a formal L-category community. In addition, the Department is engaged with the MCIA’s recent licensing review proposals to address action 6 to review minimum testing and licence entitlements for all battery electric L-Category vehicles.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Government response: British Industry Supercharger Network Charging Compensation Scheme, updated by her Department on 11 October 2023, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government laid The Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy Regulations 2024 Statutory Instrument in Parliament on 22nd January 2024, which will be debated once Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Motorcycle Industry Association's publication entitled Realising the full potential of zero emission powered light vehicles – a joint action plan for Government and industry, published in February 2022 what steps his Department is taking to improve uptake of mopeds.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government’s Plug-in Motorcycle Grant encourages early market growth of zero emission powered light vehicles. It has supported the purchase of over 12,000 zero emission powered light vehicles, and according to our registration data, 40.6% of mopeds registered in 2022 were battery electric. All grants remain under continual review to ensure best value for money.