Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to provide adequate resources to help Enfield Council tackle air pollution by (a) delivering clean air zones, (b) encouraging the use of electric vehicles with recharging points, (c) encouraging cycling and walking and (d) delivering borough-wide air pollution monitoring networks.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to reflect this.
In 2020, London Boroughs received £25 million via the Active Travel Fund (ATF) to deliver safe cycling and walking routes in their areas. They have also received £13m through the Go Ultra Low City Scheme (GULCS) to drive the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles.
Over the last two financial years, London Borough of Enfield have been awarded a total of £117,000 through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, which will see 44 EV chargepoints installed across the Borough.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether electric scooters are legally required to have lights.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government held a consultation in 2018 to consider cycling offences causing serious injury or death as well as reviewing existing cycling offences.
The Government believes that there should be a separate framework of cycling offences, as compared with motoring offences, because it may not be proportionate to apply offences and their corresponding penalties intended for drivers of motor vehicles, to cyclists. The response to the consultation will be published before the end of this year but early next year at the latest.
On e-scooters, privately-owned e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements, and they can only be ridden on private land with the permission of the landowner. The law is very clear and there are existing penalties for improper use.
Although it is not a specific offence to cycle and use headphones, cyclists could be prosecuted by the police for careless or dangerous cycling. Cyclists and users of trial e-scooters have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and need to concentrate like all other road users and should not do anything that would affect their concentration and put themselves and other road users in danger.
For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, there are laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution.
In the UK, e-scooters are treated like any other motor vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The Government is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. We require trial e-scooters to meet minimum standards on the e-scooter design, including what lighting is required through administrative vehicle orders issued by the Secretary of State under s.44 and s.63 of the Road Traffic Act. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward legislation to make the use of headphones while (1) cycling, or (2) operating electric scooters, an offence.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government held a consultation in 2018 to consider cycling offences causing serious injury or death as well as reviewing existing cycling offences.
The Government believes that there should be a separate framework of cycling offences, as compared with motoring offences, because it may not be proportionate to apply offences and their corresponding penalties intended for drivers of motor vehicles, to cyclists. The response to the consultation will be published before the end of this year but early next year at the latest.
On e-scooters, privately-owned e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements, and they can only be ridden on private land with the permission of the landowner. The law is very clear and there are existing penalties for improper use.
Although it is not a specific offence to cycle and use headphones, cyclists could be prosecuted by the police for careless or dangerous cycling. Cyclists and users of trial e-scooters have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and need to concentrate like all other road users and should not do anything that would affect their concentration and put themselves and other road users in danger.
For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, there are laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution.
In the UK, e-scooters are treated like any other motor vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The Government is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. We require trial e-scooters to meet minimum standards on the e-scooter design, including what lighting is required through administrative vehicle orders issued by the Secretary of State under s.44 and s.63 of the Road Traffic Act. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring forward legislation for cycling offences; and whether these will include offences related to the use of electric scooters.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government held a consultation in 2018 to consider cycling offences causing serious injury or death as well as reviewing existing cycling offences.
The Government believes that there should be a separate framework of cycling offences, as compared with motoring offences, because it may not be proportionate to apply offences and their corresponding penalties intended for drivers of motor vehicles, to cyclists. The response to the consultation will be published before the end of this year but early next year at the latest.
On e-scooters, privately-owned e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements, and they can only be ridden on private land with the permission of the landowner. The law is very clear and there are existing penalties for improper use.
Although it is not a specific offence to cycle and use headphones, cyclists could be prosecuted by the police for careless or dangerous cycling. Cyclists and users of trial e-scooters have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and need to concentrate like all other road users and should not do anything that would affect their concentration and put themselves and other road users in danger.
For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment or causes nuisance, there are laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution.
In the UK, e-scooters are treated like any other motor vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The Government is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. We require trial e-scooters to meet minimum standards on the e-scooter design, including what lighting is required through administrative vehicle orders issued by the Secretary of State under s.44 and s.63 of the Road Traffic Act. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the electrification of vehicles on (1) lowering the cost of motoring, and consequentially, (2) the mode shift to public transport and active travel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
While electric vehicles (EVs) currently cost more to purchase than their petrol and diesel alternatives, EV motorists benefit from their comparatively cheaper running costs. It costs from 1p/mile to run a new electric vehicle, compared to around 10p per mile for new diesel/petrol vehicles. Additionally, we have put in place a tax regime that benefits motorists who choose cleaner vehicles. We expect the upfront cost and total cost of ownership of EVs to come down and demand to grow even further as they become more commonplace.
Our ambitions for zero emission driving will be supported by an accompanying package of £2.8 billion, with up to £1 billion to support the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains, £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure and £582 million for plug in vehicle grants. Accelerating modal shift to public and active transport is one of the strategic priorities for our forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan and forms a key part of both last year’s cycling and walking plan “Gear Change” and the recent National Bus Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the levels of (1) personal, and (2) commercial, vehicle transportation on the roads following the COVID-19 pandemic; and if so, (a) to what level they plan to, and (b) how they intend to, reduce such activity.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In response to lockdown measures implemented by the Government, demand for all modes of transport, including road usage, has fallen. My Department regularly publishes statistics on this subject, which are available on the gov.uk website (“Transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic”).
Transport will play a key role in recovery from Covid-19, and there is opportunity to build upon some of the behavioural changes which have been evident, such as an increase in active travel. In addition, my Department remains committed to the achievement of longer-term strategic objectives, publishing three Priority Outcomes as part of Spending Review 2020. One of our Priority Outcomes is to tackle climate change and improve air quality through the decarbonisation of transport. Cars and vans alone accounted for a fifth of the UK’s total domestic greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.
We are continuing to assess what needs to be done to decarbonise our transport system, of which road transport represents one of the highest emitting elements. Road transport will continue to play a key role in allowing people and goods to move efficiently around the country, but to support the Government’s aim to build back better we have already announced significant measures relating to road transport. These include:
Further details of these plans for decarbonising cars and freight will form part of Department’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan, to be published later this year. The plan will set out in detail what Government, business and society will need to do to put us on a pathway to achieving carbon budgets and net-zero emissions by 2050.
We are also seeking to develop measures to encourage changes in the way we travel following the end of Covid restrictions, such as through increasing levels of walking and cycling and ensuring a reliable and safe public transport network. This includes:
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK skill base for recycling and disposal of lithium ion batteries; and what plans the Government has to manage demand for those services.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
To maximise on the economic and environmental opportunities of a transition to zero emission vehicles, the UK Government is supporting the creation of a circular economy for electric vehicle batteries.
The future demand for the recycling and disposal of lithium ion batteries and the UK skills base in this area has been assessed by Government and research into battery re-cycling, and the large scale industrialisation, is currently being undertaken.
To support this vital work, we have committed £318m to the Faraday Battery Challenge to fund the research, development and scale-up of world-leading battery technology in the UK. The innovation strand of the Faraday Battery Challenge is supporting several business-led collaborative R&D projects on reuse and recycle of electric vehicle batteries.
Policy is being formulated based on this research and Government is committed to building on the Faraday research programmes to ensure that we meet the skills and demand required to support this growing industry.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what schemes the £3.8 billion allocated to mitigating air pollution is being spent; when each element of that funding is planned to be spent; and what funding has been disbursed to date.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have put in place a £3.8 billion plan to improve air quality and deliver cleaner transport. This includes:
o Over £900 million in vehicle grant support to bring ULEV cars and vans onto UK roads, supporting over 240,000 claims
o Over £400 million in grants delivered through Innovate UK into ultra-low and zero emission technologies
o £130 million invested to support the purchase of over 1,700 low emission buses and supporting infrastructure through the Green Bus Fund* and the Low Emission Bus Scheme
o £40 million in Go Ultra Low Cities with ambitious plans to become global exemplars of ultra low emission vehicle uptake
o Over £20 million across 27 local authorities, to install chargepoint infrastructure dedicated to electric taxis and PHVs
In addition to the £3.8 billion referred to, Government has committed a further £2.5 billion to support a number of cities improve their local transport systems through the Transforming Cities Fund; a number of these projects will help deliver air quality improvements. A further £5 billion has also been announced by the Prime Minister to deliver cleaner buses and improved services and to boost cycling and walking. This funding will help improve air quality.
To accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles a further £1 billion was announced at March Budget to extend plug in vehicle grants to 2023 and support the roll out of Electric Vehicles infrastructure over the next five years.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) financial and (b) other resources he is making available to help local authorities become carbon neutral.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities have a vital role in meeting our net zero commitment. Support is available from departments across Government for councils seeking to undertake local action on climate change. Recent examples include the Green Homes Grant (BEIS) and Active Travel Fund (DfT).
On 8 July, the Chancellor announced a £2 billion Green Homes Grant scheme to upgrade homes across England. £500 million funding will be delivered through local authorities, to improve the energy efficiency of low-income households. This will help reduce fuel poverty and support the installation of low carbon heating.
The £250 million emergency active travel fund announced on 9 May is designed to help local authorities create an environment that is safe for both walking and cycling in their regions. The money will help create pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors. We want to support all communities across England who want to change the way they use their streets and new guidance has already been published to tell councils how they can give more road space to cyclists and pedestrians.
To encourage drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles as part of a greener future, the Government has also announced an extra £10 million to incentivise local authorities to install up to 7,200 additional on-street electric vehicle chargepoints, doubling the current funding amount for the second time this year.
It is for authorities to decide what measures are best aligned with local opportunities and needs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support he plans to provide to Local Authorities to help maintain the reduced pollution levels recorded during the covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Councils are crucial in preparing for and mitigating climate change. MHCLG is working across Whitehall to ensure the strategy for net zero recognises the role of towns, communities and regional actors.
As we move towards the renewal phase we have an opportunity to consider where we may make lasting changes, for example to our transport behaviours, in order to capture those environmental benefits we have recently seen in our communities. It is important that we use this opportunity to build back?greener?so our towns and cities are healthier, cleaner and more resilient.???
The new £250 million emergency active travel fund announced on 9 May is designed to help local authorities create an environment that is safe for both walking and cycling in their regions.??The money will help create pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors. We want to support all communities across England who want to change the way they use their streets and new guidance has already been published to tell councils how they can give more road space to cyclists and pedestrians.
Alongside the funding announcement, the Department for Transport published statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004, providing advice on the changes to road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. The guidance is available at:?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reallocating-road-space-in-response-to-covid-19-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities??
To encourage drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles as part of a greener future, we also announced an extra £10 million to incentivise local authorities to install up to 7,200 additional on-street electric vehicle?chargepoints, doubling the current funding amount for the second time this year.
It is for authorities to decide what measures are best aligned with local opportunities and needs. These huge levels of investment will help councils protect the environment in ways that could have otherwise taken years to achieve.