Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage the manufacture of e-bikes in the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We want the UK to be the best place to start and grow a business and to be a world leader in the way people, goods, and services move. As part of our planning for the future UK economy, we will be policies that will move us towards a stronger, fairer, greener economy that builds on UK strengths, such as science and entrepreneurship.
We have invested £350 million in the seven High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres across the UK, which are supporting manufacturers to bring new technologies to market, and we will be investing an additional £600 million by the end of 2023.
As part of the Future of Transport Grand Challenge, we are working with the Department for Transport to ensure firms, including e-bike manufacturers, have access to the right supply of talented labour and the right business support, including access to finance. The Department for Transport is also working to create a flexible regulatory framework for micromobility vehicles and, through funding to support the uptake of e-bikes and e-cargo bikes, is helping us to create domestic demand, which is essential to growing the UK e-bike manufacturing base.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of further encouraging the uptake of cycling by extending the subsidies his Department provides to other electric vehicles to include e-bikes.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The cycle to work scheme allows employees to access e-bikes at a discount, and since February 2018 the Department has supported the uptake of e-cargo bikes through a £2m grant programme. The Department has also supported some local authorities with local schemes to support the uptake of e-bikes, through its £20 million per annum Access Fund. The Department will keep under review the case for further support for e-bikes following the announcement on 9 May of a £2 billion package of support for cycling and walking.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on the use of electric scooters on public highways; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including e-scooters in the cycle to work scheme run by HMRC.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department is considering the use of electric scooters closely and recognises that people want to take advantage of the opportunities personal vehicles can offer. The Department is committed to encouraging innovation in transport as well as improving road safety, but new modes of transport must be safe and secure by design.
The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy, published on 19 March 2019 includes a Regulatory Review which will address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future.
The Strategy can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-mobility-urban-strategy
The Department will use the Regulatory Review to examine current legislation and determine from the evidence what is needed to make the necessary changes for a safe and healthy future. One strand of this will look at options for enabling micromobility devices, and a consultation will be issued in due course and when we have considered the consultation responses we will consider the legislative steps needed.
One of the principles of the Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy is that cycling and walking should remain the best options for short journeys and we remain committed to that. The Department has no plans to include e-scooters in the Cycle to Work Scheme. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee tax-benefit scheme that enables employees to hire cycles and cycle safety equipment for active travel to work from their employer, or from a third party, in return for a deduction from their earnings via salary sacrifice.
Asked by: Ronnie Cowan (Scottish National Party - Inverclyde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to include e-scooters in the Active Travel portfolio.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department has no plans to include e-scooters within the Active Travel portfolio.
The Future of Mobility Regulatory Review is considering appropriate legislation framework for emerging micro-mobility vehicles including electric scooters. One of the principles of the Future of Mobility Urban Strategy is that cycling and walking should remain the best options for short journeys and we remain committed to that.
The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy, published on 19 March 2019 includes a Regulatory Review to address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future. The Strategy can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-mobility-urban-strategy
The Department will use the Regulatory Review to examine current legislation and determine from the evidence what is needed to make the necessary changes for a safe and healthy future. One strand of this will look at options for enabling micro-mobility devices, and a call for evidence will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Road Investment Strategy 2015-2021, what progress has been made on delivering sustainable transport outcomes through environmental, social and economic objectives.
Answered by George Freeman
Through the Road Investment Strategy (RIS), Highways England is investing £675 million to improve the environmental, social and economic impacts of the Strategic Road Network, with designated funds across five areas: environmental; cycling, safety and integration; air quality; growth and housing; and innovation.
In April 2017 Highways England published its Sustainable Development and Environment Strategies, setting out its vision for ensuring its work supports society and the wider national interest, as well as both minimising environmental impact, and improving it where possible.
Some examples of activity in 2018-19 include the delivery of 300 noise mitigation measures towards its 5-year target of 1150, 59 more electric vehicle charge points to meet its commitment of 95% coverage by the end of 2019-20, and a contribution to Leeds City Council’s scheme to implement an electric van centre of excellence.
Over the course of the RIS, Highways England is also supporting 28 schemes as part of its Growth and Housing Fund to unlock the development of housing and employment sites across the country. Highways England expect over 45,000 homes and 44,000 jobs to be developed over the lifetime of these developments.
Highways England continues to work closely with the Department for Transport, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and the Joint Air Quality Unit to support the delivery of the National Air Quality Plan, including work to meet limits on nitrogen dioxide in the shortest timescale possible.
As a statutory planning consultee, Highways England responds to local authority plans and planning applications in a way that seeks to promote sustainable transport outcomes and avoid unnecessary works to the SRN. Highways England’s Planning Guide, published earlier in the RIS, sets out how it does this, alongside its requirement to ensure that any new development can safely be accommodated around its network. Highways England regularly engages with those in the development industry to ensure its responses and approach to planning are in line with its expectations as well as those of its customers, including how it enables development through delivery of sustainable transport outcomes.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential environmental benefits of permitting use of light electric vehicles on (a) roads and (b) public paths.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Department has made no assessment of the potential environmental benefits of light electric vehicles, however cycling and walking do offer active travel benefits. The Future of Mobility regulatory review will address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future. This is a broad programme of work, and we expect to publish an initial consultation in autumn this year.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to extend the scope of Office for Low Emission Vehicles grants to include e-bikes and e-cargo bikes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
OLEV grants are available to bridge the cost gap between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine equivalent road vehicles. We do not plan at this stage to extend grant funding to e-bikes and e-cargo bikes. The Government recognises the significant potential benefits associated with e-bikes, and its plans to boost all forms of cycling are set out in the statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, published in April 2017. The Department has supported various e-bike initiatives in recent years, and some e-bikes are eligible for support under the Government’s cycle to work scheme.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money of public investment in (a) roads and (b) electric vehicles in comparison with investment in cycling and walking.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Roads are fundamental for the nation’s economic success. The roads investment strategy will ensure that success by providing the transport infrastructure to keep the population connected and the economy flowing. The Department for Transport has carried out analysis of the Roads Investment Strategy and this shows it to be very high value for money. The analysis is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/411417/ris-economic-analysis.pdf
Investment in the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) programme has also been assessed in line with the Department for Transport’s appraisal guidance and is expected to deliver very high value for money.
The Department for Transport has also looked at the value for money of a number of recent cycling and walking interventions and found them to offer high or very high value for money. The analysis is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-the-economic-case-for-action
It is worth noting that investment in roads does not just benefit motorists but can also have benefits for cyclists. For example, the Roads Investment Strategy includes a ring-fenced fund of £100mn to 2020/21 to improve provision for cyclists travelling alongside and crossing the strategic road network. Highways England has also committed to cycle-proof all new road investments. We are also providing nearly £6bn funding for local highways road maintenance over the 6-year period to 2020/21, which will help to tackle potholes and improve local roads.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress his Department has made on increasing the use of renewable energy in transport in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) is the UK’s primary mechanism for meeting our targets for renewable energy in transport. The target is national and we do not require fuel suppliers to break down their reported volumes of renewable transport fuel supplied by local authority area.
The volume of biofuel supplied under the RTFO has increased from 2.7 per cent of fuel supplied in its first year (2008/09) to 3.46 per cent in 2013/14. Over this period average greenhouse savings of biofuels supplied relative to petrol and diesel increased from 46 per cent to 69 per cent (without taking account of emissions from indirect land use change).
In addition, Manchester has benefited from nearly £20 million of funding through the green bus fund to support operators in purchasing 278 hybrid and electric Low Carbon Emission Buses, those supported by the scheme are capable of delivering the equivalent of a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the average Euro 3 diesel bus with the same total passenger capacity.
With £0.917 million support from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, Transport for Greater Manchester has installed a total of 266 publicly accessible charge-points for electric vehicles (in car parks, supermarkets, etc) between the last quarter of 2012 to the middle of 2014.
It is also worth noting that Transport for Greater Manchester has received over £37 million in funding as part of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund from 2011-15. To be awarded funding, Manchester needed to demonstrate how their proposed sustainable transport programme would grow the local economy whilst also reducing carbon emissions. Manchester also received £20m as one of the Cycling Ambition cities, which seeks to bring about a step-change in cycling levels in the city.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department intends to create a strategy to mitigate the effect of air pollution on public health.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Government recognizes the impact poor air quality can have on human health and the environment and has put in place a framework for delivering improvements via the Air Quality Strategy and Local Air Quality Management. The European Commission also has requirements for Member States to meet legally binding limits for key pollutants to protect public health and ecosystems.
The Government is committed to ongoing work to reduce this impact and has invested many billions of pounds in measures that will help to reduce air pollution from transport, energy and industrial sources, including over £1 billion in ultra-low emission vehicles and sustainable transport measures, incentives and infrastructure projects for electric and hybrid vehicles, a Local Sustainable Transport Fund of £490 million, a fund of around £100 million for less polluting bus services and investment in measures to promote cycling and walking. All these measures are helping to reduce transport emissions, which are the main contributor to air pollution in towns and cities.
In addition to these national measures, local authorities have a responsibility to manage local air quality and to put in place plans to improve air quality where national objectives are not met. Local action is also supported by the Government's air quality grant programme, which has provided over £50 million since 1997 for innovative projects.
Defra works with Public Health England, the Department of Health and other Government departments to maintain and develop methodologies for assessing air quality impacts on health and the environment, and to develop evidence-based measures to ensure air quality is appropriately prioritised and integrated into local strategies. For instance the Government has established an Air Quality Indicator as part of the new Public Health Outcomes Framework. Local authorities will be expected to deliver against 68 measurable outcomes (indicators) for health, including for air quality.