Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to extend funding for the (a) rapid charging fund and (b) Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund beyond April 2025.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund is providing £381 million funding to support local authorities in England to work with industry and transform the availability of electric vehicle (EV) charging for drivers without off-street parking.
On the 6 December, a £70m pilot for the Rapid Charging Fund opened for applications, focused on motorway service areas in England. Alongside the pilot, a consultation on the main fund was also launched. Evidence gathered from the consultation will be used alongside the learning from the RCF pilot in the development of the RCF main fund. The RCF main fund will open in due course.
Government will continue to assess whether further support is required to ensure the continued rollout of EV infrastructure.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the report on the study commissioned his Department on the inclusion of electrification in the renewable transport fuel obligation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Last year the Department commissioned independent research into potential regulation-based options that may be required to support the continued rollout of public electric vehicle chargepoints from mid-2020s, including their opportunities, risks and likely impact. This research is still in progress.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles vehicles in the Government Car Service fleet drove in financial years (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24; and how many vehicles were in the fleet at the end of each of those years.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Please see below in relation to fleet mileage and numbers. Figures for the fleet mileage for the financial year 2023/2024 are not available. This is due to the legacy reporting system used by GCS no longer being supported by the Department for Transports IT suite. Figures for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 are available as they have had been produced in previous years. The figures for fleet numbers have been collated manually.
| 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/2024 |
Fleet mileage | 793,836.00 | 838,113.00 | Unavailable |
No. of vehicles | 87 | 111 | 122 |
Given the ongoing security context, demand for Ministerial cars has naturally increased. New cars are also purchased before older models are disposed of to ensure operational resilience and we anticipate at least 10 cars will be disposed of in the coming months. Our budget for new cars has remained consistent over recent years and we continue to take into account value for money for the taxpayer, bearing down on costs wherever possible.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether annual funding for the plug-in grant for cars has been reallocated to other funding pots since its expiry.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This grant closed in 2022, there has been no allocated funding since that point.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his planned timetable is for laying the secondary legislation required to commence section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is currently considering how best to take forward implementation of section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 April 2019 on Access for All, HCWS1484, how many and what proportion of the projects awarded funding through the Access for All programme (a) have been and (b) are yet to be completed.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Approximately 45% of the current Access for All programme has entered into passenger service, with approximately 55% not yet complete although the majority of these are in construction.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of learners waiting for motorcycle practical tests (a) nationally and (b) in Hull West and Hessle constituency; and whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of steps taken to reduce the driving test backlog over the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of 12 April 2024, the number of learners waiting for motorcycle practical tests (a) nationally was 25,637 and (b) in Hull West and Hessle it was 141.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s main priority is to reduce practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.
To increase the number of available test slots, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance issued by his Department to (a) Network Rail, (b) National Highways and (c) the Great British Railways transition team on potential conflicts of interest.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Arm’s Length Bodies have a duty to manage public money responsibly and effectively and in a transparent way. This includes managing any potential conflicts of interest effectively through the implementation of an effective and appropriate Conflicts of Interest (CoI) policy, in line with the Cabinet Office’s Procurement Policy Note: Applying Exclusions in Public Procurement, Managing Conflicts of Interest and Whistleblowing (PPN 04/21).
As the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) employs people from across the rail industry, DfT’s Rail Reform team has been working closely with them to maintain and improve current information sharing processes, including ensuring NDAs have adequate provisions to protect all parties where potential conflicts of interest exist. This includes ensuring GBRTT have adequate provisions in place when working with Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and contractors.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent negotiations he has had with trade unions on planned train strikes.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has no role in negotiations. Negotiations must take place between the employer, which the Rail Delivery Group has done on behalf of the train operating companies (TOC), and the trade union. We remain committed to supporting those who are involved in resolving this dispute so that important workforce reforms can take place, supported by a fair pay deal. ASLEF remains the only TOC in a national level dispute causing disruption to passengers and impacting the economy. We continue to urge them to negotiate with industry.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of car insurance premiums in the last 12 months.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department has not made an assessment of the rising cost of motor insurance premiums over the past year. However, officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. I will also soon meet with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and industry, to discuss this matter further.
The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules. 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 in or seek to control the market.