Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by motorists using ghost plates, and what steps they plan to take to deal with the threat posed by the use of ghost plates to evade speed cameras and engage in other criminal activities.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime, including the use of cloned and “ghost” number plates. It is already illegal to use a vehicle displaying cloned or “ghost” number plates.
The enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced. The Police are operationally independent and they will investigate each case according to its individual merits.
The Government has pledged £2.7m for each of the next three years to support police enforcement activity. This is Operation Topaz which is a strategic partnership between the Department for Transport, Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council around roads policing.
Operation Topaz is helping to support and co-ordinate the existing effort that is already delivering the National Police Chiefs’ Council Roads Policing Strategy.
Funding has been allocated to enhance roads policing to deliver a proof-of-concept activity period, coordinated via the central Operation Topaz team, focused on unreadable number plates and all aspects connected to unattributable drivers or vehicles.
This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We are considering a range of policies under the new Road Safety Strategy; the first for ten years. This includes the case for changing the motoring offences. We are considering concerns raised by campaigns, Parliamentarians and bereaved families that Ministers have met.
The Government intends to publish the Road Safety Strategy by the end of the year.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure motorbikes observe speed limits and engine noise level limits, in particular on rural roads.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that 60% of road fatalities occurred on rural roads, according to the latest statistics. The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. More details will be set out in due course.
Local authorities are best placed to decide on delivery of road safety initiatives, because of their knowledge of the roads for which they are responsible. We aid local authorities by providing guidance and initiatives such as our flagship road safety campaign, THINK!
Strict noise regulations for motorbikes are harmonised at an international level and require vehicles to demonstrate compliance through the process of type approval before being placed on the market. This involves testing the vehicle across a broad range of driving conditions. Replacement silencers that are to be used on the road must also meet strict noise limits that are aligned with those of the original vehicle.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce road traffic accidents, casualties and deaths in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that 60% of road fatalities occurred on rural roads, according to the latest statistics. The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. More details will be set out in due course.
Local authorities are best placed to decide on delivery of road safety initiatives, because of their knowledge of the roads for which they are responsible. We aid local authorities by providing guidance and initiatives such as our flagship road safety campaign, THINK!
Strict noise regulations for motorbikes are harmonised at an international level and require vehicles to demonstrate compliance through the process of type approval before being placed on the market. This involves testing the vehicle across a broad range of driving conditions. Replacement silencers that are to be used on the road must also meet strict noise limits that are aligned with those of the original vehicle.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to remove rail bottlenecks such as those at Ely and Haughley junctions to ensure that rail freight can move smoothly and efficiently between East Anglia and Yorkshire.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State updated Parliament on the 7th of July regarding which rail and road infrastructure projects will progress following the completion of the 2025 Spending Review. The Ely Area Capacity Enhancement and upgrades to Haughley Junction were not among those projects funded at this time.
We are focused on prioritising the schemes that will make the greatest difference for passengers and support economic growth as quickly as possible. The previous government had committed to a number of infrastructure projects that were unfunded, this includes the EACE and Haughley Junction schemes.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the route will be of the Transpennine Route Upgrade proposed in their UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, published on 19 June.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The TransPennine Route Upgrade is an £11 billion infrastructure programme which will increase capacity, improve reliability, and journey times on the rail route between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the ratio of electric vehicle charging points in England for rural areas compared to urban areas.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The information requested is held by the Department for public electric vehicle charging devices.
As of 1 April 2025, there were 10,239 public electric vehicle charging devices in rural locations and 55,543 public electric vehicle charging devices in urban locations in England.
This equates to 15.5% of devices being in rural locations and 84.3% in urban locations.
This should be considered against population estimates for rural and urban locations. Latest statistics published by Defra, containing mid-year estimates for 2022, report that 16.6% of the population live in rural locations and 83.4% in urban locations.
The percentage increase in the number of public charging devices in rural locations is consistently higher than for urban locations. In 2024 there was a 45% increase in the number of public charging devices in rural locations, and a 35% increase in urban locations.
The Department does not hold data on the number of private electric vehicle charging devices by rural-urban classification.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to roll out more electric charging points in rural areas for (1) private motor vehicles, and (2) public transport vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government’s £381m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund allocated funding to all local authorities in England to transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking. LEVI funding allocations factored in the proportion of residents that are in rural areas, meaning local authorities in rural areas were allocated additional funding compared to urban ones.
To tackle the challenges faced by the Local Transport Authorities and bus operators when introducing zero emission buses (ZEBs) in rural areas, up to £25 million of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 2 (ZEBRA) funding programme was initially reserved for proposals to introduce ZEBs in rural areas.
Future funding to support the continued decarbonisation of the bus sector, as well as supporting local authorities deliver charging infrastructure in rural areas, will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate the use of automated robots used for supermarket deliveries to ensure their safety, particularly regarding (1) pedestrians, (2) motorists, and (3) other road users.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has no current plans to legislate in this space. However, we are determined to seize the opportunities of emerging micromobility and tackle any negative impacts which may arise. We are actively monitoring the industry, new vehicle types, and new business models, and we will keep under review the case for legislative change.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the results of the pilot schemes for renting e-scooters.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department monitors how the e-scooter trials are running on a continuing basis to ensure they are operating safely and developing the evidence base that will inform our future decisions on e-scooters.
A second national evaluation of e-scooter trials will start early this year. This will look to understand what journeys are being replaced by e-scooter journeys and how they integrate with public transport; their safety for users and for others; and examine accessibility impacts of e-scooters. It will also explore changing travel patterns since the coronavirus pandemic, when the trials were initially set up, and as e-scooters have become more embedded in public life.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to regulate the operation of privately owned e-scooters in public spaces, and (2) to introduce mandatory insurance for them.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government understands the need to resolve the longstanding question of regulating micromobility devices such as e-scooters. We are carefully considering next steps on this.
As part of policy development, we are working with local authorities and industry through our e-scooter trials to inform options for future regulation. Any option requiring users of private e-scooters to have insurance will require careful consideration. No decisions have been made on the future regulation of e-scooters and the Government will consult before any regulations come into force.