Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on tourism-related businesses of recent significant increases in fees charged by some airports for vehicles to drop off passengers, and what recent discussions they have had with representatives of the aviation industry about the transparency of the overall structure of their fees and charges.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Most airports in the UK are managed and operated as private businesses, and parking arrangements are subject to contractual agreements between airport operators and car parking companies covered by consumer laws.
While the Department for Transport regularly engages with airports and airport operators on a range of issues, the provision and charging of car parking at airports (including drop off and pick charges) is a matter for the airport operator as a commercial business to manage and justify and therefore no assessment has been made on any impact on fees charged by airports for vehicles to drop off passengers.
However, the Department expects car parking and drop off charges at airports to be managed appropriately and consumers treated fairly.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure that all freight vehicles carrying meat present themselves at the Sevington inland border facility having passed through the Port of Dover; and how these vehicles will be monitored and tracked.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Border Target Operating Model is a system deliberately designed to target risk in a proportionate way. It is not intended to carry out checks on all goods. The proportion of a particular commodity type that is required to present for physical checks is determined by the risk categorisation (high, medium or low) of that commodity. Meat products span all three risk categories, and as such will be subject to physical inspection rates between 0% and 100%.
Where a consignment is called to Sevington inland border facility for a physical inspection, those goods will not be legally cleared for sale or use within the UK until they have attended and been cleared at the Border Control Post (BCP). Where the BCP has concerns, either due to non-attendance or evidence of non-compliance, there are existing provisions, including requiring return or destruction of the goods, or for the goods to be referred for inland controls by the local authority. These are part of the established processes for Border Contl facilities like Sevington that sit outside the controlled zone of ports, including those at Liverpool Birkenhead, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Tyne. Other EU ports like Dublin also carry out checks at control posts outside of the port itself.
Goods selected for inspection will not be legally cleared for sale or use within the UK until they have attended and been cleared at the BCP. Where the BCP has concerns, for example due to non-attendance, there are existing provisions for the goods to be referred for inland controls by the local authority. There are also established processes for Border Control facilities that sit outside the controlled zone of ports.
We will look to implement the BTOM in a way that recognises that new requirements are being placed on traders. As a result, we will introduce the BTOM in a way that will focus on improving trader compliance rather than enforcement. However, enforcement will be implemented where there is evidence of deliberate avoidance, fraud or biosecurity concerns.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to initiating a public awareness campaign regarding the accessibility of charge points for electric vehicle users, particularly in relation to (1) disabled users, and (2) personal safety considerations for all users.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all electric vehicle drivers can easily find public chargepoints that they can use. The Publicly Available Standard (PAS) 1899 provides specifications on designing and installing accessible chargepoints. It also includes guidance on providing a safe environment around public chargepoints, through lighting and CCTV.
The Department has funded initiatives to help enhance awareness and adoption of PAS 1899. For instance, the Energy Savings Trust were commissioned to develop and disseminate information on chargepoint accessibility through digital channels and industry events, as well as to advise and support local authorities on implementation of the Standard.
Alongside this the Government is actively encouraging local authorities, and other relevant parties, to incorporate accessibility into their procurement models, including through the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to mandating a uniform application process for all distribution network operators to reduce costs and delays and to level the playing field for electric vehicle charge point operators.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Connections Action Plan, Government is committed to improving the connections process for all customers including electric vehicle chargepoint operators.
In the Connections Action Plan, Ofgem committed to reviewing to end connection process to improve customer experience and ensure network companies provide a more consistent service to customers. This review will explore the incentives and penalties for network companies.
Building on this work, the Grid Connections Review announced in the Plan for Drivers will investigate specific issues the chargepoint sector is facing when looking to reinforce the grid. This includes exploring how we can work with network companies to provide a more consistent application process. The outcomes of the review are expected to be published in Spring 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when decisions will be announced regarding applications submitted as statements of business cases in the Autumn of 2022 for the Restoring Your Railway Fund (RYR) to move forward to Stage 3 of the RYR process; and whether they will explain the reasons for the delay in announcing those decisions.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The timeframe for providing responses to schemes that have submitted business cases through the Restoring Your Railway programme will vary. The Department is not yet in a position to provide details on next steps for a number of schemes but hopes to be able to do so in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what budget is available for the Restoring Your Railway scheme, announced in January 2020.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following the Network North announcement, many more Restoring Your Railway projects can now be fully funded and delivered. The Department for Transport is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timelines, for individual schemes and is working closely with Network Rail and other delivery partners to develop and deliver on Government priorities. Costs for delivering individual projects within the RYR programme will vary.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 22 February (HL2450), whether the LEVI Fund can be used for the provision of lamp-post charging; and what standards they have set with electricity suppliers to facilitate the provision of those additional charging points.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, launched in March 2023, aims to deliver a step-change in the deployment of local, primarily low power on-street charging infrastructure across England. A condition of the LEVI Capital Fund is that the majority of project costs must be related to the installation of lower-powered infrastructure suitable for local charging, such as lamp column chargepoints.
As part of their LEVI application, local authorities must provide evidence of engagement with their distribution network operator (DNO) regarding their proposed LEVI project. This allows DNOs to plan and maintain greater awareness of the need for grid upgrades. In the Plan for Drivers, Government committed to work with DNOs and key industry stakeholders on wider challenges to chargepoint rollout to overcome chargepoint installation barriers. This builds on the commitments and announcements in the DESNZ Connections Action Plan and Powering up Britain paper.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to mandating electric vehicle charging point accessibility standards to remove any economic disadvantages incurred through voluntary compliance by charge point operators.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all electric vehicle drivers can easily find public chargepoints that they can use.
The Publicly Available Standard (PAS) 1899 provides specifications on designing and installing accessible chargepoints. Compliance with PAS 1899 is currently voluntary. However, Government is actively encouraging local authorities, and other relevant parties, to incorporate accessibility into their procurement models, including through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund. This £381 million fund will support local authorities to work with industry to ensure that the transition to EVs takes place in every part of the country.
The Department will continue to monitor progress to assess whether further intervention is required, including through a 24-month review into implementation of PAS 1899, launched in December 2023 and led by the British Standards Institution.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the annual reporting on the Railway Enhancements Network Pipeline committed to in 2019 is to commence in 2024.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst the Government remains committed to investing in rail, as demonstrated by the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement which detailed an unprecedented number of commitments, significant changes to travel patterns after the pandemic and the challenging fiscal environment rightly require reconsideration of the rail infrastructure portfolio.
We understand the interests of stakeholders - industry and local representatives - in the visibility of our forward programme of work. Moving forward we intend to review, with involvement from the supply chain, how best to provide updates on the rail enhancements portfolio.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the Great Western Railway trial on the service from Bristol to Oxford is limited to weekends and leisure travel, and not commuter traffic.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great Western Railway has proposed to the Department for Transport a limited trial of extra direct services between Bristol and Oxford. The proposed trial is planned to take place between mid-September and mid-December 2024 and will be restricted to Saturdays. This coincides with the Bath Christmas market, which experiences increased demand for trips on Saturdays to and from Oxford and Bath, particularly during the busy Christmas season. The trial is only currently planned for weekends because during the week, the additional trains needed to run the services are already used on other commuter routes.