Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to develop a National Transport Strategy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department has articulated its long-term strategic approach to the UK’s transport network through a range of publications, covering both specific modes of transport and cross-cutting policy issues such as freight.
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 level of take-up of electric vans; what assessment they have made of the impact on the targets contained in their paper Consultation on a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and CO2 emissions regulation for new cars and vans in the UK, published on 30 March; and whether they have any plans to exclude electric vehicles weighing 3.5–4 tonnes from the requirement to be fitted with a tachograph.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department continuously monitors the uptake of electric vans through national statistics and engagement with industry. As of March 2023, there were almost 50,000 battery electric vans registered in the UK. This number continues to grow and so far this year, 5% of all new van registrations have been battery electric.
The Government will be publishing its response to the consultation shortly, which will set out the final policy design of the ZEV mandate.
The Department continues to assess the regulatory framework to support the transition to ZEVs, including rules on driving hours and tachographs, without compromising on road and public safety.
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 statistics from Eurocontrol that on 28 August over 2,000 flights were cancelled; whether they have assessed why those figures differ from the figure supplied by NATS that 1,500 were cancelled; and what is their explanation for the difference between the NATS figure that 575 flights were delayed and the higher figures supplied by airlines.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
NATS Preliminary Report into the Technical Failure of 28 August, stated that, while at that time it was not clear exactly how many flights had been cancelled the number was likely to exceed 1,500 with around a further 575 being delayed.
The independent review, announced by the Civil Aviation Authority on 6 September 2023 will include an assessment of the findings of NATS’ preliminary report. It is important that we now await the outcome of the review, which will include looking at the information on consumer impact including the number of cancellations and delays and the lessons are learned from the events of 28 August.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to meet their ambition for aviation energy efficiency to increase by 2 per cent per year; and what assessment they have made of the reasons why the current level of improvements to aviation energy efficiency is below the ambition at 1.4 per cent per year.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In July 2022, the Government published the Jet Zero Strategy, setting out our approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
The Strategy set out an emissions reduction trajectory and committed to the ‘high ambition’ scenario, which included an average annual fuel efficiency improvement of 2% per annum between 2025 and 2050. Whilst the average annual improvement figure is 2%, we expect the pace of progress to vary by year depending on technological development and adoption.
The Government is supporting the development of new low and zero-carbon emission aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute with £685m of funding over three years. The Government published a Call for Evidence for airport operations in England to be zero emission by 2040 in February 2023, and is supporting airspace modernisation by providing £9.2m of funding between 2020-2023.
In July 2023 we published the Jet Zero Strategy One Year On document which sets out the progress and achievements since July 2022 and the key challenges ahead in meeting Jet Zero. We have committed to reviewing progress against our emissions reduction trajectory annually from 2025 and to with a full review of the Strategy every 5 years.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the Apprenticeship Levy; what assessment they have made of any imbalance between (1) the amount paid by logistics and transport businesses since its introduction, and (2) the amount they have been entitled to withdraw; and whether they have plans to replace it with a more flexible training levy.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved, meaning the devolved administrations receive funding through the Barnett formula on English apprenticeship spending. A comparison between UK-wide Levy receipts and apprenticeship spend in England is not available and we are therefore unable to provide an assessment of the difference between the amount paid and available levy funds for the logistics and transport sectors.
The Apprenticeship Levy is a key part of the Government’s reforms to the apprenticeship system, which enables employers of all sizes to make a long-term, sustainable and high-quality investment in training. There are no plans to reform the Apprenticeship Levy or replace it with a more flexible training Levy at this time. We are committed to protecting the quality of apprenticeship training and simplifying our system and processes so that employers and providers can focus on delivering high-quality apprenticeships.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they became aware that train operators Southeastern, South Western and Govia Thameslink Railway had halted recruitment of new ticket office staff; and whether they are aware of any other train operators which have taken similar action prior to the start of consultation on ticket office closures; and what assessment they have made of the ability of train operators to fulfil their contractual legal obligations having halted the recruitment of ticket office staff.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Train operators manage their own vacancies, staffing levels and recruitment processes in line with their annual business plans and are expected to deliver their contractual obligations as good and efficient operators.
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 current shore power capacity at ports in the UK; and what will be the percentage expansion of capacity required by 2050 to achieve their net zero targets.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government continues to work with the sector on opportunities to deploy additional shore power and other infrastructure. The Government is considering shore power within the wider context of net zero ports and will launch a call for evidence in due course. This will gather further information on future electricity grid capacity needs to support additional infrastructure, including shore power.
On 11 September, the government announced £29.5m of R&D funding for shore power projects at the Port of Aberdeen, Atlantic and Peninsula’s Falmouth Port and Portsmouth International Port under the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition. These projects will help to reduce emissions at these locations in the short term and will also provide valuable evidence over the multi-year demonstration period to inform future policy and regulation.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what detailed information they have about freight train operators who have replaced electric locomotives with diesel over the past year because of the higher costs of electricity; and whether they have had meetings with any such operators to discuss the impact of these changes on His Majesty's Government’s net zero strategy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Officials and the Rail Minister have discussed this with the freight operating companies who are closely monitoring the situation and will review when electricity prices come down. The decision about which locomotives to use for freight trains is a commercial decision for each individual freight operating company. The Government cannot intervene in such decisions but we continue to work closely to help incentivise the freight industry to meet our net zero targets.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to strengthen the International Civil Aviation Organisation agreement and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the 41st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2022, the UK played a leading role in securing agreement on a net zero by 2050 CO2 emissions goal for international aviation. This agreement sends a clear signal of collective ambition and provides the platform for the development of further international measures and policies. UK experts are contributing to technical work on the monitoring of progress towards the goal, and the UK is currently engaged in negotiations to define the role that sustainable aviation fuels will play in meeting it.
The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (or CORSIA), the first global market-based measure to address emissions from a single sector, was first agreed in 2016 and airlines have been monitoring their emissions under the scheme since 2019. A further agreement, which the UK was also influential in securing at last year’s Assembly, preserves the integrity of the scheme by setting its baseline at a level stringent enough to ensure airlines begin offsetting their emissions on flights between 125 countries from next year.
The UK is also working to strengthen compliance with CORSIA by supporting other states to implement it. As offsetting begins and experience grows, we will use the scheme’s Periodic Reviews to negotiate for it to be strengthened such that it fully supports the new net zero goal.
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 (1) the staffing shortages at NATS Holdings, (2) the reasons for a staff shortage at NATS Holdings, and (3) the impact of the staffing shortage on air services this summer; and what consideration they have given to imposing financial penalties on NATS Holdings.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government regrets the delays to passengers caused by staffing issues in the Gatwick air traffic control tower on 14 September 2023.
My officials have and will continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders to ensure robust plans are in place to mitigate disruption, recognising that the safety of the operation must always be the paramount consideration for air navigation service providers.
Officials have met with NATS Holdings, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Gatwick airport and easyJet to review their plans and to gain assurances that they are working together to deliver for the passenger.
UK aviation operates in the private sector and tower services, including staffing, are a commercial matter between the airport operator and the service provider. NATS Holdings is an independent company and does not receive Government funding.