Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the closure of Heathrow Airport due to the fire at the North Hyde substation on 21 March.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The UK aviation sector is predominantly privately operated therefore airports are responsible for managing their own contingency plans and ensuring that they are robust and meet their own individual circumstances.
The Department does not formally assess the impact of individual resilience issues due to the complexity of the impact and vast range of indirect impacts across the economy.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress being made towards developing road-worthy autonomous vehicles, and what steps they are taking to enable autonomous vehicles to be driven on roads legally.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
To achieve our ambitions for the automated vehicle sector, we are working at pace to implement the regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles in the second half of 2027.
We are exploring options for accelerating early commercial pilots in advance of full implementation and will update on this work soon. By combining long-term regulatory certainty with near-term trialling opportunities, we are creating the right conditions for a thriving self-driving vehicles market.
Alongside developing our domestic regulations, we are playing a leading role in work to align international rules and regulations on self-driving, which will enable our companies to export globally. This work is anticipated to complete in early 2027.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the carriage of freight by rail.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and is committed to supporting its growth.
We encourage modal shift from road to rail through the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme which has a budget of £18 million. The scheme has been extended to March 2026.
Under our plans to reform the railway, there will be a statutory duty on Great British Railways to promote the use of rail freight and there will be an overall rail freight growth target set by the Secretary of State, with clear and meaningful targets for rail freight growth within pre-defined periods.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to lowering the legal alcohol limit for drivers as tested by a breathalyser.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. The Department is currently considering policy options in this area.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the use of electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government is reducing the upfront costs of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by providing plug-in vehicle grants for vans, trucks and motorcycles, taxis and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Drivers of ZEVs also benefit from favourable tax rates, such as generous company car tax incentives. They are also exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) until April 2025, after which electric vehicles will continue to have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the provision of charging points for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are now over 70,000 public charging devices in the UK, supporting drivers to switch to EVs, alongside 680,000 private chargepoints in England alone. The Government is committed to working with industry to further accelerate the rollout of affordable, accessible charging infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Government is supporting the rollout of tens of thousands of local chargepoints, which are especially important for drivers without off-street parking. The Government also offers grants to support the installation of private chargepoints in certain residential and commercial properties and provides advice and guidance to support the planning and delivery of charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce deaths and injuries on roads.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has announced that it intends to publish a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. Work is already underway on this.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the economy of industrial action on Network Rail.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Strikes by RMT among their members at Network Rail in 2022/23 typically resulted in average industry-wide service levels of around 20%.
These strikes have resulted in direct impacts on rail industry revenue and on the wider economy, for example due to people being unable to attend work. Given the move to flexible working post-pandemic, the impact of strikes on the economy is far lower, albeit the hospitality sector experiences particular impacts as set out by HospitalityUK.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to retain a cap on bus fares after November 2024.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The £2 fare cap is set to run until the end of this year, with the Government having provided almost £600 million to deliver the scheme. The Government will continue to provide funding to support the sector through our regular funding streams. This includes making over £200 million available annually to bus operators through the Bus Service Operator’s Grant to help them maintain an extensive network and keep fares down, and over £2 billion for local areas to deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans which can support local fares initiatives.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to conduct a comparative assessment with other European nations on the state of rail services including on reliability, comfort and pricing.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Department seeks to identify best practice from other countries’ rail networks but is not currently planning a formal comparative assessment.
The latest Common Safety Indicators from the Office of Rail and Road, which were published 15 February 2024, showed that Great Britain ranks favourably compared with other European countries in terms of employee safety, level crossing user safety and trespasser safety.