Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the electrification of vehicles on (1) lowering the cost of motoring, and consequentially, (2) the mode shift to public transport and active travel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
While electric vehicles (EVs) currently cost more to purchase than their petrol and diesel alternatives, EV motorists benefit from their comparatively cheaper running costs. It costs from 1p/mile to run a new electric vehicle, compared to around 10p per mile for new diesel/petrol vehicles. Additionally, we have put in place a tax regime that benefits motorists who choose cleaner vehicles. We expect the upfront cost and total cost of ownership of EVs to come down and demand to grow even further as they become more commonplace.
Our ambitions for zero emission driving will be supported by an accompanying package of £2.8 billion, with up to £1 billion to support the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains, £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure and £582 million for plug in vehicle grants. Accelerating modal shift to public and active transport is one of the strategic priorities for our forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan and forms a key part of both last year’s cycling and walking plan “Gear Change” and the recent National Bus Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide (1) additional support to councils to electrify their vehicles, and (2) councils with advice on how they can achieve electrification of their vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local authorities and other public sector bodies are increasingly supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles, including electrifying their own fleets. The Government funds the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to run the Local Government Support Programme, which provides impartial advice to local authorities in England on fleet electrification, and wider local policies to support zero emission vehicle uptake. EST also provides a fleet management toolkit to any public or private organisation, which offers in-depth, impartial fleet support to help them reduce costs and limit the environmental impact of their fleet.
Government’s ULEV Readiness Programme was launched in January 2015 and as well as funding charging infrastructure, supported 296 ultra-low emission vehicles across the public sector, including 90 in local authorities. It also offered fleet reviews to 35 Public Sector Bodies (including Local Authorities, NHS Trusts and Fire and Rescue Services). We will continue to work with and encourage local authorities to electrify their fleets and to apply for available funding for chargepoints in their local areas.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of local councils in delivering electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet the Government’s 2030 target to end the sale of new diesel and petrol cars in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local councils have an important role to play in the transition to zero emission driving and we are working with them to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. The Government’s On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide charging infrastructure for those without private parking. More than 105 local authorities have already taken advantage of the scheme, funding more than 3,800 chargepoints. We encourage local authorities to apply for funding to provide chargers for their residents.
We provided £40 million of funding via our Go Ultra Low city scheme to 8 cities across the UK, to support uptake of ultra low emission vehicles in those cities. Over 3,500 chargepoints were installed as part of this scheme. Bristol, London, Milton Keynes and Nottingham have been delivering ambitious plans to become global exemplars of ultra low emission vehicle uptake. The scheme also provided £5 million of development funding for specific initiatives in Dundee, Oxford, York and the North East region. The Government has committed £90 million at Spending Review to fund local electric vehicle charging infrastructure, in particular to support the roll out of larger, on-street charging schemes and rapid hubs in England.
Later this year, the Government will publish an electric vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, which will explore the roles and responsibilities for central government and wider stakeholders involved in the deployment of charging infrastructure. As part of this, we will be engaging with local authorities, charge point operators and other stakeholders to ensure that future charging infrastructure is practical, accessible and deliverable.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the findings of the 2019 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey, published by the Asphalt Industry Alliance in March, which reported that the roads repair backlog stands at over £9 billion, what steps they are taking to (1) resource councils to address this backlog, and (2) provide additional funding for road maintenance budgets as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is providing over £6.6 billion of capital funding between 2015 and 2021 for local highways maintenance in England, outside of London. This includes funding of over £296 million through a dedicated Pothole Action Fund and £420 million for highways maintenance as announced in the Budget 2018.
Decisions on additional funding for local highways maintenance will be considered as part of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make further funding available to local authorities to maintain local roads and repair potholes.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget 2018 that a further £420 million is being made available to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to maintain their local road network, including the repair of potholes. This funding is in addition to just over £6 billion which the Government is allocating to highway authorities for local highway maintenance from 2015 to 2021.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use the provisions in the Bus Services Act 2017 to allow non-mayoral authorities to access bus franchising powers.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Bus Services Act received Royal Assent in April 2017. The Act provides automatic access to franchising powers to mayoral combined authorities. The criteria the Secretary of State will use to determine whether to grant consent to non-mayoral combined authorities will focus on whether the authority in question has clear and locally supported aspirations which will benefit passengers and a sensible plan in place, as well as the right capabilities to make franchising a success.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate across the private and public sectors lessons learnt from the Total Transport project.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The 37 Total Transport pilot schemes formally came to an end at the end of April this year. The Department is now analysing the results and will, in due course, consider how best to communicate the conclusions more widely.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the cost of implementing a national diesel scrappage scheme as a part of their plans to improve air quality.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
A national diesel scrappage scheme was considered as a policy option in the development of the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. The cost of such a national scheme was estimated to be up to £60 billion.
On 22 November we launched a consultation on additional measures to support individuals and businesses affected by local NO2 plans. Options considered include retrofitting vehicles, support for car clubs, vehicle scrappage or improved public transport offers.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the funding they provide to Highways England is invested in improving local roads, and what is their assessment of the importance of those roads in supporting traffic flows on the Strategic Roads Network.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
In carrying out their role to operate, maintain and improve the Strategic Road Network (SRN), Highways England often provide investment to ensure effective traffic flow across both strategic and local roads. Figures are not held centrally for the total spend on local roads across these projects.
In setting the next Road Investment Strategy, the Government will consider opportunities for investment in local roads where this will improve the performance of the SRN.