Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount that needs to be paid to railway ticketing staff for redundancy payments as a result of railway ticket office closures; and what estimate they have made of annual payments that will be required to paid as compensation benefits.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Whilst it is our expectation that no currently staffed station should be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, it is for train operators to decide on their staffing arrangements at each of the stations from which they operate services, so they can best meet the needs of passengers. As part of this train operators will discuss employment matters with trade unions as part of their own collective bargaining processes.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reformed HGV levy on logistics businesses operating Euro VI HGVs.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government reformed the HGV levy in February 2019 to incentivise vehicle operators to move towards newer, cleaner, Euro VI vehicles to reduce emissions from HGVs and improve air quality. Euro VI rates were reduced by up to 10% and rates for other vehicles increased by 20%, benefitting logistics businesses operating Euro VI HGVs.
The levy was suspended in August 2020 to support the haulage sector and aid COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts. The suspension provided the opportunity to consider further reforms to the levy. Following public consultation in 2022, a new reformed levy will come into effect in August 2023 with a revised structure and with rates on average around 20% lower than they were before the suspension.
The consultation included analyses of the impacts of the changes, although no changes were proposed relating to retaining a differential between Euro VI and other vehicles.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each year since 2010, what is their estimate of (1) changes in costs incurred by the logistics sector, and (2) investment levels into the logistics sector.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport (DfT) does not hold a formal assessment of these specific changes across the logistics sector. The department is in regular contact with the logistics sector, and discussions do include the impacts of the wider economic environment. This cross-cutting industry operates within the private domain where costs are varied.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the change in (1) operating costs, including fuel and energy, (2) training and recruitment costs, and (3) taxes and charges, incurred by the logistics sector in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport (DfT) does not hold a formal assessment of these specific changes across the logistics sector. The Department is in regular contact with the logistics sector, and discussions do include the impacts of the wider economic environment. This cross-cutting industry operates within the private domain where costs are varied.
The following analysis, however, may be of relevance: the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes weekly fuel prices from 2003 to the present day and the Office for National Statistics conducts a regular survey of business sectors on concerns such as energy prices and business rates.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Generation Logistics campaign.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The industry-led, government-backed, Generation Logistics campaign is supporting the Government’s commitment to ensure the freight and logistics sector has the people and skills it needs to thrive.
Since its launch in August 2022, the campaign has been successfully delivering on its objectives, reaching a large and diverse audience through its ambassador network, educational events, and targeted messaging online.
We continue to monitor the campaign’s progress, working collaboratively between government and industry to further raise awareness and positive sentiment towards logistics careers.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of public chargepoints (1) in operation, and (2) planned, that are suitable for commercial vehicles including HGVs.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on UK’s publicly available charging devices is published quarterly. The most recent release from April 2023 can be found on the government website. Vehicles such as vans can use these charge points.
As committed to in Future of Freight: a long term plan, which was published in June 2022, the Department is developing a zero emission heavy goods vehicle (HGV) infrastructure strategy for publication in early 2024. This will set strategic direction and outline the respective roles and responsibilities of both government and industry to ensure the delivery of the refuelling and recharging infrastructure required to meet the end of sale dates for new non-zero emission HGVs.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number chargepoints that will be required in future to support the introduction of large commercial vehicles including electric trucks and the UK’s 2050 net zero target.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are various estimates about the numbers of chargepoints required for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). As outlined in Future of Freight: a long-term plan, published in June 2022, the Department is developing a zero emission HGV infrastructure strategy for publication in early 2024. This will set strategic direction and outline the respective expected roles and responsibilities of government and industry in the delivery of the refueling and recharging infrastructure required to meet the end of sale dates for new non-zero emission HGVs.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend publish an HGV and commercial vehicle energy infrastructure plan; and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As committed to in Future of Freight: a long-term plan, published in June 2022, the Government is developing a zero emission heavy goods vehicles (HGV) infrastructure strategy. This is expected to be published in early 2024.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of the rail network used by rail freight operators that will need to be electrified by 2040 to enable the removal of diesel-only trains from the network.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the Transport Decarbonisation Plan we committed to delivering a net zero rail network by 2050, with sustained carbon reductions along the way, and stated our ambition to remove all diesel-only trains (passenger and freight) from the network by 2040.
In the year 2022/23, 11% of rail freight in the UK was hauled by an electric powered locomotive with the remainder hauled by diesel.
We are working with the Great British Railways Transition Team to bring forward costed options for decarbonising the rail network, including for the remainder of freight hauled by diesel, for Government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of the rail network used by rail freight operators that will be electrified by 2040.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the Transport Decarbonisation Plan we committed to delivering a net zero rail network by 2050, with sustained carbon reductions along the way, and stated our ambition to remove all diesel-only trains (passenger and freight) from the network by 2040.
In the year 2022/23, 11% of rail freight in the UK was hauled by an electric powered locomotive with the remainder hauled by diesel.
We are working with the Great British Railways Transition Team to bring forward costed options for decarbonising the rail network, including for the remainder of freight hauled by diesel, for Government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability.