Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to update its 2017 UK aviation forecasts.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Over the last two years, the Department has been undertaking an extensive model development programme, engaging with industry on several occasions, to both improve and update various elements of the model. This model development is ongoing and an updated version will be used for the next set of published long term forecasts.
We will look to publish new long term aviation forecasts in due course. However, this is a period of great uncertainty and we need to observe a more settled recovery before we can begin to reflect this in any future forecasts.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role he plans for local community representatives to have on the civil aviation authority's new environmental panel.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Following the closure of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN), my Department is working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), for it to take on the majority of ICCAN's former functions. To help deliver these functions the CAA will be establishing a new environment panel that will provide it with independent expert guidance to support its environmental roles, including the consideration of carbon, air quality, as well as aviation noise.
The CAA is currently undertaking work to define both the purpose and remit of the environmental panel, before recruiting a diverse membership. The panel is expected to be operational from April 2022.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on a comprehensive private and public network of electric vehicle charging points across England and Wales.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We have put in place generous grant funding schemes to support chargepoint infrastructure on residential streets and across the wider roads network. The Government and industry have supported the installation of over 18,000 publicly available charging devices across the whole of the UK. This includes over 3,200 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe.
There are over 370 rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints across 97% of motorway service areas in England. Today, a driver is never more than 25 miles away from a rapid chargepoint anywhere along England's motorways and major A roads. By 2023, we aim to have at least six high powered, open access chargepoints at motorway service areas in England, with some larger sites having ten to twelve. By 2035, we expect the number to increase to around 6,000 high powered chargers across the network. To help achieve these ambitions, the Government announced the Rapid Charging Fund in March 2020, as part of a £500 million commitment to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in England. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) had a devolved authority (DA) roundtable in November 2019 with officials from all DAs, where we discussed progress and shared lessons, including around rapid chargepoint rollout. The OLEV are working with Welsh officials to organise a workshop in Wales, where local authorities can hear about and discuss best practice to supporting zero emission vehicle uptake in their areas.
The first £70 million investment through the £400 million public-private Chargepoint Infrastructure Investment Fund will create 3,000 new rapid chargepoints, more than doubling the number of rapid chargepoints across the UK by 2024.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential for private and public electric vehicle charging points to be hacked by cyber criminals or hostile foreign governments.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport works closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the National Cyber Security Centre to ensure that effectively mitigating cyber security risks is a core part of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoint policy. The Government has commissioned work assessing the cyber security risk associated with the emerging energy system, including electric vehicle chargepoints. The output from this work will inform policy, including the development of relevant standards or regulatory approaches to mitigate cyber security risks.
In 2019, the Government consulted on regulations under the Automated Electric Vehicles Act (AEVA) for private, smart EV chargepoints. We proposed that these regulations will require compliance with device-level standards, to help ensure devices are cyber secure. These regulations are due to be laid next year. The Government will also shortly be consulting on using other powers under the AEVA to improve the consumer experience of public chargepoints, including opening chargepoint data. Cyber security will be considered as part of any future regulatory framework.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of electric vehicle charging points that will have been installed by the end of 2021.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
No such estimate has been made. The Department believes that the market is often better placed to encourage the private sector to invest in and operate a self-sustaining public network supported by the right policy framework. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act (AEVA) provides the Government with a range of powers to improve the charging experience for current and future users, including compelling fuel retailers to install chargepoints.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the response of British Airways to the covid-19 outbreak on the (a) contractual rights, (b) job security and (c) financial security of its employees.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
We recognise that the recent announcement from British Airways will be very distressing news for employees and their families.
The Department for Transport is engaging on a regular basis with airlines, unions and Public Health England on the application of public health measures in aviation
The Chancellor has set out unprecedented support for workers of airline companies. Measures such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme are being used across the aviation industry to protect the sector against the Covid-19 economic crisis.
These measures, alongside other Government support measures such as Coronavirus Large Business Loan Interruption Scheme and the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), are helping airlines of all sizes get through this crisis and beyond. The Chancellor has noted that under exceptional circumstances bespoke support could be provided to airlines.