Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support hydrogen use in private sector car fleets.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport’s (DfT) pioneering R&D programmes, such as its £200m zero emission HGV demonstrator and the £23m Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub, are co-locating transport supply with demand in order to address some of the early challenges seen with refuelling infrastructure.
The Government’s Hydrogen Strategy states that transport is a ‘crucial’ early market for hydrogen, which will drive some of the earliest low carbon production in the UK. DfT is working closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to meet this challenge.
Thus, in March 2022 the Government announced £30 million for the West Midlands Combined Authority to deploy 124 hydrogen fuel cell buses and accompanying refuelling infrastructure through its Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme. The Government has also provided £750,000 towards the UK’s first hydrogen train, Hydroflex, through the First of a Kind scheme.
The Government expects there to be cascade benefits for light duty vehicles from its R&D support programmes for heavier modes, for example through the expansion of publicly accessible refuelling infrastructure, available to all road transport.
The Department’s dedicated R&D funding for hydrogen is focussed on heavier applications, such as in maritime, aviation and road freight. Recent investments include £206 million for the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK-SHORE) and £200 million for the Department’s zero emission HGV demonstrator programme.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Bus Back Better, published on 15 March 2021, if he will make an estimate of the increase in the number of buses with audio-visual next stop and final destination announcements since the announcement of that policy; and how his Department is monitoring progress on this.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In the 2021 National Bus Strategy, the government committed to require local bus services in Great Britain to provide onboard audible and visible information, subject to final analysis.
The provision of accessible information is monitored through the Department’s annual bus statistics survey[1]. In March 2021, 34% of buses across Great Britain met specific criteria on the provision of audible and visible information. The statistics for 2022 are yet to be published.
We do not routinely collect statistics on the split between equipment retrofitted to vehicles and installed at the point of manufacture. We will publish the consultation response and confirm our next steps in due course.
[1] Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of buses that have (a) originally-fitted and (b) retrofitted onboard audio-visual next stop and final destination announcements outside of London as of 7 November 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In the 2021 National Bus Strategy, the government committed to require local bus services in Great Britain to provide onboard audible and visible information, subject to final analysis.
The provision of accessible information is monitored through the Department’s annual bus statistics survey[1]. In March 2021, 34% of buses across Great Britain met specific criteria on the provision of audible and visible information. The statistics for 2022 are yet to be published.
We do not routinely collect statistics on the split between equipment retrofitted to vehicles and installed at the point of manufacture. We will publish the consultation response and confirm our next steps in due course.
[1] Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's consultation on Bus Services Act 2017: accessible information, which closed on 16 September 2018, when he plans to publish (a) his Department’s response to the consultation and (b) associated regulations.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In the 2021 National Bus Strategy, the government committed to require local bus services in Great Britain to provide onboard audible and visible information, subject to final analysis.
The provision of accessible information is monitored through the Department’s annual bus statistics survey[1]. In March 2021, 34% of buses across Great Britain met specific criteria on the provision of audible and visible information. The statistics for 2022 are yet to be published.
We do not routinely collect statistics on the split between equipment retrofitted to vehicles and installed at the point of manufacture. We will publish the consultation response and confirm our next steps in due course.
[1] Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2022 to Question 13761 on Shipping: Pay, which international partners he has had discussions with on the establishment of bilateral minimum wage equivalent corridors.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We are working with the governments of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain to build further international cooperation and to improve seafarer welfare and protections. Discussions are at an early stage but are being pursued as a matter of priority. We are progressing these on a bilateral basis and some will be developed more quickly than others.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2022 to Question 13761 on Shipping: Pay, what progress his Department has made on developing legislative proposals on UK National Minimum Wage for seafarers.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Legislation to ensure that seafarers working on vessels that regularly use UK ports are paid at least an equivalent rate to the UK National Minimum Wage, irrespective of the seafarer or flag of the vessel, will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The public consultation on the Bill’s proposals closed on 7th June 2022, and we will be publishing a government response to the consultation in due course, following a full analysis of the responses. In parallel we continue to liaise with international partners to set up bilateral minimum wage equivalent corridors, in the territorial waters of each country and are working through international organisations to create a step change in seafarer welfare.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that foreign flagged vessels serving UK ports maximise employment of UK seafarers.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We remain committed to maximising the employment of UK seafarers. That is why we support a proportion of the cost of seafarer training though our £30m Support for Maritime Training fund. A range of maritime apprenticeships are also available.
Maritime 2050’s workforce vision focused on good maritime welfare. We are working to improve and reform seafarer employment protections and welfare, ensuring they are paid and treated fairly, irrespective of flag or nationality.
On 30 March, the Secretary of State for Transport announced his intention to change the law so that seafarers working on vessels that regularly use UK ports are paid at least the equivalent to national minimum wage, irrespective of the nationality of the seafarer or flag of the vessel.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that pay for UK seafarers is protected.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Following P&O Ferries’ disgraceful actions, the Secretary of State announced a nine point plan to improve seafarers protections. Legislation will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows that intends to ensure that seafarers working on vessels that regularly use UK ports are paid at least an equivalent rate to the UK National Minimum Wage, irrespective of the nationality or the seafarer or flag of the vessel. We intend to achieve this by making access to UK ports conditional on vessel operators demonstrating that they are paying at least an equivalent rate to the UK National Minimum Wage to their seafarers while in UK waters. In parallel we are liaising with international partners to set up bilateral minimum wage equivalent corridors, in the territorial waters of each country, as well as working through international organisations to create a step change in seafarer welfare.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that foreign flagged vessels serving UK ports comply with UK minimum wage requirements when in international waters.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Legislation will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows that intends to ensure that seafarers working on vessels that regularly use UK ports are paid at least an equivalent rate to the UK National Minimum Wage, irrespective of the nationality or the seafarer or flag of the vessel. We intend to achieve this by making access to UK ports conditional on vessel operators demonstrating that they are paying at least an equivalent rate to the UK National Minimum Wage to their seafarers while in UK waters. In addition we are also working with like-minded partners on the development of bilateral minimum wage corridors, ensuring seafarers on direct ferry routes are paid the equivalent to the minimum wage of either country, whilst in our respective territorial waters and subject to the legislative competence of each Government.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to take steps to prevent mass redundancies of UK seafarers, in the context of P&O Ferries' dismissal of 800 staff.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government has made clear our commitment to protecting seafarer welfare and employment rights, especially from dismissals without meaningful employee consultation. Through our new seafarer protections nine-point plan we will introduce a Seafarer Protection Framework, which will set out a common level of employment protections. In addition to this, BEIS are progressing a new statutory code on fire and rehire practices, which will clamp down on unscrupulous employers who fail to engage in meaningful consultations with employees.