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Written Question
Microplastics: Tyres
Wednesday 14th June 2023

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to limit microplastic pollution caused by automobile tyres.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The development of policy to limit emissions from tyre wear depends on the development of an internationally recognised test procedure for measuring them. This issue is being examined by the UN ECE Particle Measurement Programme (PMP), which includes DfT officials, other international governments, and the automotive industry. DfT is one of the founders of PMP and has played a leading role since its inception.

To support the work of the UN ECE, the Department commissioned a 4-year research project in February 2021 aimed at understanding better the measurement techniques, material properties and control parameters of brake and tyre wear emissions from road vehicles. The outcomes of the project will inform policy and legislation aiming at reducing these emissions on a domestic and international level.

Furthermore, Government is continuing to invest through Innovate UK grants in emerging technologies which reduce non-exhaust emissions.


Written Question
Road Traffic: Rural Areas
Wednesday 26th April 2023

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce traffic congestion (a) on rural roads and (b) in rural communities.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Managing the traffic on local roads is the responsibility of the local traffic authorities. They are subject to a network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to deliver expeditious movement of traffic, including pedestrians. A wide range of tools is already available to help them to manage congestion and traffic flow. In addition, the Department for Transport provides substantial funding to local authorities to improve their respective networks to help and alleviate congestion and promote better provide improved infrastructure, including for public transport and cycling and walking through the ‘Major Road Network’ (MRN), ‘Large Local Majors’ (LLM) and Levelling Up Fund initiatives.


Written Question
Bus Services: Rural Areas
Thursday 23rd March 2023

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support rural bus routes.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Government provides Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) with £42 million annually through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) for the purpose of subsidising socially necessary services that would otherwise be commercially unviable. The Government also provides over £200 million directly to bus operators every year through the BSOG to keep fares down and help them maintain an extensive network.

The Government initially provided £60 million to help bus operators cap single fares at £2 on services in England outside London from 1 January to 31 March 2023. In addition to this, we will provide up to £75 million to continue to cap single bus fares at £2 in England outside London for a further three months until end June 2023. Over 140 operators covering more than 4,600 routes throughout England are participating in the scheme, including in rural areas, which will help increase patronage on buses and help millions save on their regular travel costs.

Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) is supporting 17 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 15 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.


Written Question
Roads: Litter
Wednesday 22nd March 2023

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to National Highways to tackle littering near major roads and motorways.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Department for Transport supports National Highways to deliver the Road Investment Strategy, and operate, maintain, renew and enhance the Strategic Road Network. The Department provides funding to National Highways for operations and maintenance (opex) funding, which includes litter picking and clearance. As part of the second Road Investment Strategy, National Highways is committed to reporting a litter performance indicator. This metric measures the percentage of the Strategic Road Network, on which National Highways is responsible for litter clearance, that is clear of litter and refuse, or predominantly clear of litter and refuse apart from some small items. The Department holds National Highways’ performance against this metric to account and assists the Office of Rail and Road to monitor National Highways.

The Department provides a link with wider Government to influence littering behaviour in a number of ways including through Government’s and National Highways’ Litter Strategies, supporting National Highways’ policymaking, anti-littering campaigns, enforcement, and improvements to operational effectiveness and partnership working.


Written Question
A5: Accidents
Tuesday 14th March 2023

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the number of (a) slight collisions, (b) serious collisions and (c) fatalities which have been recorded on the section of the A5 between the junctions located at Junction 1 of the M69 and at the A4304 in each year since 2020.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The number of collisions on the A5 between the junctions located at Junction 1 of the M69 and at the A4304 as reported by the police via the STATS19 system is shown in the table.

Year

Slight collisions

Serious collisions

Fatalities

2010

7

2

0

2011

9

2

1

2012

6

3

1

2013

6

0

0

2014

7

3

2

2015

8

2

3

2016

8

1

1

2017

5

0

0

2018

4

2

0

2019

11

2

2

2020

2

0

0

2021

5

2

1


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicles: Electric Vehicles
Friday 24th February 2023

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to help increase funding for electric HGV research and development.

Answered by Jesse Norman

In May 2022, the Department announced an expansion to its Zero Emission Road Freight Demonstrator (ZERFD) programme, which will see hundreds of zero emission HGVs deployed on UK roads. This programme will demonstrate several zero emission HGV technologies at scale on UK roads, and inform which technology, or technology mix, is best suited for use in the UK. This follows £20m of funding provided in 2021/22 as part of the Zero Emission Road Freight Trials (ZERFT) programme for industry to conduct feasibility studies into zero emission HGVs and associated infrastructure, along with the deployment of 20 battery electric trucks.

The demonstrator programme will collect a strong evidence base to enable long-term, strategic infrastructure decisions to be made to decarbonise the road freight sector, both by the Government and industry.


Written Question
Public Transport: Assistance Animals
Monday 5th December 2022

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help improve access to and prevent refusals of service on transport networks to people who use guide dogs.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Under Sections 168 and 170 of the Equality Act 2010 taxi and PHV drivers must accept the carriage of passengers accompanied by assistance dogs, and the Department has committed to mandating their completion of disability awareness training when Parliamentary time allows. On buses, the Department has committed to require the provision of audible and visible announcements, helping visually impaired passengers to travel with confidence, and new vehicles funded by the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme must be equipped to provide them.

Assistance dogs are permitted on all rail stations and to board train services as long as it is safe for them to do so, and they will not incur any additional fare.

Airlines must legally allow assistance dogs to travel with their owners in the cabin of the aircraft.


Written Question
Railways: Midlands
Tuesday 15th November 2022

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when work could begin on the first parts of the Midlands Rail Hub.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department expects to receive the Outline Business Case for Midlands Rail Hub today (14th November 2022).

We now need to assess the contribution of the scheme to the Government’s objectives, value for taxpayer money, and affordability.

The Outline Business Case will propose timescales for delivery of the scheme.


Written Question
Railways: Midlands
Tuesday 15th November 2022

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of building the Midlands Rail Hub on the economy of (a) the midlands and (b) the UK.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport expects to receive an Outline Business Case for Midlands Rail Hub today, 14th November. We will need to assess the contribution of the scheme to the Government’s objectives – including to the economy of the UK and Midlands region – alongside value for taxpayer money, and affordability considering the forthcoming Autumn Statement.


Written Question
Railways: Midlands
Tuesday 15th November 2022

Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Midlands Rail Hub on levelling up Leicestershire.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department has received the Outline Business Case for Midlands Rail Hub.

We now need to assess the contribution of the scheme to the Government’s objectives, value for taxpayer money, and affordability considering the forthcoming Autumn Statement.

The Outline Business Case will propose timescales for delivery of the scheme.