Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing grants to people wishing to undertake large goods vehicle driving qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
We know that the costs of training can be a barrier both to new entrants and business. We are already supporting the industry train new drivers, including through apprenticeships and support for jobseekers.
The new apprenticeship which includes training for a Category C+E licence, which is available from 2 August, will attract £7,000 in funding. There is also an incentive payment of £3,000 available for new apprentices who have an employment start date of 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.
A number of proposals to further support the training of heavy goods vehicle drivers have been put forward by industry sources and we are reviewing these proposals. We wish to support the sector in overcoming these barriers to joining this vital industry.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reducing the number of steps in the process for a driver to become licensed to operate a large goods vehicle.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The government has just announced there is to be a consultation on a series of measures designed to help increase the number of HGV drivers, this includes the potential removal of the requirement to hold a full rigid lorry licence before taking a test in an articulated vehicle. The forthcoming consultation will help to inform the merits of the proposals.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of when the backlog of large good vehicles licence testing will be cleared.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
DVSA meet regularly with the vocational training industry to understand the current and future demand for vocational driving tests so that the Agency can better plan the additional capacity that is needed. DVSA are currently making available an average of 3,000 vocational tests per week compared to 2,000 pre-pandemic.
Operational steps to further increase capacity have been recently announced and, subject to a forthcoming consultation, additional regulatory measures will significant add further to test capacity. Regular progress updates will be made available.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that overnight parking facilities for large vehicle drivers are reopened following the easing of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Motorway Service Areas in England, which are privately owned and operated, remained open during COVID restrictions, and overnight parking therefore remained available at these sites. In addition, other lorry parks are also privately owned and operated businesses, and decisions on opening are a matter for them.
Although most legal restrictions have been lifted, the Government continues to provide guidance for businesses in managing the continuing risk of the pandemic.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing the transport industry with assistance towards investment in greener trucks.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Decarbonising transport is a key priority for the government and we have just published our world-leading plan, “Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain’ which outlines our commitments to decarbonise transport, including the road freight sector, and achieve net zero by 2050.
We are supporting the transport industry to invest in greener trucks through a wide range of measures. This includes £20m this year to develop Zero Emission Road Freight Trials which will support UK industry to develop cost-effective, zero-emission HGVs and their refuelling infrastructure in the UK. Trials will invest in research, innovation and construction of zero emission HGVs by UK based business and SMEs to support the development of cutting-edge HGV technology, breaking down barriers to adoption and speeding up the decarbonisation of our road freight sector.
Government supports transport industry investment in low emission trucks through the £23 million Hydrogen for Transport Programme, which funds the deployment of hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations. The £20m Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition matched capital funding to projects that produced low carbon waste-based fuels to be used in aeroplanes and HGVs and the £20 million Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial supported industry-led R&D projects trialing low-emission technologies for freight.
Finally, Government is providing £582 million to continue the plug-in grants.
The plug-in truck grant (PiTG) encourages the uptake of cutting-edge, zero emission HGVs by reducing the purchase price of zero emission commercial vehicles. From March 2021 the PiTG was increased to 20% of the purchase price, up to a maximum of £25,000, for large trucks greater than 12 tonnes. The grant rate was increased in recognition of the higher upfront cost of these vehicles.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase disability access at train stations in (a) Morley and Outwood constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Several stations across Yorkshire were selected for the Access for All Main Tier programme, including Menston, Todmorden and Garforth stations. Works are due to be completed at these stations by 2024 at the latest.
We will shortly be commissioning accessibility audits of all mainline stations that will allow us to prioritise future investment in station accessibility.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage cycling over other modes of transport for short length journeys in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
In 2020/2021 West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) was awarded £12,566,000 from the Active Travel Fund to aid delivery of safe walking and cycling routes in the area, such as protected space for cycling, widened pavements, safer junctions and cycle and bus-only corridors.
In June 2021 the Department invited WYCA to bid for active travel capital funding for the current financial year, with decisions to be made in the autumn. Announcements on local authority revenue funding for behaviour change activities this year will be made shortly.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the safety of train stations for people with disabilities.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department is committed to improving safety across the rail network. The Department expects the industry to meet current accessibility requirements whenever it installs, renews or replaces station infrastructure. Failure to do so can lead to enforcement action by the Office of Rail and Roads.
As well as the programme of accessibility improvements underway, we shall be bidding for further rounds of funding for Access for All schemes in the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points in (a) Morley and Outwood constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Government and industry have supported the installation of almost 25,000 publicly available charging devices and in the next few weeks expect to hit the important milestone of rapid chargers being available in 3,000 different locations across the UK – one of the largest networks in Europe.
We are investing £1.3 billion in accelerating the roll out of charging infrastructure over the next four years, targeting support on rapid chargepoints on motorways and major roads, and installing more on-street chargepoints near homes and workplaces to make charging as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car. Our grant schemes and the £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will see thousands more electric vehicle charge-points installed across the UK.
Leeds City Council have participated in our On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme which is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. They have received £97,500 to install 15 chargepoints across the city, including in the Morley area.
As of 1 April 2021, Morley and Outwood:
The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles is working extensively with local authorities to support them in delivering charging infrastructure.
The upcoming EV chargepoint Infrastructure Strategy will set out our vision and action plan for charging infrastructure rollout needed to achieve the 2030/35 phase out of petrol and diesel cars and vans successfully and to accelerate the transition to a zero emission fleet. The strategy will also set expected roles for different stakeholders and how government will intervene to address the gaps between the current market status and our vision.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase transport infrastructure in (a) Leeds and (b) West Yorkshire.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
As part of its Levelling Up agenda, the Government is committed to improving transport connectivity in the North. We have recently announced a share of £15m for two new rail stations at White Rose and Thorpe Park in Leeds from the New Stations Fund and £173.5m from the Department has been used to support Leeds’ Public Transport Investment Programme (LPTIP) which has delivered significant improvements, including the UK’s first fully solar powered park and ride site opening in September.
This is in addition to the £317m that we are providing to the wider West Yorkshire region through our Transforming Cities Fund and the £49.6m provided in 2021/22 to support highway maintenance, pothole repairs and local transport measures. West Yorkshire Combined Authority also has access to the £4.2bn Intra-City Transport Settlements, to improve transport connectivity within West Yorkshire and the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund, launched at the Budget 2021. Bids have now closed for the first round of this Fund however, there will be further opportunities in the coming years.
The Government has committed £906m to upgrade the Transpennine main line between Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester. The second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2), published in 2020, has also included funding for Highways England to develop proposals to upgrade M1 Leeds Eastern Gateway, M1/M62 Lofthouse Junction and M1 Junctions 35A-39.