Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of total vehicle sales were ultra-low emission vehicles in the last 12 months for which there are figures.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Registrations of new ultra low emission vehicles represented 1.40% of total new vehicle registrations between July 2016 and June 2017. For cars, the proportion was 1.65% during the same period. In July and August 2017 registrations of new ultra low emission cars are estimated to have exceeded 2% of total new car registrations.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date it is planned that the Government Car Service no longer uses diesel vehicles.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government Car Service will be replacing diesel vehicles on their fleet as they become due for replacement with non-diesel alternatives. It has so far replaced a quarter of its vehicles with petrol hybrid cars. There is no specific target date for this to be completed, it will be dependent on an assessment at time of renewal in the interests of maximising value for money.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department operates a ban the box employment policy in respect of ex-offender job applicants with unspent convictions; and how many employees of his Department have unspent convictions.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department for Transport supports ‘ban the box’ and once a provisional offer of employment is made, candidates are asked to disclose unspent convictions and then a criminal record check is undertaken as a part of the Baseline Personnel Security Standard; however, no documentation regarding criminal history is retained by the Department, nor transferred to the employees’ personnel records.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's objectives are related to air quality.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department for Transport’s Single Departmental Plan sets out its four objectives. Tackling air quality supports all of these objectives, but it is particularly important for delivering safe, secure and sustainable transport.
The Government’s plans for tackling air quality are set in the National Air Quality Plan for Nitrogen Dioxide, published December 2015, which will be updated shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many diesel cars there are in the Government Car Service.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government Car Service currently operates 55 diesel cars out of 89 overall in the fleet.
The Government Car Service has for some time been reviewing their use of diesel cars and has introduced low emission and ultra-low emission vehicles to their fleet as diesel cars become due for replacement.
Just this month five diesel cars are due for disposal and they are being replaced by petrol hybrid cars.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ultra-low emissions vehicles there are on UK roads now; and how many there are projected to be in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019 and (d) 2020.
Answered by John Hayes
At the end of the third quarter of 2016 there were 87,366 ultra low emission vehicles licensed in the UK. The Government has a clear goal that all new cars and vans should be zero emission vehicles by 2040, and sales growth currently remains on track.
As part of the Government’s forthcoming emissions reduction plan, we expect to update the interim projections set out in the 2011 Carbon Plan and “Driving the future today: a strategy for ultra low emission vehicles in the UK” (2013), to reflect the latest analysis.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of developing magnetic levitation trains as part of the Government's industrial strategy.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Transport continually monitors the development of rail technology. The high costs of conventional magnetic levitation trains and their incompatibility with existing rail networks are likely to limit the market opportunities for this technology. We are however also assessing the potential for the development of hyperloop technologies in the UK which may also use magnetic levitation. The Department’s Science Advisory Council intends to publish a paper on hyperloop in early 2017 setting out its position on the technical credibility of the concept and the opportunities it offers to UK industry given our technology and engineering expertise.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether guidance provided to police officers on the implementation of the new drug driving offence will include information on the position of patients taking legitimately prescribed medications; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department is in regular contact with the Police Service about the implementation of the new drug driving offence and has every confidence that the police will implement it effectively including the application of the statutory medical defence.
The Police Service is in the process of amending their procedures, which will include the statutory medical defence and its operation. These will be issued in advance of the introduction of the new offence. This will provide each force plenty of time to consider the new procedures. We are confident forces will properly consider and include the new offence alongside current drink and drug drive training.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with external stakeholders regarding guidance for police officers of the implementation of the new drug driving offence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department is in regular contact with the Police Service about the implementation of the new drug driving offence and has every confidence that the police will implement it effectively including the application of the statutory medical defence.
The Police Service is in the process of amending their procedures, which will include the statutory medical defence and its operation. These will be issued in advance of the introduction of the new offence. This will provide each force plenty of time to consider the new procedures. We are confident forces will properly consider and include the new offence alongside current drink and drug drive training.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance will be provided to police officers on the implementation of the new drug driving offence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department is in regular contact with the Police Service about the implementation of the new drug driving offence and has every confidence that the police will implement it effectively including the application of the statutory medical defence.
The Police Service is in the process of amending their procedures, which will include the statutory medical defence and its operation. These will be issued in advance of the introduction of the new offence. This will provide each force plenty of time to consider the new procedures. We are confident forces will properly consider and include the new offence alongside current drink and drug drive training.