Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding was allocated to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the building of the temporary cycle infrastructure on Kensington High Street, and whether those funds are planned to be clawed back following the removal of the scheme in response to his Department’s guidance to local authorities.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has been allocated a total of around £1 million from the Department’s Active Travel Fund and Transport for London’s London Streetspace Programme. This has supported a number of active travel measures in its area in response to the pandemic including school streets, low traffic neighbourhoods, changes to the public realm to allow greater social distancing, and cycle lanes like the one on Kensington High Street. Funding is generally transferred once schemes are delivered and once claims are brought forward by each Borough, meaning that the total amount of funding provided to date is much less than the total allocated. Borough payments are due to be finalised in September 2021, and will reflect scheme delivery in each area. No funding has been or will be provided to the Royal Borough to cover the costs of removing the cycle lane on Kensington High Street.
In common with other authorities in London and elsewhere, the Royal Borough’s performance in delivering active travel infrastructure is being taken into account in all future funding allocations. The delivery of active travel schemes in London and decisions on active travel funding for individual boroughs are overseen by a group including senior representatives from the Department for Transport and Transport for London.
The Department will be issuing updated statutory Network Management Duty guidance to all local transport authorities shortly which will make clear that they should always leave cycling and walking schemes in place for long enough for their impacts to be properly assessed.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what communication took place between his Department and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea prior to that council’s decision to remove the temporary cycle infrastructure on Kensington High Street; and whether his Department advised against the removal of the temporary cycle lanes in that location.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Transport in London is devolved meaning the Department has no role in respect of borough decisions of this sort, which are a matter for the Mayor of London. The Department was not, therefore, formally consulted on the Royal Borough’s plans. As a general point, the Department agrees that local authorities should not remove cycle lanes before their impacts have been properly assessed, and will shortly issue further advice to authorities on this matter.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish an updated economic appraisal of the Airports National Policy Statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We have always been clear that Heathrow expansion remains a private sector project which must meet strict criteria on air quality, noise and climate change, as well as being privately financed, affordable, and delivered in the best interest of consumers.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the comments of Sir Howard Davies on 15 June 2021, what plans he has to review the Airports National Policy Statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We have always been clear that Heathrow expansion remains a private sector project which must meet strict criteria on air quality, noise and climate change, as well as being privately financed, affordable, and delivered in the best interest of consumers.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) membership, (b) terms of reference (c) work programme and (d) budget is of the Hammersmith Bridge taskforce.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The first meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge task force, chaired by Baroness Vere, took place on 16 September 2020. Alongside the Department, the task force has a membership of all key stakeholders including: Transport for London; The London Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham and Richmond upon Thames; the Port of London Authority; the Greater London Authority, and; Network Rail.
The task force will focus on urgently pulling together all necessary information, including technical and operational information and costs, in order to reach a decision on the most appropriate way to safely re-open Hammersmith Bridge to full use and provide appropriate temporary measures during the works.
Any funding will be subject to the findings of the task force and the agreed next steps.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of whether a scrappage scheme that allowed older cars to be swapped for new diesel and petrol cars would be compatible with the Government’s commitment to phase out sales of those vehicles by 2035.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government has no current plans to introduce a scrappage scheme. We are investing?around?£2.5bn,??with grants available for ultra-low emission vehicles, as well?as funding?to support charge point infrastructure at homes,?workplaces,?on residential streets?and across the wider roads network. We are consulting on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible, as well as including hybrids for the first time. By talking to stakeholders about the best way to achieve that ambition, we will more easily be able to identify what measures would be needed to support the transition.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the role of congestion charging in helping to reduce traffic in towns and cities; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of congestion charging for helping to control levels of (a) traffic and (b) air pollution as the covid-19 lockdown is lifted.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The decision to implement road charging in towns and cities is ultimately one for the relevant Local Highways Authority. The Mayor of London recently reinstated the Congestion and Ultra Low Emission Zone charges in the capital as a measure to manage traffic and air quality.
A number of larger cities are developing proposals for charging Clean Air Zones to reduce air pollution and our recent rapid call for evidence will ensure we can fully understand the impact that coronavirus is having on changes in air pollution emissions, concentrations and exposure.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of buses in England (a) meet and (b) exceed Euro VI emission standards.
Answered by George Freeman
Around 35% of buses in the English fleet meet the Euro VI emissions standards, or 12,150 buses. This includes buses which have been retrofitted to Euro VI standards.
Buses which exceed the Euro VI emissions standard are zero emission buses. There are 317 zero emission buses in operation in England, or 0.91% of the total number in the bus fleet.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how he plans to allocate the £200 million of increased funding to transform bus services announced in the Spending Round 2019.
Answered by George Freeman
On 30 September this year, the Government announced a package to transform bus services. This package, worth £220 million in the first year, includes:
Investing up to £50 million to deliver Britain’s first all-electric bus town or city;
Introducing the first ‘Superbus’ network approach to deliver low fare high frequency services in Cornwall;
£30 million extra bus funding to be paid directly to local authorities to enable them to improve current bus services or to restore lost services;
Investing over £20 million in bus priority measures in the West Midlands; and
£20 million to support demand responsive services in rural and suburban areas.
Further details of the package can be found online with the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-better-deal-for-bus-users/a-better-deal-for-bus-users
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will introduce a vehicle labelling scheme for new and second-hand cars and vans detailing the real world nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter emissions of vehicles.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government currently has no plans to introduce a UK-specific vehicle labelling scheme for emissions of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, but has taken a leading role in the development of Green New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), a consumer information programme aimed at providing clear guidance on the environmental performance of new vehicles.