Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the roadside vehicle noise measurement scheme to include measurements of air pollution and related harms.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Department has commenced research to understand if the latest ‘noise camera’ technology can be an effective enforcement tool for police and local authorities. As the trials have not yet completed, it is too early to assess the potential merits of a wider roll out of ‘noise camera’ technology.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 expanding the roadside vehicle noise measurement scheme after its trial period.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Department does not have plans to expand its ‘noise camera’ trials to include measurements of air pollution and related harms.
Government already has an extensive network of roadside air quality monitors, covering around 320 locations across the UK. In 2020 the Defra and Department for Transport Joint Air Quality Unit set up a new monitoring network (the UK Urban NO2 Network) to measure roadside NO2 concentrations. Many local authorities also undertake their own roadside air quality monitoring for the purposes of Local Air Quality Management (LAQM).
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on (a) the impact of tyre wear on and (b) steps the Government is taking to reduce levels of microplastics in the ocean.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The development of regulations 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 PMP group, DfT commissioned a 3-year research project in February 2021 aimed at understanding better the measurement techniques, material properties and control parameters of non-exhaust emissions from road vehicles, which include tyre wear emissions. DfT and Defra officials collaborated in the development of the research programme and will collaborate further on the outcomes of the project, which 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 emissions from tyre wear.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to ban tyres that are over ten years old from being used on roads.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In February 2021 the Government’s amendments to the Road Vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 came into force to prohibit the use of tyres aged 10-years or more from use on the front axles of heavy goods vehicles and buses. Additionally, regulations also require the date of manufacture to be marked and legible on the sidewall of the tyre to ensure the age of the tyre is known.
While this policy is expected to deliver road safety benefits for larger vehicles, on the basis of the DfT consultation in 2020 on banning ages tyres, there was insufficient evidence to justify a restriction on older tyres for all vehicle categories, but we will keep this position under review.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to incentivise car manufacturers to reduce the weight of their electric vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government sets the standards for vehicles but does not currently provide any incentives to manufacturers or others regarding reducing the weight of vehicles.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to take steps to increase funding and beneficiaries of the Freight Facilities Grant for capital equipment.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Government remains strongly committed to modal shift and continues to operate two freight revenue grant schemes (£20m per year allocated for 2022/23 to 2024/25) to support: the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme for modal shift to rail and inland waterways; and Waterborne Freight Grants for coastal and short sea shipping. These grants help to remove around 900,000 HGV journeys off the road each year.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to upgrade existing waterways so that they can take larger cargos.
Answered by Robert Courts
To increase the use of freight on our waterways the Government provides revenue support through our Mode Shift Revenue Support and Waterborne Freight grants. We have committed £20 million per year to 2024/25 to support rail and water freight services on routes where they deliver environmental benefits over road haulage but are more expensive to operate.
The cross-modal and long-term Future of Freight plan, published on 15 June, sets out the Government’s objectives for a freight and logistics sector that is efficient, reliable, resilient and sustainable. The plan explicitly supports mode shift of freight from road to rail, inland waterways, coastal shipping and new innovative modes such as e-cargo bikes. The plan also sets out how government will raise the status of freight within the planning system, will develop with industry a £7 million Freight Innovation Fund and will undertake work to develop a National Freight Network. This work will support, and provide opportunities to increase the use of, waterways for freight.
Upgrades of the waterways network in the UK are the responsibility of the Canal and River Trust (CRT), which is sponsored by Defra. The Department for Transport continues to work with Defra officials and the CRT to ensure that freight is considered in the operation, maintenance and enhancement of the UK’s waterways.
There are a wide range of navigation authorities that manage inland waterways. These are either independent self-financing bodies such as port authorities or are funded by other branches of government such as Defra.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to commit to upgrading waterways by allocating adequate funding for navigation authorities.
Answered by Robert Courts
To increase the use of freight on our waterways the Government provides revenue support through our Mode Shift Revenue Support and Waterborne Freight grants. We have committed £20 million per year to 2024/25 to support rail and water freight services on routes where they deliver environmental benefits over road haulage but are more expensive to operate.
The cross-modal and long-term Future of Freight plan, published on 15 June, sets out the Government’s objectives for a freight and logistics sector that is efficient, reliable, resilient and sustainable. The plan explicitly supports mode shift of freight from road to rail, inland waterways, coastal shipping and new innovative modes such as e-cargo bikes. The plan also sets out how government will raise the status of freight within the planning system, will develop with industry a £7 million Freight Innovation Fund and will undertake work to develop a National Freight Network. This work will support, and provide opportunities to increase the use of, waterways for freight.
Upgrades of the waterways network in the UK are the responsibility of the Canal and River Trust (CRT), which is sponsored by Defra. The Department for Transport continues to work with Defra officials and the CRT to ensure that freight is considered in the operation, maintenance and enhancement of the UK’s waterways.
There are a wide range of navigation authorities that manage inland waterways. These are either independent self-financing bodies such as port authorities or are funded by other branches of government such as Defra.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the use of water freight.
Answered by Robert Courts
To increase the use of freight on our waterways the Government provides revenue support through our Mode Shift Revenue Support and Waterborne Freight grants. We have committed £20 million per year to 2024/25 to support rail and water freight services on routes where they deliver environmental benefits over road haulage but are more expensive to operate.
The cross-modal and long-term Future of Freight plan, published on 15 June, sets out the Government’s objectives for a freight and logistics sector that is efficient, reliable, resilient and sustainable. The plan explicitly supports mode shift of freight from road to rail, inland waterways, coastal shipping and new innovative modes such as e-cargo bikes. The plan also sets out how government will raise the status of freight within the planning system, will develop with industry a £7 million Freight Innovation Fund and will undertake work to develop a National Freight Network. This work will support, and provide opportunities to increase the use of, waterways for freight.
Upgrades of the waterways network in the UK are the responsibility of the Canal and River Trust (CRT), which is sponsored by Defra. The Department for Transport continues to work with Defra officials and the CRT to ensure that freight is considered in the operation, maintenance and enhancement of the UK’s waterways.
There are a wide range of navigation authorities that manage inland waterways. These are either independent self-financing bodies such as port authorities or are funded by other branches of government such as Defra.