Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on licensing electric black cabs.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst the Secretary of State for Transport has not had any direct discussion with the Mayor of London on licensing electric taxis, revised best practice guidance was issued to all licensing authorities in November last year recommending they enable as many types of vehicles as possible to be licensed. Licensing authorities should give very careful consideration to a policy that automatically rules out particular types of vehicle or prescribes only one type or a small number of types of vehicle.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the use of (a) low carbon and (b) synthetic fuels for L-Category vehicles in the transition to net zero.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles was open to responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022 and was supported by a thorough programme of stakeholder engagement. We are now analysing the responses and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.
The Government’s approach to delivering its ambitions for greener transport is not outcome neutral - the end goal must be zero exhaust emissions. Vehicles that burn synthetic fuels still emit air pollutants at the exhaust. However, the Government understands the need to decarbonise vehicles on the road today and the potential contribution synthetic fuels can make. This is why the Government has increased targets for the supply of low carbon fuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and will continue to review that scheme to ensure that it can continue to support delivery of its carbon budgets.
Synthetics and other alternative fuels can be expensive, energy intensive to produce and do not always improve air quality. They show greatest potential in areas that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation. Relying on synthetic fuels to decarbonise road transport would put the UK at risk of failing to meet its economy wide targets on both CO2 and air pollution emissions.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take account of the life cycle analysis of L-Category vehicles when phasing out new non zero emission variants.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles was open to responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022 and supported by a thorough programme of stakeholder engagement. We are now analysing the responses and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.
Analysis of lifecycle emissions is an important consideration as we accelerate the transition to a zero-emission fleet of road vehicles. Whilst there is no internationally recognised method of measuring lifecycle emissions in any transport sector, the Department’s Transport Energy Model, published in 2018, and the externally commissioned Lifecycle Analysis of UK Road Vehicles, published in 2021, provide clear assessments of the relative environmental impacts of different road vehicle technologies and fuels in the UK.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about their decision not to set a date for the phase out of new non zero emission L-Category vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK’s exit from the European Union has provided the opportunity for this country to develop its own regulatory approach to decarbonising its entire fleet of new road vehicles, supporting UK industry and riders in the process.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £300 million investment identified in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 for the extension of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and HGV technology trials will be made available specifically to the maritime sector.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
DfT received £300m for R&D initiatives to help commercialise low and zero emission technologies. The Department will shortly commence a prioritisation process to allocate this funding across different programmes, including maritime. The outcome will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on supporting the UK maritime industry during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Ministers and departmental officials have had very regular discussions and meetings with stakeholders across the whole of the UK Maritime Sector about the challenges the global pandemic has created and the support they need, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to help maritime businesses adapt to the end of the transition period.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We have provided extensive guidance for maritime and other businesses on the Government’s www.gov.uk/transition website enabling them to make the necessary preparations to adapt to the new rules following the end of the Transition Period. The Government has engaged closely with stakeholders leading up to and following the end of the Transition Period. The Department for Transport continues to engage frequently with maritime stakeholders, including through workshops and bilateral engagements.
On top of this, the Department has taken a number of steps to assist maritime businesses through transition. This includes playing an important role in delivering £200 million in Government grants to British ports through the Port Infrastructure Fund. The fund will help British ports build and enhance border controls infrastructure, enabling them to receive EU goods effectively and in line with the new Border Operating Model. Government is also spending a further £270 million on inland facilities to benefit those ports which cannot build on-site.
The Department also procured additional freight capacity on a temporary basis to help mitigate any potential disruption to the supply of critical goods due to new border procedures.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of the maritime industry about that industry's role in contributing towards the UK's Net Zero targets.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Officials and I regularly engage the maritime industry on all matters that concern them, including reducing the sector’s emissions, as decarbonising shipping is essential to achieve the target of net zero greenhouse gases across the economy by 2050.
We continue to work with the maritime industry as part of the Clean Maritime Council to implement the Clean Maritime Plan, which outlines the UK’s pathway to zero carbon emissions in domestic maritime. The Council recently discussed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a £20m Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition to develop clean maritime technology.
Further plans on the decarbonisation of the maritime sector will be included in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, to be published in the spring next year.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of UK ports about upgrading their green infrastructure.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department has regular meetings with ports and their trade representatives on a range of issues including green infrastructure at ports. Most recently, I met with board members of the UK Major Ports Group on the 19th of November. The discussion included decarbonisation and green infrastructure.
UK ports and the UK domestic maritime sector that rely on our ports, are covered by the Net Zero 2050 target and our national carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the UK maritime industry on his Department's support for clean maritime.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
My officials and I regularly engage the maritime industry on all matters that concern them, including reducing the sector’s emissions, as decarbonising shipping is essential to achieve the target of net zero greenhouse gases across the economy by 2050.
The Clean Maritime Council recently discussed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a £20m Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition to develop clean maritime technology.
Before this initiative, the Department funded a £1.5m competition for innovation in clean maritime and provided £193,897 in grant support through the Department’s Transport Technology Research Innovation Grant Programme to early stage research projects related to clean maritime. Details of the grant winners are available, respectively, on the MarRI-UK website[1] and on GOV.UK[2].
[1] https://www.marri-uk.org/funding-opportunities/clean-maritime-call/clean-maritime-call-winners