Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support those commuting by car between towns and cities in the North West.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Plan for Drivers, published last year, shows that the government is on the side of drivers, including measures to promote smoother journeys and cracking down on inconsiderate driving. We are also investing significantly in the strategic and local road network, including £8.5m allocated to roads across the North West from the third round of the Safer Roads Fund in March 2024, and £1.3bn investment through the Road Investment Strategy in enhancing, renewing and maintaining the Strategic Road Network in the North West in the period 2020 - 2023. In addition, the Network North announcement included an additional £3.3bn long term road surfacing fund for the North for the period 2023-2033. This is in addition to the local transport funding already allocated at the last Spending Review and to what local authorities were already expecting in the future.
Another significant step we have taken to support commuting by cars is, no increase in the main fuel duty rate since January 2011. Furthermore, recognising fuel price volatility, we cut five pence off fuel duty in March 2022. This was extended for another year in March 2023. This cut, along with the fuel duty freeze, saved the average car driver around £100 in 2023/24.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve road (a) maintenance and (b) conditions in the North West.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 4 October 2023 the Prime Minister announced an unprecedented increase of £8.3 billion for local highway maintenance over the period from 2023/24 to 2033/34 to help fix the blight of potholes on our local highway networks up and down the country.
As part of this, local highway authorities in the North West of England will receive in total a minimum funding uplift of £1.269 billion between 2023-24 and 2033-34. This includes an additional £19 million in both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years to allow local highway authorities across the North West to make an immediate start on improving road conditions. Funding allocations for individual local highway authorities are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact of a ban on the sale of petrol cars on the UK economy.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department has not published an assessment of the economic impacts of a ban of the sale of petrol cars in the UK. However, the Department has published an assessment of the impacts of the first phase of the ZEV mandate, which mandates that 80% of new car and 70% of new van sales must be zero emission by 2030. This includes an assessment of the policy’s direct economic impacts, including social costs and benefits, on employment related to the manufacture of vehicles and development of the charging infrastructure network, and on drivers’ disposable incomes.
On 30 March 2023, the Department published a consultation on our final proposals for a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and regulation of CO2 emissions for new cars and vans in the UK from January 2024. The accompanying consultation-stage cost benefit analysis sets out the economic impacts of the proposed regulations.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of ban on the sale of petrol cars on UK households (a) in the lowest decile for mean household wealth (b) at the mean household wealth and (c) in the highest decile for household wealth.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The impact assessment for the ZEV mandate demonstrated that, over time, running cost savings of electric vehicles outweigh capital costs over a reasonable ownership period. Just as many households don’t buy new petrol cars today, there is no expectation that anyone will be forced to buy a new ZEV car, with the expectation that many consumers, as now, will prefer to buy second-hand.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of a ban on the sale of petrol cars on (a) carbon emissions and (b) levels of pollution in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As a result of the significant reductions to carbon emissions from energy generation, transport is now the highest carbon emitting sector; cars accounted for more than 50% of emissions in 2019. Ending the sale of internal combustion engines, alongside setting intermediary zero-emissions vehicles sales targets leading up to 2035, is expected to reduce this by roughly 60% by 2035 and 98% by 2050, compared to 2019 levels. Vehicle emissions are also among the two largest controllable sectors for air pollution. Ending internal combustion engine sales will remove tailpipe air pollution produced by cars and vans, including some of the most harmful emissions such as PM2.5 and NOx.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what scientific basis he proposes to exclude vehicles that use energy sources other than electric battery power in his Department's strategy to reduce carbon emissions.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The decarbonisation of road transport is critical in helping the UK to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and improving air quality. The Government takes a technology neutral approach, with the aim for all new vehicles to be zero emission in line with our phase out dates, without stipulating any particular energy source.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) cost and (b) estimated timescale for the installation of appropriate equipment to support electric vehicles after 2030.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is aware that the majority of electric vehicle (EV) drivers charge at home and expects this trend to continue. To support those driving long distances and without off-street parking, the Government estimates that by 2030, around 300,000 public chargepoints will be needed as a minimum.
The number of local public chargepoints needed will vary across different areas and over time, depending on the types of chargepoint installed, travel patterns, and consumer preferences.
The Government wants the transition to zero emission vehicles to be consumer and market-led, supported by government measures where appropriate. It will support the commercialisation of chargepoint rollout through its Local EV Infrastructure and Rapid Charging Funds.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to consult with groups representing motorcyclists on banning the sale of petrol vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government’s public consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles, i.e. motorcycles and trikes, was open to written responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022. This is being complemented with a thorough programme of stakeholder engagement with manufacturers and the wider industry, including groups representing motorcyclists, led by Ministers.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to support the installation of public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Southport constituency.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To ensure that the transition to electric vehicles takes place in every part of the country, the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund will support local authorities to work with industry to transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which includes Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, has been allocated £9.65 million in capital funding, and £737,000 in capability (resource) funding through the LEVI Fund. This will enable strategic local provision of public EV infrastructure, particularly for those EV drivers without off-street parking.
Local Authorities can also apply to the £15 million On-Street Residential Chargepoint scheme for support. To date, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council has not applied for these grants.
Data on electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, held by the Department for Transport, is sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap. Charging devices not recorded on Zapmap are not included and the accurate number of charging devices may be higher than recorded in these figures. As at 1st April 2023, the Department estimates that there are 12 public charging devices in Southport constituency from this data.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of renewing the contract with Avanti West Coast on operational performance on that line.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Avanti West Coast has put in place a recovery plan which has already seen positive results, with more trains running for passengers and fewer Avanti West Coast caused cancellations. Weekday services have risen from 180 to 264 trains per day, the highest level in over two years. Cancellation rates have fallen from around 25% to 4.2%, the lowest level in 12 months. In addition, over 100 additional drivers have been recruited to reduce reliance on union-controlled overtime working.
Avanti West Coast is expected to continue to adhere to the plan and drive further improvement following the decision to grant a short-term contract extension. Officials will continue to use all contractual levers to drive the best outcomes for passengers. Performance will be closely monitored ahead of any decision on the longer-term operation of the contract.