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 electric vehicle infrastructure in the North West.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Government has committed over £1.6 billion to support charging infrastructure at homes, on the street, in workplaces, destinations and along major roads. We have published a landmark electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure strategy setting out our plans to accelerate the rollout of a world-class charging network across the UK. Our strategy sets out our vision and commitments to make EV charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station.
In addition, we have announced new regulations for public chargepoints to improve confidence in the charging network and make the user experience truly seamless. Drivers will benefit from simplified payment methods as well as the ability to compare prices and access real-time information about chargepoints. We will ensure there is a 99% reliability rate at rapid chargepoints. We will be introducing payment roaming to support the electrification of fleets. Chargepoints will need to have open data so that they are easy to find using maps and apps. We will lay legislation later this year.
To ensure that the transition to electric vehicles takes place in every part of the country, we are pledging at least £500m to support local chargepoint provision. As part of this, the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund will provide approximately £400m of capital and £50m of resource funding to support local authorities to work with industry and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. We have launched a £10 million pilot as a springboard for the development of the full fund.
This year, £20 million is available through the on-street residential chargepoint scheme to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints to their residents without access to private parking.
Local authorities have a key role to play as they are best placed to consider local needs. We encourage local authorities to apply for funding to provide chargers for their residents.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made the adequacy of pavement parking legislation.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department consulted on measures to address pavement parking in 2020 and received over 15,000 responses. These responses have been analysed and Ministers are carefully considering the options in the light of the consultation findings. We will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps as soon as possible.
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 remove covid-19 restrictions on international travel.
Answered by Robert Courts
From 4am on Friday 18 March, COVID-19 border restrictions will be lifted for all passengers entering the UK. This means that passengers arriving in the UK, regardless of their vaccination status, will no longer be required to complete a Passenger Locator Form or take any COVID-19 travel tests. That means we are the first major economy to get back to the kind of restriction-free travel we all enjoyed before COVID.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of waiting times for LGV C1 driving licence tests.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The waiting time is calculated for all vocational tests as a whole. As of 28 February 2022, the national average waiting time was 5.2 weeks for the module 3b (on-road) test.
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 (a) improve rest facilities for HGV drivers and (b) ensure the safety of lorries in refuge areas.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
(a) The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.
We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.
(b) Safety remains our top priority and our motorways are the safest type of road in the country.
On motorways where the hard shoulder has been converted to a traffic lane, there is a whole system of inter-related features, working together to help drivers. They include clearly signed and orange-coloured emergency areas set back from the road to provide greater protection than a hard shoulder and with telephones linking directly to our control rooms.
Emergency areas are available for when a driver has no alternative but to stop and it has not been possible to leave the motorway or reach a motorway service area. They are approximately 100 meters long (the average length of a football pitch) by 4.6 meters wide and set back from the left-hand edge of the motorway.
A Smart Motorway Driver Education Course was designed and developed jointly between National Highways and Logistics UK specifically for the freight sector. Its core objective is to help improve drivers’ understanding of smart motorways and how to use them. It is available free of charge and is recognised by JAUPT (the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training) as part of professional drivers’ formal accreditation. Since its launch in 2018 it has been supplied to more than 150 organisations with almost 400 courses delivered to more than 2,800 delegates.
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 merits of aligning the UK's mobility scooter speed rules with those in the EU.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has not made an assessment of aligning the UK’s mobility scooter speed rules with those in the EU. The safety of all road users is a key priority for the Government. The current speed limit for mobility scooters is based on both safety and mobility considerations, balancing the interests of all road users.
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 ease international travel restrictions on UK nationals.
Answered by Robert Courts
On 24 January the Secretary of State for Transport announced that, thanks to the success of the UK’s vaccine and booster rollout, the government will reduce travel restrictions ensuring a more proportionate system is in place for passengers.
Therefore, from 4am on 11 February eligible fully vaccinated arrivals will no longer have to undertake a post-arrival Lateral Flow test. Self-isolation and day 8 tests will also be removed for arrivals who are not recognised as fully vaccinated. Although the PLF will still be required for all travellers, it will also be simplified to reflect our more streamlined system.
The changes mean that the UK has one of the most free-flowing borders across Europe and the simplification of travel rules comes just before half term, providing welcome news for families looking to travel abroad during the school holidays, as well as an extra boost for the tourism industry.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Merseyrail’s decision on passengers to reduce its timetable and increase fares on 4 January 2022 by 3.8 per cent.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No such assessment has been made because the timetable operated by Merseyrail and the fares charged are the subject to the agreement of Merseytravel to whom responsibility for these matters has been fully devolved since 2003.