Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce noise cameras.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Further to my response to PQ66815, the Department does not currently have plans to introduce noise cameras but is keeping up to date with any advancements in this technology. It is ultimately for local authorities and the police to consider what the most appropriate enforcement routes may be for addressing issues with excessive vehicle noise within their area.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 64334 on Roads: Noise, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the installation of noise cameras, following the 2022 trial.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport conducted roadside trials of noise camera technology between October 2022 and February 2023. Reports of these trials, including detailed assessment of the technology’s performance and potential merits, were published on 17 March 2024. Overall, the trials demonstrated that noise cameras currently have the potential to be used for enforcement, but only when accompanied by human review of the recorded evidence, which is likely to lower the cost effectiveness of deploying the technology in many circumstances. A link to these reports can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/noise-camera-technology-roadside-trial.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Highways England's roadside litter clearing duties.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government sets National Highways performance targets on litter as part of its Road Investment Strategies. These are based on the percentage of the Strategic Road Network where litter conditions are graded at B or above under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Litter Code of Practice. Progress towards the targets is monitored by the Office for Road and Rail, including through annual reports to Parliament. In 2023-24 National Highways' performance improved when compared to the previous year, and 59.2% of its network met the target. The ORR is continuing to challenge NH on the actions it is taking to address litter on the Strategic Road Network. Further details on litter management by National Highways can be found here: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/environment/communities/litter-on-motorways-and-major-a-roads/.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the levels of noise pollution on roads (a) in Oxfordshire and (b) nationally.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is responsible for creating noise maps as part of implementing the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006. The Department for Transport has not therefore made its own estimates.
DEFRA’s latest round of noise mapping, published in October 2024, was undertaken using a new geospatial noise model to calculate noise exposure levels with a higher level of accuracy and coverage than ever before. The latest maps of road noise take into account all public roads in England and the details on road noise can be found online at https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/6c7a54b5-bb79-4c90-923a-d3a33d0a3d9a/environmental-noise-directive-end-noise-mapping-agglomerations-england-round-2
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance Active Travel England have issued on the use of compulsory purchase order powers for active travel routes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To date Active Travel England has not issued any guidance on the use of compulsory purchase order powers. A range of approaches to establishing rural active travel routes will be set out in guidance due to be published later this year, including case studies on the use of compulsory purchase orders.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the document entitled Guidance to support local authorities in the design and delivery of active travel routes will be published; and whether this guidance will include the use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers for active travel routes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
ATE is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas and expects to publish this later this year. Officers in ATE are currently seeking the input of stakeholders on the document, and the current draft includes case studies on the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders for active travel routes.
Compulsory purchase orders has a high bar with a requirement for public authorities to demonstrate a compelling case in the public interest. An alternative approach to creating new active travel routes is public path creation under the Highways Act 1980, rather than outright purchase of the land through a CPO.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2024 to Questions 51723 and 51724 on Active Travel: Construction, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of using compulsory purchase orders to progress active travel routes; and if he will collate data on how many local authorities have used compulsory purchase orders for this purpose.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department currently has no plans to make an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes or produce a centralised record of their use by local authorities.
Compulsory purchase for active travel has a high bar with a requirement for public authorities to demonstrate a compelling case in the public interest. An alternative approach to creating new active travel routes is public path creation under the Highways Act 1980, rather than outright purchase of the land through a compulsory acquistion. Active Travel England will set out further guidance on a range of approaches to establishing rural active travel routes in the Design Guidance that will be published later in the year.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Compulsory Purchase Order powers in progressing active travel schemes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes and there is currently no centralised record of how many active travel schemes in England have relied on these powers. Local authorities can use their compulsory purchase powers for a wide range of purposes in order to facilitate specific schemes, including active travel routes.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many active travel routes in England have used Compulsory Purchase Order powers to facilitate their construction.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes and there is currently no centralised record of how many active travel schemes in England have relied on these powers. Local authorities can use their compulsory purchase powers for a wide range of purposes in order to facilitate specific schemes, including active travel routes.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with her EU counterparts to help (a) improve the accessibility and (b) increase the use of UK blue parking badges in the EU.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport has ongoing discussions with individual countries regarding continued recognition of the UK Blue Badge across the European Union (EU).