Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1534 on Motor Vehicles: Carbon Emissions, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report entitled Powered Light Vehicles Life Cycle published by Zemo Partnership in December 2021.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As stated in the answer to Question 1534, we are now analysing responses to the 2022 consultation on ending the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles, including evidence provided on this issue, and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.
The Government recognises that L-category vehicles represent a small proportion of the overall greenhouse gas exhaust emissions created by the road transport sector. However, only a transition to fully zero emission technologies will reduce air and noise pollution.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the reduction of the plug-in motorcycle grant on the (a) commercial viability of the production and (b) consumer uptake of electric mopeds and motorcycles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The plug-in motorcycle grant, which was introduced in 2017 to stimulate the early market for zero emission mopeds and motorcycles, has provided over £7m to support the purchase of over 11,000 zero emission mopeds and motorcycles.
In 2021, the share of moped (L1-category vehicles) registrations that were electric was 41.7%. After a grant rate reduction at the end of 2021, this remained similar at 40.6% in 2022.
In 2021, the share of motorcycle (L3-category vehicles) registrations that were electric was 2.9%. After a grant rate reduction at the end of 2021 and the introduction of the £10k price cap, this increased to 3.3% in 2022.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of highways funding for (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) England.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities across England are set to benefit from an £8.3 billion boost in funding for highway maintenance, the biggest ever increase in funding for local roads. This funding is in addition to local transport funding from the last Spending Review and in addition to what local authorities were expecting to receive. Buckinghamshire will receive a minimum additional overall uplift of £51 million between 2023-24 and 2033-34, which should allow it to make major improvements to the condition of its local roads.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide a breakdown of the roles undertaken by the 167 FTE staff employed by HS2 Ltd in its Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Directorate.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The majority of staff are engaged on community engagement activities along the 200 mile HS2 route, and the number of staff employed in the Directorate and handling all HS2 communication and engagement activity is a very small proportion of the 30,000 people now working on the HS2 project.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money of HS2 Ltd's £8,086,998 annual spend on communications and community engagement.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
An estimated 2.4 million people live within five miles of the HS2 route in rural areas, and within one mile in urban areas, across 58 local authorities and 75 parliamentary constituencies. Specialist teams in HS2 Ltd engage with communities and stakeholders across 200 miles of the proposed route to help ensure that there is a level of understanding and transparency around the impacts of construction on those affected. Similarly, HS2 Ltd’s 24-hour Helpdesk responds to around 30,000 enquiries a year, and the HS2 website (www.hs2.org.uk) received over 1.9 million visits in 2022.
The Department for Transport monitors all HS2 Ltd expenditure in order to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of Eurotunnel regarding restrictions placed on coaches for the summer 2022 period.
Answered by Wendy Morton
My officials engage with Eurotunnel on a range of issues on a regular basis, including recently discussing Eurotunnel’s policy regarding coach bookings.
My officials will continue to engage with Eurotunnel on this and other issues.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure historic marque specialists are consulted in the appeals process for rejected VC5 applications for historic vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
An application to register a used vehicle (which includes historic vehicles) with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for the first time takes on average between four to six weeks. A vehicle registration certificate (V5C) is then issued for the vehicle.
The DVLA advises applicants on how best to proceed with their application if further evidence is needed and information is also available on GOV.UK.
The DVLA regularly engages with historic vehicle owners’ clubs and takes into account information received from historic marque specialists in support of applications. The DVLA recognises that some vehicles require the expert opinion of specialists to ensure that historic vehicles are preserved. Every effort is made where evidence allows to reunite vehicles with their original registration numbers and if that is not possible to allocate alternative age-appropriate registration numbers.
The DVLA has recently set up a user group to support the historic vehicle sector. This promotes collaborative working between representatives from the historic and classic vehicle sector in relation to the DVLA’s services, policies, and initiatives.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce incorrect rejections of historic vehicles V5C forms.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
An application to register a used vehicle (which includes historic vehicles) with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for the first time takes on average between four to six weeks. A vehicle registration certificate (V5C) is then issued for the vehicle.
The DVLA advises applicants on how best to proceed with their application if further evidence is needed and information is also available on GOV.UK.
The DVLA regularly engages with historic vehicle owners’ clubs and takes into account information received from historic marque specialists in support of applications. The DVLA recognises that some vehicles require the expert opinion of specialists to ensure that historic vehicles are preserved. Every effort is made where evidence allows to reunite vehicles with their original registration numbers and if that is not possible to allocate alternative age-appropriate registration numbers.
The DVLA has recently set up a user group to support the historic vehicle sector. This promotes collaborative working between representatives from the historic and classic vehicle sector in relation to the DVLA’s services, policies, and initiatives.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average amount of time required by the DVLA is to process a new V5C registration application form for a historic vehicle.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
An application to register a used vehicle (which includes historic vehicles) with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for the first time takes on average between four to six weeks. A vehicle registration certificate (V5C) is then issued for the vehicle.
The DVLA advises applicants on how best to proceed with their application if further evidence is needed and information is also available on GOV.UK.
The DVLA regularly engages with historic vehicle owners’ clubs and takes into account information received from historic marque specialists in support of applications. The DVLA recognises that some vehicles require the expert opinion of specialists to ensure that historic vehicles are preserved. Every effort is made where evidence allows to reunite vehicles with their original registration numbers and if that is not possible to allocate alternative age-appropriate registration numbers.
The DVLA has recently set up a user group to support the historic vehicle sector. This promotes collaborative working between representatives from the historic and classic vehicle sector in relation to the DVLA’s services, policies, and initiatives.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure that historic vehicles are protected from changes to (a) fuel standards and (b) other regulations.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department continues to ensure the concerns of owners of historic vehicles are reflected in any regulatory changes.
Fuel quality standards in the UK are agreed through the British Standards Institution (BSI) liquid fuel standards committee, which includes representatives from the historic vehicles sector.
The quality of fuel sold in the UK is also ensured through the Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) Regulations 1999. Changes to these regulations are subject to consultation, in which the views of vehicle owners and their representative groups would be sought. This would also be the case for regulatory changes to motor vehicle standards.
For example, when E10 petrol was introduced last September we put in place provisions to ensure the continued availability of E5 petrol; we are also ensuring that current proposals to modernise vehicle standards do not prevent restoration, repairs or legitimate improvements to vehicles, including historic vehicles, or damage to the businesses involved in such activities.