Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that electric vehicle infrastructure is accessible for disabled people.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government understands the importance of car ownership to many people with disabilities, with research indicating that nearly three in five disabled people use a private car three or more times per week. We recently conducted a call for evidence on accessibility in our consumer experience at public chargepoints consultation.
The consultation gathered evidence for any interventions needed for consumers using the public charging infrastructure. This closed on 10 April and we are intending to publish the government response to this consultation in the autumn and lay legislation relating to open data, payment methods and reliability, later this year.
The responses provided for the call to evidence on accessibility are being reviewed. We are working closely with Motability to develop clear accessibility standards for public EV chargepoints to ensure that consumers can find the right chargepoints for their needs, for electric vehicle drivers with visible and non-visible disabilities. Drivers who lease a vehicle through the Motability Scheme are able to apply the OZEV Plug-in Car Grant of up to £2,500, or Plug-in Van Grant of up to £3,000, to an eligible vehicle and also apply for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) which provides a grant of up to £350 towards the purchase and installation of a home chargepoint.
The Government will continue to monitor market developments to determine whether any significant gaps in charging infrastructure provision emerge in the medium term and whether there may be a case for direct central government support in areas of market failure, which may include accessibility.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of the plug-in vehicle grant has been allocated to Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department holds data on plug-in vehicle grants but this database does not provide the geographic breakdown required.
Up to the end of September 2020, an estimated £0.2m was provided to new plug-in car grant eligible models that were registered for the first time to an address in Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross, which was 0.03% of the estimated total for the UK.
Note that the plug-in car grant provides a discount on the price of brand new low-emission vehicles through a grant the government gives to vehicle dealerships and manufacturers when consumers purchase an eligible vehicle model – the grant is therefore allocated based on consumer demand rather than through any geographic formula.
Grants for vehicles other than cars have been excluded here because we do not have an equivalent estimation method readily available.
The financial value has been estimated from car registration data by applying the amount of available grant for eligible models at the time of registration. This estimate does not mean that every car registered received the grant nor that other cars did not receive the grant before the end of September 2020 but had not registered the car yet.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring long-distance road transport companies using heavy vehicles to contribute towards the maintenance of rural roads.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) Levy, paid by vehicles weighing over 12 tonnes for the use of any UK road since 2014, raised £204.4 million in 2019/20. The Levy is suspended for 12 months to 1 August 2021.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of suspending MOTs during the covid-10 outbreak.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
As announced on 25 March 2020, the Government is introducing a six-month exemption for all light vehicles due for an MOT test from 30 March 2020 onwards to allow people to carry on travel to work where essential, or shop for necessities. The assessment is that this a proportionate step in the light of the public health challenges related to COVID-19 compared to the potential effects of not testing. It remains important for vehicles in use to be roadworthy at all times.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the statutory minimum number of seats for disabled people required on public bus transport.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) require vehicles subject to them to incorporate at least four priority seats for disabled passengers, as well as a designated wheelchair space. Such facilities are now provided on 98% of buses across Great Britain, and are helping to make journeys easier for millions of people.
However, we know that the needs of disabled people and the nature of public transport evolves over time. The previous Government committed in its Inclusive Transport Strategy to review the efficacy of PSVAR. Its timing is driven by the need to reflect on the effectiveness of the Regulations in facilitating access to coaches, the last of which only became subject to the Regulations on the 1st January 2020, and to be informed by a planned cross-modal review of the reference wheelchair standard, which is yet to begin. Amongst other issues it will consider the extent to which existing requirements on the provision of priority seating and wheelchair spaces are sufficient to meet current and future demand.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how frequently the regulatory framework for drone safety is (a) reviewed and (b) updated in the UK.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Government has already acted to regulate this sector and has introduced amendments to the Air Navigation Order 2016 in 2018 and 2019, both times following a full public consultation. The Government keeps its regulatory framework for unmanned aircraft under ongoing review as it is vital that unmanned aircraft are used safely and securely.
From 30 November 2019, it will be a legal requirement for remote pilots of an unmanned aircraft to take a competency test, to ensure that they have a good understanding of the rules, and for those who are responsible for an unmanned aircraft to register with the CAA.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to review the law on adding additional headlights to vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The maximum number and intensity of undipped headlamps fitted to new road vehicles in the UK must comply with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) vehicle approval regulations. Once a vehicle enters into service, national regulations allow the fitment of additional undipped headlamps but make it an offence to use headlamps in a manner that causes undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users.
There are currently no plans to review the laws relating to the maximum power of undipped headlamps or the fitment of additional headlamps.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to review the law governing the maximum power of undipped headlights on motor vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The maximum number and intensity of undipped headlamps fitted to new road vehicles in the UK must comply with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) vehicle approval regulations. Once a vehicle enters into service, national regulations allow the fitment of additional undipped headlamps but make it an offence to use headlamps in a manner that causes undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users.
There are currently no plans to review the laws relating to the maximum power of undipped headlamps or the fitment of additional headlamps.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise manufacturers to produce more affordable electric cars.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK, the Department for Transport is investing over £200m to support UK businesses to build on their strengths in electric vehicle technology and the design, development and manufacture of electric vehicles. The Government is also incentivising the purchase of electric vehicles with a grant of up to £4500 to consumers to offset the cost of this technology.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the provision of suitably located charging points in remote and rural areas.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The vast majority of charging takes place at home, overnight. To support this, the Government provides funding for the installation of both on-street and off-street charging infrastructure. In addition, support exists UK-wide, including for rural areas, to enable workplaces to install infrastructure for use of employees and fleets.
The UK also now has over 11,500 publically accessible chargepoints, including over 900 rapid chargepoints. This is one of the largest rapid networks in Europe.
In addition, the Automated and Electric Vehicle Bill, currently going through Parliament, will give powers to the UK Government to expand deployment of infrastructure at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers, UK-wide.
As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, a new £400m electric car Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors) will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints.