Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the availability of electric vehicle recharging stations.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We want the UK to continue to have one of the best electric vehicle charging networks in the world. To help achieve that aim we have put in place a range of grant schemes to support the installation of charging infrastructure - on-street, off-street and at workplaces. Highways England also has a commitment of £15m to ensure there are chargepoints (rapid where possible) every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network. In addition, at Autumn Budget 2017 the Chancellor announced £400 million for a new Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors). This funding is supported by a range of policy measures including the Automated and Electric Vehicle Bill, currently in Parliament, which will help ensure that there are sufficient electric vehicle chargepoints throughout the UK, and that they are convenient and easy to access for all drivers.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what implications the Government's plans for a ban on the sale of new petrol-only and diesel-only vehicles from 2040 has for petrol-electric hybrid vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We are clear that meeting the 2040 commitment should be industry-led, with Government monitoring developments closely. Against a rapidly evolving international context, we will seek to maintain ambitious targets and our leadership position, intervening firmly if not enough progress is being made. By 2040 almost all new cars and vans will need to deliver a significant proportion of journeys with zero tailpipe emissions. This ambition is technology-neutral, and we welcome any innovative thinking that helps us achieve this ambition. An updated strategy detailing Government’s role in the decarbonisation of road transport will be published before the end of March 2018.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the take-up of hydrogen fuelled private vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are an important technology for decarbonising road transport and delivering the Government’s ambition that all new cars and vans should have zero tailpipe emissions by 2040. The Government has provided £5m to build or upgrade 12 hydrogen refuelling stations, and this initial network is nearly complete, alongside £2m to assist FCEV deployment in public and private sector fleets. Earlier this year the Government announced £23m of additional funding to increase the uptake of FCEVs alongside the expansion of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. The funding competition for the first phase of this programme recently closed and an announcement of the successful proposals will be made shortly.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the continuation of European Whole Vehicle Type Approval certificates for cars after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We want to agree an approach that minimises disruption and additional costs for the automotive industry and consumers in the UK and the EU as of the day of exit. A decision on whether to continue to apply EU whole vehicle type approval will depend on the outcome of the negotiations with the EU.
Departments are working with DExEU to understand the impacts that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses, consumers and other economic actors.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will conduct a review of the capacity of Swindon rail station.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government does not propose to conduct a review of the capacity of Swindon rail station at the present time. We will continue to engage with Network Rail’s route utilisation strategy for work programmes for the period starting in April 2019.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to create a Public Transport Ombudsman.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to putting passengers at the heart of everything we do and want them to have a stronger voice. As part of this, we are fully supportive of the introduction of an independent Rail Ombudsman to investigate and rule on unresolved rail passenger complaints.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the availability of WiFi across the rail network.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Train Operating Companies are continuing to fit Wi-Fi on trains. Based upon the information received from Train Operating Companies on the fitment of Wi-Fi roughly 50% of trains have equipment installed, which is a two-thirds increase from the position at the start of 2016.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the capacity of Swindon rail station.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State has made no recent assessment of the capacity of Swindon station.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve access to rail stations for disabled people.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to improving accessibility of the rail network. Currently 70% of train fleets operating passenger services meet modern accessibility standards, up from just 39% as at January 2011, with the remaining vehicles due to be either upgraded or replaced by 1 January 2020. We are continuing to improve station access through the Access for All programme and other major projects such as Thameslink or Crossrail. By 2019 at least 75% of all journeys will be from stations with step-free access.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of road haulage vehicles using fuels other than petrol or diesel.
Answered by John Hayes
The numbers of goods vehicles licensed for use on UK roads, using petrol, diesel and other fuels as at 30 September 2016 are shown in the table below.
Goods vehicles licensed for use on UK roads, as at 30 September 2016
| Reported propulsion type | |||
Vehicle body type | Petrol | Diesel | Other | Total |
Heavy Goods Vehicles | 2,124 | 514,897 | 868 | 517,889 |
Light Goods Vehicles | 137,535 | 3,741,887 | 14,185 | 3,893,607 |
Notes
DfT statistics based on DVLA registration data
Figures are for all licensed vehicles with a 'goods' body type
Heavy goods = gross weight over 3.5 tonnes
Vehicles converted from petrol or diesel may be under-recorded
Other propulsion types include hybrids, electric, gas, dual fuels etc.