Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will publish guidance for driving instructors on when the suspension of driving tests due to the covid-19 outbreak will be lifted.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working closely with the Department for Transport to prepare for a safe return to driver testing. It will announce details of resumption in due course.
Before practical driving tests are reintroduced, the DVSA will inform the driver training industry, which will help candidates to prepare and reach the standard of driving needed to pass their test.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2020 to Question 20599, what steps he is taking to promote the adoption of hydrogen in the haulage industry.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Hydrogen fuel cell technology could play a role in supporting the transition to zero emissions transport, as long as it is produced in a sustainable way. The £23 million Hydrogen for Transport programme will support the rollout of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, which is expected to help reduce barriers to the deployment of hydrogen heavy duty vehicles.
The Government is also supporting the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Decarbonising Transport Networks+, which are removing barriers to low carbon transport. This includes a hydrogen trial and a decarbonisation of freight trial. Furthermore, the £20 million government Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial, which concludes this year, includes lorries running on hydrogen dual-fuel.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a fuel source for light commercial vehicles.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In July 2018 the Department for Transport published the Transport Energy Model1. This was developed to provide an objective assessment of the relative environmental performance of the powertrain technologies and fuel choices for different vehicle types.
This assessment concluded compressed natural gas (CNG) vans are estimated to reduce CO2 tailpipe emissions by between 6-9% compared to diesel and between 22-25% for equivalent petrol models. Tailpipe emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) are estimated to be approximately equivalent to petrol models.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the promotion of biofuel production in Wales.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has been in regular consultation with officials from the Welsh Government in developing our biofuels policy, including on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme. The RTFO has been successful in promoting a market for sustainable renewable fuels across the United Kingdom since 2008.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on increasing the roll-out of rapid charging points for electric vehicles in Wales.
Answered by George Freeman
Government collaboration with the devolved administrations and local authorities is crucial to facilitating the transition to zero emission vehicles and addressing local air quality issues. Regular discussions about rapid chargepoints, as well as other measures to support electric vehicles, are held on an ongoing basis with the Welsh Government.
The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) had a Devolved Authority (DA) Roundtable in November 2019 with officials from all DAs, where we discussed progress and shared lessons, including around rapid chargepoint rollout.
OLEV are working with Welsh officials to organise a workshop in Wales, where local authorities can hear about and discuss best practice to supporting Zero Emission Vehicle uptake in their areas.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many anonymous fitness to drive complaints were received in 2018; and how many of those complains were investigated.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost. It would require the interrogation of all driving licence medical case records initiated in 2018 to determine whether a notification was made anonymously about a driver’s fitness to drive and how many of those complaints were investigated.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many drivers were sent for assessment following anonymous fitness to drive complaints, and what the outcomes of those assessments were in 2018.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. It would require the interrogation of all driving licence medical case records initiated in 2018 to determine which drivers were sent for an assessment following an anonymous complaint, and what the outcome of those assessments were.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many anonymous fitness to drive complaints were received in each of the last three years; and how many of those complaints were investigated.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost. It would require the interrogation of all driving licence medical case records initiated in the last three years to determine whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) was notified anonymously about a driver’s fitness to drive.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many drivers were sent for assessment following anonymous fitness to drive complaints, and what the outcomes of those assessments were, in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost. It would require the interrogation of all driving licence medical case records initiated in the last three years to determine whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) was notified anonymously about a driver’s fitness to drive.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK seafarers can continue to work on EU flagged vessels in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government published a Technical Notice in September on the recognition of seafarer certificates of competency if there’s no deal with the European Union https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recognition-of-seafarer-certificates-of-competency-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/recognition-of-seafarer-certificates-of-competency-if-theres-no-brexit-deal .
This outlined how the government is providing continuity for EU trained seafarers working on board UK flagged vessels. The notice also explained the action we are taking to encourage other Member States – in the event of no deal - to initiate the well- established process of third country recognition for UK certificates of competency (CoCs). It confirmed the advice from the European Commission that in all circumstances current CoCs will remain valid until their expiry date.
I will be meeting Nautilus and the Chamber of Shipping shortly to discuss whether further advice to seafarers on CoCs would be helpful at this time.
The action that the UK is taking on EU trained seafarers has been welcomed by employers and trade unions. The European Community Shipowners’ Associations and the European Transport Workers Federation have urged Member States to follow the UK’s lead to ensure continuity for UK trained seafarers.
The government will continue to work with the European institutions and Member States to ensure that UK and EU trained seafarers can continue to serve on EU and UK flagged vessels as they do now.