Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) availability and (b) reliability of electric car charging points.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Government and industry have supported the installation of over 25,000 publicly available charging devices including more than 4,700 rapid devices. On average, over 500 new chargers are being added to the UK’s road network each month. A recent study found that the UK now has more rapid chargers every 100 miles of key strategic road than any country in Europe. In November 2020, we announced we will invest £1.3 billion in accelerating the roll out of charging infrastructure over the next four years for rapid chargepoints and installing more on-street chargepoints near homes and workplaces to make charging as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car.
By 2023, we aim to have at least six high powered, open access chargepoints at motorway service areas in England, with some larger sites having ten to twelve. By 2030, we are planning for there to be around 2,500 high powered chargepoints across England’s motorways and major A roads, and, by 2035, we expect the number to increase to around 6,000. Government is working with the private sector to deliver this wherever possible.
For example, there are plans for further investment into the Electric Highway along the Strategic Road Network giving drivers more confidence when making longer journeys. GRIDSERVE are undertaking a programme of upgrades to the existing hardware, which will include the option to pay by contactless methods at the chargepoint and they are on track to complete upgrades to all existing 50kW chargers before the end of the year. Tesla also recently confirmed plans to open the Tesla Supercharger network up to vehicles from other manufacturers. The government has welcomed these developments.
For motorists who do not have access to off-street parking, the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. The ORCS has supported 49 different local authorities to install over 1,400 chargepoints. A further 88 local authorities have also been awarded grant funding, providing more than 3,200 on-street public chargepoints with their installations yet to be completed. This year, £20 million is available under ORCS to ensure more local authorities and residents can benefit from the scheme. Government also committed at Spending Review the £90 million Local EV Infrastructure fund, to support the roll out of larger, on-street charging schemes and local rapid hubs in England.
In Spring 2021 we consulted to improve the consumer experience at public chargepoints. We included a section to improve the reliability across the charging network to ensure that consumers can rely on chargepoints wherever they are travelling in the UK. We will publish our government response in Autumn and lay legislation in early 2022.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What recent discussions he has had with truck hauliers on the challenges facing that sector.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Transport Minister Baroness Vere and Employment Minister Mims Davies, Member for Mid Sussex, hosted a haulage industry roundtable on the driver shortage on 16 June.
This event follows a series of meetings between Government and industry regarding driver shortages, its impact on supply chains, and the work each can do to address this issue.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Government will ensure the interoperability of any vaccine certificate system with other similar national and international systems.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that any future vaccine certification system is interoperable and flexible enough to meet international standards. We are actively engaged both bilaterally with other states and multilaterally through organisations including the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support this work.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the cost to an individual of (a) becoming a qualified commercial pilot and (b) maintaining those qualifications to continue flying.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The current average costs of initial commercial pilot training is approximately £120,000. The minimum costs to keep this licence valid is to complete a Licence Proficiency Check (LPC) annually at about £1500-£2000 for the hire of the simulator and an examiner.
Government has committed to partnering with industry, educators and organisations to make pilot training more financially accessible for those who wish to pursue a career within the sector.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to tackle websites which charge excessive fees for helping drivers to renew their licence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) strongly advises drivers only to use Gov.Uk when applying for or renewing a driving licence.
The law allows third-party websites to offer a front-end application provision to some Government services and to set their own fees. These websites are overseen by OFCOM and the Phone Paid Service Authority (PSA). Websites that do not operate within the OFCOM and PSA guidelines, or which are misleading or malicious, can be removed from the internet by these organisations.
Where websites are found to be misleading or acting maliciously there are procedures in place which allow them to be taken down quickly. However, no action can be taken against sites that are operating within the rules even though they may charge fees for services that the DVLA provides more cheaply or free of charge.
Tighter guidelines for third party websites were introduced by OFCOM and the PSA in October 2019. The guidelines stipulate that all promotional material must be distinct in appearance from that of the organisation being sought by the consumer. Promotions must not use descriptions, colour, typeface, logos or marks which imitate, or may be perceived to imitate the organisation the consumer is seeking, nor should any official logos or marks of those organisations be used. Promotions are also prohibited from implying that the information being provided cannot be obtained elsewhere.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations made by Climate Assembly UK in their report entitled Path to net zero, published 10 September 2020, for the Government to invest in low carbon buses.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is already committed to ensuring net zero carbon emissions in the transport system by 2050. That is why we are going further than the recommendations, investing in at least 4,000 Zero-Emission Buses (ZEBs) through the £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for regions outside London. This is on top of the £50 million to deliver Britain’s first all-electric bus town and £240 million since 2010 to support the move to lower emission buses. It will be important to account for all of this in the long-term National Bus Strategy we are developing.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many electric vehicles were registered in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency in the most recent period for which records are available.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
At the end of 2019, there were 147 battery electric vehicles licensed to addresses in the Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency, which comprised of 127 cars and 20 other vehicles.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many registered car owners there were in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency for the most recent period for which records are available.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
At the end of 2019, there were 59,322 licensed cars registered to an address in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with representatives of British Airways on postponing its planned redundancies following the Government's announcement of an extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with airlines, airports and unions to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector and its workers. However, we do not comment on discussions held with individual companies, as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training on ensuring that people are able to undertake drink drive rehabilitation training during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In line with the Government’s guidance on social distancing, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has advised drink drive rehabilitation (DDR) course providers not to start any new classroom-based rehabilitation courses, until further notice. Offenders who have already taken the first, or first and second day of a three-day DDR course, can complete their course remotely on a suitable digital platform. The DVSA has been in discussions with representatives of the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training on this matter.