Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the carbon emissions were for Highways England in each year between 2014 and 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The corporate carbon emissions for National Highways (NH), or predecessor organisations (Highways Agency and Highways England), within the period requested were as follows:
Year | tCO2e |
2013-14 | 98,496 |
2014-15 | 104,978 |
2015-16 | 95,373 |
2016-17 | 89,591 |
2017-18 | 83,659 |
2018-19 | 72,302 |
2019-20 | 66,046 |
2020-21 | 57,055 |
2021-22 | 50,388 |
2022-23 | 44,809 |
2023-24 | 45,266 |
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23517 on Crime: Westminster Bridge, which public bodies are responsible for law enforcement in relation to (a) unlawful gambling, (b) unlawful street vendors, (c) red line parking and (d) unlicensed pedicabs on Westminster Bridge.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Localised incidents of illegal gambling are the responsibility of the relevant licensing authority and relevant police force. In the case of Westminster Bridge, this is Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police. The police are able to ask street vendors to show their licence. Westminster Bridge is on the Transport for London Road Network and enforcement action against illegally parked vehicles there is a matter for Transport for London (TfL). The Pedicabs (London) Act 2024 conferred powers onto TfL to regulate London’s pedicab industry for the first time, and TfL has now begun the process of consulting on the proposed regulations.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of building (a) charging infrastructure and (b) on-road services for electric vehicles in each year between 2014 and 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). We will work closely with stakeholders to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints, and to ensure the benefits of the transition are felt across all of society.
The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) has awarded £83 million in grant funding to 219 LAs since 2017 and will see more than 21,300 chargepoints installed.
Between 2017 and 2024, over £14m was spent by National Highways to advance the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure on the Strategic Road Network, including £4.5 million through a project to install chargepoints and £9.5m through the Energy Storage Systems project to support ultra rapid chargepoints at motorway service areas. In addition, Ofgem has run a £300m Green Recovery Scheme to accelerate network investment, including to support charging at motorway service areas.
The £381m Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund supports local authorities in England to work with industry and transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking. The funding backed by substantial private investment, will support the installation of at least 100,000 on-street chargepoints, ensuring the rollout continues at pace to support drivers in every part of the country.
In addition, the Government confirmed in the October 2024 Budget that it wants to support the uptake of EVs by investing over £200 million in 2025/26 to accelerate EV chargepoint rollout.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trees have been planted by Highways England in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was of this work.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
National Highways (NH) does not keep a central record of the number of trees they have planted across England in any given year. However, as outlined in their ‘Net zero highways: our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan’, NH aims to plant at least 3 million trees by 2030 (in addition to the trees planted as ‘essential mitigation’ for projects).
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of Highways England vehicles that were (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hydrogen, (d) hybrid, (e) plug-in hybrid and (f) fully electric in each year between 2014 and 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
National Highways keeps records of the vehicles that make up its fleet; the breakdown of vehicle fuel type between 2014 and 2024 can be found in the table below.
| Vehicle Type | |||||
Year | Petrol | Diesel | Hydrogen | Hybrid | Plug-in Hybrid | Fully Electric |
2014 | 0 | 685 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | 0 | 717 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2016 | 0 | 730 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2017 | 0 | 755 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2018 | 0 | 784 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2019 | 0 | 826 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 1 |
2020 | 0 | 833 | 0 | 0 | 312 | 19 |
2021 | 0 | 833 | 0 | 0 | 440 | 20 |
2022 | 0 | 762 | 0 | 0 | 616 | 39 |
2023 | 0 | 597 | 0 | 0 | 811 | 57 |
2024 | 0 | 460 | 0 | 0 | 883 | 132 |
National Highways have an ambitious plan for their non-traffic officer vehicles to be 100% electric by 2027, with traffic officer vehicles to be 100% electric by 2030 (as laid out in their Net zero highways: our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan).
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what low carbon (a) materials and (b) methods are used by Highways England in road (i) maintenance and (ii) construction.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
National Highways use a wide range of low carbon materials and methods such as using bio-binders and recycled materials in asphalt, stipulating lower carbon concrete mixes in construction contracts, and investing in research and development into low-carbon materials. National Highways also follow lean construction practices and the principles of the circular economy to embed approaches that minimise emissions, including updating their standards - the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) - to include use of recycled materials. Additional information on National Highways, ambitious programme for putting roads at the heart of Britain’s net zero future can be found online (see: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/netzerohighways/) and within their ‘Net zero highways Our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan’.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse for Highways England to decarbonise (a) internal operations by 2030, (b) road maintenance and construction by 2040, and (c) travel on roads by 2050.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The draft third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), which will cover five years from April 2026 to March 2031, will be published in due course. This will set out the Government’s objectives for the Strategic Road Network and the funding available. This includes in relation to National Highways’ climate obligations and commitments.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Highways England and (b) Distribution Network Operators on steps to accelerate the upgrades to substations near charging points on (i) motorways and (ii) A roads.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Government is committed to accelerating the rollout of EV charging infrastructure to support long journeys in line with ambitions for a zero emission car, van and HGV fleet. Access to a comprehensive ultra-rapid chargepoint network will enable more consumers to confidently purchase electric vehicles.
There has been good progress on chargepoints on our Strategic Road Network (SRN), covering motorways and major A Roads in England. There are now over 4,500 rapid and ultra rapid chargers within one mile of the strategic road network, a major increase since January 2022 (Zapmap). Within this, there are over 1,100 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints (industry data) at motorway service areas in England, which is an over 40% increase in the last year.
Government is taking a range of actions to support improvements in charging infrastructure on the SRN, including to address gaps in the network, and has been engaging closely with industry, including distribution network operators (DNOs).
This includes working with Ofgem and distribution network operators to develop a new, more affordable, approach so power capacity use at charging sites can be increased over time in line with demand, and on the Green Recovery Scheme, a £300m scheme to accelerate network investment. Government has worked with National Highways to deliver a joint Energy Storage Systems (ESS) project (£11m) to fund batteries, and on a £70m pilot scheme to part-fund grid upgrades, both to support charging at motorway sites.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of lighting on (a) motorways and (b) A roads has been replaced with LEDs in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was of this work.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The answer could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will list all (a) start and (b) end dates for lease agreements held by Highways England for their vehicle fleet.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
National Highways does not currently have any lease agreements for vehicles in place for its vehicle fleet.