Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to provide support for the purchase of electric vehicles to meet the targets set out in the Government's Net Zero Road Strategy.
Answered by Michael Ellis
We are investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in cars, vans, lorries, buses, taxis and motorcycles, and schemes to support chargepoint infrastructure at homes, workplaces and on residential streets. These subsidies are designed to support the early market and achieve a competitive, self-sustaining market.
The £400m public-private Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will add thousands more public chargepoints. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act gives Government new powers to regulate the chargepoint market and improve the experience for consumers. We have supported the installation of more than 20,000 public chargepoints, including over 2,000 rapid chargepoints. The UK’s network is already one of the largest networks in Europe and the Road to Zero strategy includes new commitments to massively expand electric and low emission vehicle infrastructure across the country. The Government has also put in place a favourable tax regime that rewards the cleanest, zero emission vehicles.
The Government has awarded over £300m in grants via Innovate UK into ultra low emission technologies. Part of this is the Faraday battery challenge, designed to ensure research and innovation takes centre stage in the Industrial Strategy and to reduce the cost of new technologies.
The Government has also put in place a favourable tax regime that rewards the cleanest, zero emission vehicles. Go Ultra Low is a joint Government-Industry funded campaign which aims to inform vehicle purchasers about the operational savings from driving electric vehicles and to dispel widespread myths.
We anticipate that electric vehicles will achieve price parity with their petrol and diesel counterparts in the mid-2020s. We will review progress by 2025. Against a rapidly evolving international context, we will seek to maintain the UK’s leadership position and meet our ambitions, and will consider what interventions are required if not enough progress is being made.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of vehicles that are electric in each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The following table contains the number and proportion of all licensed vehicles that are electric at the end of March 2019. This includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.
Region/Country | Number | Proportion |
North East | 3,599 | 0.26% |
North West | 11,287 | 0.29% |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 14,174 | 0.47% |
East Midlands | 11,449 | 0.38% |
West Midlands | 28,400 | 0.75% |
East | 26,835 | 0.66% |
London | 26,253 | 0.85% |
South East | 42,482 | 0.67% |
South West | 22,871 | 0.56% |
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England | 187,350 | 0.57% |
Wales | 4,290 | 0.22% |
Scotland | 12,397 | 0.41% |
Northern Ireland | 2,664 | 0.23% |
United Kingdom TOTAL | 210,415 | 0.53% |
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to incentivise the take-up of electric vehicles in areas with high levels of pollution.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The UK Government takes its air quality obligations extremely seriously and is firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions. In July 2017, we published the UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations, setting out how we will achieve compliance in the shortest possible time. As a result of this, we are now working closely with 61 English local authorities, and have placed legal duties on them to tackle their nitrogen dioxide exceedances. This is underpinned by £495m in funding, including £220m Clean Air Fund to mitigate the impact of the plans on individuals and businesses. This funding can include, where appropriate, funding towards incentivising take up of electric vehicles.
To support the transition to zero emission vehicles, we are investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in vehicles, and schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes and workplaces and on residential streets. We have made real progress to date. 200,000 ultra-low emission vehicles are now registered in the UK, and we now have over 20,000 publicly accessible chargepoints. More than 2,000 are rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe.
In London, the Plug-in Car Grant (PIGC) paid out £45m in respect of vehicles registered in London.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2019 to Written Question 207580 on Heathrow Airport: Railways, how much funding has been allocated for the next stage of development for a Southern Rail Access to Heathrow.
Answered by Andrew Jones
In line with the recommendations of the recently published Market Sounding Report on Southern Rail Link to Heathrow, Government is now working to further develop and clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and consider appropriate commercial models. This work is being done as quickly as possible, following which we intend to set out further engagement opportunities to all interested parties. This work is being funded from within current Departmental resource budgets.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2019 to Written Question 207579 on Heathrow Airport: Railways, what plans the Government has for undertaking a Grip 1-2 study of a Southern Rail Access to Heathrow.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Government remains committed to significant involvement by the market in designing and constructing a Southern Rail link to Heathrow. The Market Sounding Findings Report published in December 2018 recommended that Government now needs to further clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and consider appropriate commercial models for the market to take forward the development of potential solutions. This work is being done as quickly as possible following which we intend to set out further engagement opportunities to all interested parties.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the next stage of development of the Southern Rail Link to Heathrow.
Answered by Andrew Jones
A new Southern rail link to Heathrow forms part of our long term aspiration to make getting to the airport quicker and easier for millions of air travellers across south of England and is an exciting opportunity to harness new and innovative ideas from the private sector. The project is in the early stages of development and funding for the next stage is being provided by the Department. The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Chancellor in relation to funding this next stage of work.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report entitled, Southern Rail Link to Heathrow Market Sounding, published by his Department in December 2018, what progress his Department has made on the publication of a (a) process and (b) timeframe in relation to the (i) development and (ii) completion of a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Market Sounding Findings Report, published by the Department in December 2018, indicated significant interest for development and financing of the Southern Rail Link to Heathrow. This interest from the market aligns with my intention for future private sector involvement and we remain keen to advance this project in order to deliver quicker and easier journeys for millions of holidaymakers and business travellers across the south of England. The report concluded that Government now needs to further clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project. We are committed to doing this as quickly as possible following which we intend to set out further opportunities for market involvement.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish his Department's preparations for no deal.
Answered by Chris Grayling
The government has now published 106 specific technical notices to help businesses, citizens and consumers to prepare for March 2019 in the event of a no-deal scenario, this includes 14 DfT notices. These are available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish his response to the market sounding consultation on a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
In May the Department launched a formal Market Sounding for a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow and results of this are expected to be published later this year. The outcome of this engagement will provide further clarity on whether this scheme will be progressed and funded, and if so how.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support is available for local authorities to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has put in place a range of grant schemes to support the installation of domestic and workplace charging infrastructure, across the UK. For areas without off-street parking, funding is made available to Local Authorities to install charging infrastructure, through Government’s On Street Residential Charging Scheme. In addition, under the Government’s Go Ultra Low City Scheme, £22.9m has been allocated to support the installation of infrastructure – this is currently being procured and installed in eight UK cities. Following open competitions, 10 Local authorities have also benefited from £14m of Government funding to install taxi chargepoints.
At the Autumn Budget in 2017, the Chancellor announced a new £400m electric vehicle Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund. This funding will support the efforts of local authorities across the UK to establish recharging infrastructure. More detail on how the Fund will be administered will be published in due course. We are also taking powers through the Automated and Electric Vehicle Bill to ensure the roll-out of electric vehicle infrastructure at key locations such as motorway service areas and large fuel stations.