Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the terminology of road traffic accidents to crashes or collisions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Where possible, the Department no longer uses the word ‘accidents’. The appropriate terms to use are ‘crashes’, ‘collisions’ and ‘incidents’. We encourage others to do so, too.
However, the word ‘accident’ continues to be used in certain circumstances, for example where that is the term previously used in legislation.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when will the Road Safety Investigation Branch be formed.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has introduced the Automated Vehicles Bill to Parliament, which includes proposed legislation to enable the creation of a capability within my department to investigate safety incidents involving at least one self-driving vehicle.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
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 recommendation that the Government should consider the introduction of escalating penalties for repeat traffic offences made in the Road Justice report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking in September 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish the final report of the Roads policing review.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I believe the Hon member is referring to the Government Response to Call for Evidence on Roads Policing.
The Call for Evidence saw 149 responses submitted, many of which were incredibly detailed. The Government intends to publish the response, once it has given the responses full consideration.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his department is on track to legislate for ending sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 within the proposed January 2024 timeframe.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Yes, the Department is on track.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department plans to provide to active travel in (a) 2023-2024 and (b) 2024-2025 in (i) dedicated and (ii) general spending.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government expects to invest a total of around £3 billion in active travel from 2020 to 2025. This includes at least £100 million of dedicated capital funding over the two-year period 2023/24 to 2024/25 for active travel infrastructure. In addition to this, the Department will confirm the revenue funding for active travel for 2023/24 and 2024/25 shortly. As outlined in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) there are a wide range of cross-Government funding streams supporting the delivery of active travel infrastructure. These funds include the Levelling Up Fund, Towns Fund, City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and National Highways Designated Funds.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the results from the managing pavement parking consultation; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that consultation on North Devon constituency.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department consulted on measures to address inconsiderate pavement parking in 2020 and received over 15,000 responses. We have been considering all views expressed, including from those with vision impairments, and the options for managing pavement parking. This is a complex issue and we want to ensure that local authorities have appropriate and effective tools at their disposal. We will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps as soon as possible. An impact assessment will be published alongside the consultation response.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish the results of the Fix Your Bike Voucher Scheme evaluation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department is currently evaluating the impacts of the Fix Your Bike Voucher scheme. A report on the results of the evaluation will be published in mid-2023.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings by Cambridge Econometrics in the report The impact of a 2030 ICE phase-out in the UK, published in 2020, that if the UK motor vehicle industry could secure a greater share of the UK domestic market for new vehicles in the context of a 2030 phase-out of internal combustion engines, this could potentially lead to the creation of an additional 63,000 jobs in the UK compared to a 2035 phase-out.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The end of sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, will help the UK meet its climate change obligations. It will improve air quality in our towns and cities, support economic growth, and create new jobs in our industrial heartlands. The 2030 phase out will contribute to increasing the supply of ZEVs to meet increasing demand from UK consumers and will make the UK a more attractive environment for vehicle manufacturers to produce and sell ZEVs. Alongside government support, this will generate new employment opportunities in the BEV supply chain, as well as in the chargepoint and energy industries.
As estimated in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the production of all zero emission road transport vehicles has the potential to support up to 72,000 jobs, worth up to £9.7 billion GVA in the year 2050.
We will shortly bring forward a proposed ZEV mandate to support legislative delivery of our phase out commitments. We will consider the potential impact this legislation will have on jobs as part of our Government Response Impact Assessment.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of the (a) responsible use of and (b) speed limit that applies to e-bikes and (c) the legal provisions that apply to the modification of the speed restrictions of e-bikes.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
E-cycle users, like any other road user, have a duty to behave in a safe and responsible manner and to comply with the Highway Code. Legal provisions applying to e-cycles are set out in The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983 and The Pedal Cycles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1983, and subsequent amendments.
The Department does not have any plans to raise public awareness of these provisions beyond existing road safety messaging, such as THINK!