Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency measures the Government has in place for instances of major power outages impacting people’s ability to travel by (a) personal private car transport and (b) public transport.

The Department for Transport considers the risks and potential impacts from power outages through ongoing robust resilience assessment and planning processes. The challenges presented by a range of different vehicle types and modes of transport, including electric vehicles, are considered as part of this. Our assessments are kept under continual review.

The Department works with the transport sector, local authorities, and other government departments to put in place measures to plan and prepare for acute power outage risks. Many transport providers work in conjunction with Local Resilience Fora as set out in the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004. This includes contingency planning to deal with local and regional emergencies, including power outages.