Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide details of all the strategies his Department is working on; and what the estimated publication date of each of those strategies is.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Work is underway across DfT on a number of strategies which will set out the important role transport will play as we build back better from the Covid-19 pandemic. The major strategies under development in the Department are listed below (including a number of strategies for which other organisations will lead development). Where known, expected and approximate publication dates have been included.
Aviation Strategic Framework - A strategic framework for the Aviation sector over next ten years, focussing on building back better to ensure a successful future for UK Aviation.
Aviation Jet Zero Strategy - A vision for how the aviation sector will reach net zero emissions by 2050.
EV Infrastructure Strategy - Expected to be published soon, and will set out our vision for the continued rollout of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK – one which will enable mass uptake of cleaner vehicles.
Future of Freight - A long-term strategic plan for the freight and logistics sector, co-developed with industry, and expected to be published in Spring 2022.
Future of Transport Rural Strategy – Will set out Government’s approach to addressing the impact of new technology, changing demand and evolving business models on rural transportation.
Low Carbon Fuels Strategy - A strategy on the deployment of low carbon fuels across different transport modes in the period up to 2050, to be published by the end of 2022.
Maritime recovery road map - Our plan to support the recovery of the Maritime sector from the impacts of Covid-19, expected to be published in Spring 2022, forming part of our Maritime 2050 strategy (published in January 2019).
National Railways Accessibility Strategy - A commitment in the Williams-Shapps plan for rail, this strategy will consider how to improve inclusion and access for all to our railways. It is being developed by the Great British Railways transformation team following a commission from DfT.
Road Safety Strategic Framework – Will set out the Government’s plans for increasing the safety of our roads.
Second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy - A second 4-year statutory cycling and walking investment strategy, reflecting the new policies in gear change and the multi-year funding settlement at Spending Review 2021. This is expected to be published in Spring 2022.
Third Road Investment Strategy - Will set out the Government’s aims and proposals for investment in the strategic road network from 2025 to 2030. The final version is expected to be published in 2024.
Whole Industry Strategic Plan for Rail - A 30 year strategy for the future of the rail sector, which is being developed by the Great British Railways transformation team following a commission from DfT.
There is other work ongoing in the Department which may lead to the development of more formal, externally published strategies in future, including on the sharing and use of data across the transport sector and on transport labour market and skills.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to support recruitment and retention in the transport logistics industry.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We have taken decisive action to address the acute HGV driver shortage, with 30 specific measures taken by the Government already. These include providing support and training for new HGV drivers, expanding HGV driver testing capacity and improving licencing processes. We are also investing £32.5 million in improving roadside facilities for hauliers. We will continue to encourage the road haulage industry to make employment as an HGV driver more attractive.
Furthermore, in partnership with the Freight Council and our Future of Freight programme, we are working with industry to identify how recruitment and retention across the entire freight and logistics sector can be improved for the long term.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing the transport industry with assistance towards investment in greener trucks.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Decarbonising transport is a key priority for the government and we have just published our world-leading plan, “Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain’ which outlines our commitments to decarbonise transport, including the road freight sector, and achieve net zero by 2050.
We are supporting the transport industry to invest in greener trucks through a wide range of measures. This includes £20m this year to develop Zero Emission Road Freight Trials which will support UK industry to develop cost-effective, zero-emission HGVs and their refuelling infrastructure in the UK. Trials will invest in research, innovation and construction of zero emission HGVs by UK based business and SMEs to support the development of cutting-edge HGV technology, breaking down barriers to adoption and speeding up the decarbonisation of our road freight sector.
Government supports transport industry investment in low emission trucks through the £23 million Hydrogen for Transport Programme, which funds the deployment of hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations. The £20m Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition matched capital funding to projects that produced low carbon waste-based fuels to be used in aeroplanes and HGVs and the £20 million Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial supported industry-led R&D projects trialing low-emission technologies for freight.
Finally, Government is providing £582 million to continue the plug-in grants.
The plug-in truck grant (PiTG) encourages the uptake of cutting-edge, zero emission HGVs by reducing the purchase price of zero emission commercial vehicles. From March 2021 the PiTG was increased to 20% of the purchase price, up to a maximum of £25,000, for large trucks greater than 12 tonnes. The grant rate was increased in recognition of the higher upfront cost of these vehicles.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support businesses to electrify their road delivery fleet.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
We recognise that business fleets have an important role to play in the transition to zero emission driving. A central part to supporting this transition is the recently announced 2030 phase out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, and the upcoming consultation on phasing out the sale of new diesel heavy goods vehicles.
The Government is investing £2.8 billion through a package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This includes £582m for grant schemes to help with the cost of purchasing vehicles and £1.3 billion for the associated recharging infrastructure, which supports businesses to make the transition. We are showing leadership by working towards electrifying the Government’s fleet. In 2017 the Government committed that 25% of central Government cars will be ultra low emission by 2022, and in 2018 through the Road to Zero strategy committed to 100% ultra low emission cars by 2030.
The Government has funded a series of R&D competitions, focussed on developing zero emission vehicle and associated infrastructure technology, including seeking solutions to electrify fleets and improve fleet charging capability. The £20m Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial funded a series of industry-led trials of alternative propulsion technologies for UK commercial fleets. Other R&D programmes supporting fleet electrification include the £10m Wireless EV Charging for Commercial Users competition to examine the potential of wireless charging technology for taxi and home delivery fleets.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2020 to Question 118091 on Railways, if he will publish the (a) minutes and (b) list of attendees of the Rail EU Stakeholder Roundtable meeting that took place on 17 November 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Rail EU Stakeholder Roundtable meeting that took place on 17 November 2020 was attended by key members of the UK rail industry such as the Railway Industry Association (RIA), the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), Network Rail, HS1 Ltd, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the Rail Freight Group (RFG), Logistics UK and Rail Forum Midlands.
Formal minutes of stakeholder roundtable meetings are not recorded to facilitate a free and open exchange of views on key issues. However, issues raised by stakeholders are then followed up directly by officials and updates are provided at subsequent meetings.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department is providing for alternative fuel sources for large vehicles that travel long distances.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department’s £20 million Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial launched in 2017, supporting industry-led research and development projects, including for alternative fuels. The £23 million Hydrogen for Transport Programme, launched in 2017, funded the deployment of hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations.
The Department’s Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition has made up to £20m of capital funding available to projects that will produce low carbon waste-based fuels to be used in aeroplanes and lorries.
The Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation incentivises the supply of low carbon fuels to all modes of road transport, including HGVs.
Further plans for decarbonising freight will form part of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support he is providing to the logistics industry to help secure ferry places for (a) empty lorries travelling to Great Britain from Northern Ireland and (b) full lorries travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government has made available £330 billion of support through loans and guarantees to support UK businesses. Changes have been made to some of the schemes to ensure that more businesses, particularly those that are SMEs like many road haulage companies, can benefit from them.
The Department is aware of the issues faced by the logistics industry in Northern Ireland. That is why on 24 April we announced a package of funding to support the movement of critical goods on up to 31 RoRo freight routes, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Up to £17 million of funding will be available to support up to five routes over the next two months, with the Northern Ireland Executive contributing 40 percent. Officials continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to gather evidence on the scale of the problem and any further support needed.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce proposals on supporting hauliers in Northern Ireland to manage the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government has made available £330 billion of support through loans and guarantees to support UK businesses. Changes have been made to some of the schemes to ensure that more businesses, particularly those that are SMEs like many road haulage companies, can benefit from them.
The Department is aware of the issues faced by the logistics industry in Northern Ireland. That is why on 24 April we announced a package of funding to support the movement of critical goods on up to 31 RoRo freight routes, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Up to £17 million of funding will be available to support up to five routes over the next two months, with the Northern Ireland Executive contributing 40 percent. Officials continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to gather evidence on the scale of the problem and any further support needed.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) HGV and (b) logistics firms are providing drivers with (i) personal protective equipment and (ii) access to toilet and hygiene facilities.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
i) The Government has set out its clear, evidence based, strategy providing guidance on the sectors which have a clinical need for PPE. We have encouraged transport operators to check the guidance and make any changes in a way that works for their business, employees and customers, and asked that changes made be considered in consultation with their employees.
ii) Officials in my department have been working closely with the freight associations and Motorway Service Areas (MSAs), to ensure that they continue to provide suitable toilets and shower facilities to drivers. We have also been working with large Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs), who have implemented hygiene procedures and social distancing in line with the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and government guidelines.
Where access to toilet or handwashing facilities is denied, and proper social distancing measures are not in place, this can be reported to RHA, who are collecting information on this issue.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2020 to Question 25169, what steps his Department have taken to encourage the uptake of compressed natural gas vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The £20m Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial (LEFT) has supported 61 zero and low emission heavy goods vehicles into operation on UK roads, including some using compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative to diesel.
Emissions testing is a key aspect of project evaluation that will ensure we have a clear and independent view on the environmental impact of these vehicles. The programme is on-going with the final report expected to be published by the summer.
In the 2018 Budget, the Government confirmed that it would maintain the difference between alternative fuel (including CNG) and main road fuel duty rates until 2032 (subject to a review in 2024) to support the decarbonisation of the UK transport sector.