Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to incentivise road haulage businesses to purchase vehicles with (a) lower driving positions, (b) observation cameras, (c) glass doors and (d) other advanced safety measures.
Answered by Andrew Jones
A number of lorry manufacturers produce models with lower cabs, glass doors and other safety equipment such as cameras and their use is increasingly common on UK roads.
Transport for London’s Freight Operator Recognition Scheme and Construction Logistics Cyclist Safety scheme encourage the use of safer vehicle designs and equipment for vehicles operating in London. Compliance with such a scheme can be a contractual requirement, including for some major public sector transport projects, such as Crossrail.
We support the aims of such schemes in improving road safety.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the decision by Hapag-Llloyd and Hamburg Sud to transfer operations from the Port of Tilbury to London Gateway on (a) rail and (b) road freight journeys; and what projection his Department has made of how many containers will transfer from rail to road as a result of this decision.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department made no specific assessment of these commercial, operational decisions.
The impact on local road and rail network will have been assessed as part of the planning process. The London Gateway planning consents require various inland infrastructure works to reflect the scope of the development and the potential levels of business and traffic. This includes works on the A13, Junction 30 of M25, and rail freight links that are to be undertaken when specified threshold levels of port development, and for the associated logistics park, are reached.
It is not necessarily the case that the transfer of one contract from Tilbury to London Gateway will affect the overall balance of containers currently sent by rail and road. Like Tilbury, London Gateway is served by rail as well as road. The DfT is supporting financially some rail freight flows from Tilbury and London Gateway in recognition of non-commercialised benefits, such as for the environment, from using rail rather than road for freight.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the decision by Hapag-Llloyd and Hamburg Sud to transfer operations from the Port of Tilbury to London Gateway on the local road network.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department made no specific assessment of these commercial, operational decisions.
The impact on local road and rail network will have been assessed as part of the planning process. The London Gateway planning consents require various inland infrastructure works to reflect the scope of the development and the potential levels of business and traffic. This includes works on the A13, Junction 30 of M25, and rail freight links that are to be undertaken when specified threshold levels of port development, and for the associated logistics park, are reached.
It is not necessarily the case that the transfer of one contract from Tilbury to London Gateway will affect the overall balance of containers currently sent by rail and road. Like Tilbury, London Gateway is served by rail as well as road. The DfT is supporting financially some rail freight flows from Tilbury and London Gateway in recognition of non-commercialised benefits, such as for the environment, from using rail rather than road for freight.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with representatives of the haulage industry about improving the safety of cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
There have been discussions with representatives of the haulage industry in a number of broader meetings. The meetings included the Commercial Vehicle Road Safety Forum, the Road Haulage Forum and a driver certificates of professional competence (DCPC) stakeholder meeting for the EU review. The subjects discussed included the potential for DCPC, vehicle design and enforcement to improve safety, including of cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
Department for Transport officials have also attended meetings about vehicle construction and to develop a best practice standard for construction logistics. These have been in collaboration with the haulage industry and Transport for London, with the objective of improving road safety for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
The Department runs a Safety Sub Group of the Minister's Cycling Stakeholder Forum. This includes members from the haulage industry, such as the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association and Minerals Products Association.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with maritime industry stakeholders on the implications of maritime fuel sulphur regulations for freight traffic moving from water freight to road freight.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
In October 2012, and again in March 2013, I chaired ‘round table' meetings of industry stakeholders (from the shipping, ports, exhaust gas cleaning system technology, oil refining and logistics sectors) to consider the best way forward for compliance with the new international and EU sulphur requirements. The potential for reverse modal shift, the maturity and efficacy of scrubber technology and the scope for financial assistance to industry were all key to those discussions. The report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping was produced as a result of those meetings, and officials have taken it into account in producing the Government's Impact Assessment on the draft UK Regulations to implement the sulphur limits in national law.
The Government went out to an eight-week public consultation on 29 April 2014 on those draft UK Regulations. Meanwhile, Government officials continue to work closely with the industry and to explore the scope for securing EU finance, possibly under the Trans-European Network (commonly known as TEN-T) programme and affordable capital from the European Investment Bank, for shipowners and ports who wish to invest in scrubber technology or in technology associated with the use of an alternative fuel, such as liquefied natural gas, to comply with the new limits.
The UK Regulations will be reviewed in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to encourage car manufacturers to manufacture cars powered by road fuel gases for the UK market.
Answered by Michael Fallon
We want the UK to be at the forefront of the design, development, manufacture and use of low emission vehicles, delivering economic growth opportunities and contributing to the decarbonisation of road transport.
As part of the Automotive Industrial Strategy, Government and industry will invest around £1 billion over the next 10 years in an Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) to research, develop and commercialise the next generation of low carbon technologies. The APC is technology neutral, so can support new road fuel gas technologies if they offer significant low carbon advantages. This investment will secure up to 30,000 jobs. The Government will allocate £100 million for ULEV-specific research and development for the period 2015-2020 as part of the £500m OLEV package. This represents an increase of over 20% in support from the previous package (which was £82m over the period 2010 – 2015).
We have also allocated £4m to ensure the UK has the gas refuelling facilities HGVs need to support our freight and logistics operators in their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their business.