Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of total Shared Prosperity Fund funding has been allocated to projects in Northern Ireland as of 4 March 2024.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are investing £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects across the UK to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.
The Levelling Up Fund has invested a total of £4.8 billion into infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents across the UK. Projects in Northern Ireland received £120 million across rounds one and two of the Levelling Up Fund. In Round three a further £30 million was set aside for Northern Ireland. This means that at least 3% of total Levelling Up Fund allocations have gone to Northern Ireland, in line with our commitments.
The Community Renewal Fund provided £186 million of funding, supporting outputs for 23,000 organisations. Northern Ireland benefitted from just over £12 million of investment, meaning it enjoyed a proportion of 6.45% of the total funding allocated.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland has a total budget of £126 million which represents 4.8% of the total UKSPF budget of £2.6 billion. As of 4 March 2024, £76 million of UKSPF funding has been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland with further investments to follow. We continue to be committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of total UK Community Renewal Fund funding was allocated to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are investing £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects across the UK to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.
The Levelling Up Fund has invested a total of £4.8 billion into infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents across the UK. Projects in Northern Ireland received £120 million across rounds one and two of the Levelling Up Fund. In Round three a further £30 million was set aside for Northern Ireland. This means that at least 3% of total Levelling Up Fund allocations have gone to Northern Ireland, in line with our commitments.
The Community Renewal Fund provided £186 million of funding, supporting outputs for 23,000 organisations. Northern Ireland benefitted from just over £12 million of investment, meaning it enjoyed a proportion of 6.45% of the total funding allocated.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland has a total budget of £126 million which represents 4.8% of the total UKSPF budget of £2.6 billion. As of 4 March 2024, £76 million of UKSPF funding has been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland with further investments to follow. We continue to be committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of total Levelling Up Fund funding has been allocated to Northern Ireland as of 4 March 2024.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are investing £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects across the UK to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.
The Levelling Up Fund has invested a total of £4.8 billion into infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents across the UK. Projects in Northern Ireland received £120 million across rounds one and two of the Levelling Up Fund. In Round three a further £30 million was set aside for Northern Ireland. This means that at least 3% of total Levelling Up Fund allocations have gone to Northern Ireland, in line with our commitments.
The Community Renewal Fund provided £186 million of funding, supporting outputs for 23,000 organisations. Northern Ireland benefitted from just over £12 million of investment, meaning it enjoyed a proportion of 6.45% of the total funding allocated.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland has a total budget of £126 million which represents 4.8% of the total UKSPF budget of £2.6 billion. As of 4 March 2024, £76 million of UKSPF funding has been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland with further investments to follow. We continue to be committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of infrastructure in the UK to (a) capture carbon from woody biomass burning at scale and (b) transport and store carbon dioxide.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the cluster sequencing process, the Department has previously undertaken assessments of the potential CCUS capabilities of industrial clusters across the UK. The guidance and eligibility criteria for these assessments is available on gov.uk. The UK holds an estimated 78 billion tonnes of theoretical CO2 storage capacity in the UK continental shelf.
Whilst Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is not currently operating at scale in the UK, a 2021 evaluation of greenhouse gas removal technologies found BECCS to be at a technology readiness level of six out of a possible nine.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 73 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review, which policies were identified for receipt of core net zero spend funding from the £1 billion allocated to fund decarbonisation of cars and vans in the financial year 2024-25 at the time that Budget was published; how much funding each of those policies was due to receive; and whether any of those policies have been discontinued since 2021.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The £1 billion allocated to fund the decarbonisation of cars and vans for the financial year 2024-25 in the 2021 Spending Review was allocated to a range of policies across the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (now the Department for Business and Trade).
For the Department for Transport, HM Treasury allocated £619m for policies relating to zero emission vehicles, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and air quality.
This sum was subsequently allocated by the Department to specific policies, including the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, the Rapid Charging Fund, the Plug-in Vehicle Grants, EV Homecharging Schemes, the Workplace Charging Scheme and the Joint Air Quality Unit’s NO2 programme. All grants are kept under continual review to ensure best value for money for the taxpayer.
The remaining funding (£333m) was allocated for the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy, for the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chain, including through the Automotive Transformation Fund Programme. This aims to support the creation of an internationally competitive EV supply chain in the UK, through research and development and capital investments.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 73 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, which policy areas will receive funding from the £1.8 billion allocated to core net zero spend relating to the Department for Transport for the 2024-25 financial year; and how much funding as been issued to each of those policy areas for the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The £1.8 billion allocated to the Department for Transport for the financial year 2024-25 in the 2021 Spending Review supports net zero policies across zero emission vehicles (including buses) and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the bus transformation funding to support local authority Bus Service Improvement Plans, air quality improvement measures, active travel policies, City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, Nexus Metrofleet in Newcastle, rail electrification, and the UK’s production of sustainable aviation fuel.
£333 million of the £1.8 billion was reallocated to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (now the Department for Business and Trade), for the electrification of UK vehicle manufacturing and their supply chains, including through the Automotive Transformation Fund Programme.
The Department’s business planning process for 2024-25 financial year remains ongoing and final plans will be published in due course as per standard practice.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department plans to provide to local authorities for active travel plans in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is currently providing £70 million of dedicated funding to local authorities in 2023-24, for developing and delivering local infrastructure schemes and to boost capability and enable higher levels of walking and cycling. Funding for local authorities in 2024-25 is subject to final Departmental business planning decisions.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the second National Infrastructure Report, published on 18 October 2023, what progress his Department has made on responding to the recommendation to (a) review action on transport decarbonisation annually and (b) develop adaptive policies in case of a future shortfall.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government set out its plan for decarbonising transport in its 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which we have continued to build on since. We regularly review our transport decarbonisation policies to ensure we are on track to deliver our projected carbon savings and are committed to publishing our progress and reviewing our net zero pathway at least every five years.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2024 to Question 12442 on Cross Country Trains: Overcrowding, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) overcrowding, (b) delays and (c) cancellations on Cross Country rail services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
(a) The Department has authorised CrossCountry to acquire additional trains when they become available from another operator. CrossCountry is also authorised to deploy a number of these trains in 2024 if they can be made available. (b)(c) Train service performance by CrossCountry over recent months has been affected by heavy rain and storms that impact on railway infrastructure causing delays and cancellations, although they are held to account for factors under their control.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of London North Eastern trains from (a) Peterborough to London and (b) London to Peterborough were (i) cancelled and (ii) delayed by more than 30 minutes in 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) cancelled a total of 1,151 services on the day of travel between Peterborough and London between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023. This equates to 3.7 per cent of their services between these stations. Over the same time period, 926 LNER services between London and Peterborough were delayed by over 30 minutes. This equates to 3 per cent of LNER services between London and Peterborough. A significant proportion of the cancellations and delays were due to flooding from named storms and infrastructure failures.