Tag: Department for Transport

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 4 May 2023.

At a recent public inquiry, PSV operator Thandi Red Ltd were found to have failed to comply with the Public Service Vehicles (Open Data) (England) Regulations 2020, in particular having failed to provide location data for the vehicles operating the registered services.

The Traffic Commissioner for the West Midlands, Miles Dorrington, imposed a financial penalty under section 155 of the Transport Act 2000 of £1500, based on a £100 penalty for each of the vehicles authorised on the operator’s licence.

This case is one of the first referred to a traffic commissioner that includes a failure to comply with regulations that have required data to be provided since 2021. Operators of local services should ensure they meet all obligations in running local services and seek the help from the BODS Helpdesk who can be contacted at:

Email: bodshelpdesk@kpmg.co.uk​

Phone: 0800 028 0930​

The traffic commissioner also considered serious matters related to the maintenance arrangements of the company and said “The repute of the operator is badly tarnished and that of the transport manager is hanging by a thread.” as he reduced the authorisation of the operator’s licence from 20 vehicles to 15 vehicles for 14 days.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 3 May 2023.

Jo Shanmugalingam brings significant experience from across government departments.

The Department for Transport (DfT) Permanent Secretary, with the approval of the Prime Minister, has today (3 May 2023) announced that Jo Shanmugalingam, currently a Director General at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), has been appointed as the new Second Permanent Secretary at DfT.

The Second Permanent Secretary, appointed following an open competition, will provide leadership of a number of high-profile areas across DfT, including decarbonising transport, and will start formally at the end of May.

Jo is currently Director General for Science, Innovation and Growth at DSIT. Since taking up this role in 2019, she has led on:

• the government’s overall investment and policy strategy to maximise the value of research and development on the economy and society
• the government’s support for small businesses, including the debt and equity schemes to support small and medium-sized enterprises through the pandemic
• some of the key sectors and technologies of the future

Having previously served as Strategy Director at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), as part of a job-share with Susannah Storey, and Director of Corporate Effectiveness at the Ministry of Defence, Jo started her career at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). She spent 6 years at the Shareholder Executive – now UK Government Investments (UKGI) – where she was responsible for taking the legislation to privatise Royal Mail through Parliament and for the government’s shareholder interests in businesses including National Air Traffic Services Ltd, Post Office Ltd and Ordnance Survey.

Throughout her career, Jo has worked alongside DfT colleagues from air traffic control to industrial strategy and now space launch and regulation.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

I am delighted to be welcoming Jo, who brings a wealth of experience from across government departments. I look forward to working with her to improve transport right across the country, including leading on delivering some of our top ambitions like decarbonisation and levelling up.

Permanent Secretary for the Department for Transport Bernadette Kelly said:

Jo’s appointment is great news for the department – she has demonstrated outstanding skills in leading the government’s work on science and innovation. In this new role, I know she will bring momentum and energy during what is an exciting time for DfT.

Jo Shanmugalingam said:

I’m proud to be appointed Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport and to be working with teams who have been delivering important work to keep the country moving during challenging times.

It will be a privilege to help drive forward the government’s work to decarbonise and level up transport for the travelling public.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 27 April 2023.

Councils in England mandated to use a national database that records taxi drivers who have had their licences removed for misconduct.

New measures will safeguard passengers and crack down on unfit taxi and PHV drivers, with tighter checks introduced across local authorities.

Building on existing legislation, councils in England will now be mandated to use a national database to record instances where taxi and PHV drivers have their licences removed for misconduct. This new law will prevent them from simply reapplying for a licence in other areas by alerting the system to concerns about their prior behaviour.

This will ensure passengers can use taxis and PHVs with greater confidence that these modes of transport are safe, helping to strengthen communities and restore pride in towns and high streets across the country.

While the vast majority of taxi and private hire trips are safe and efficient, there have been a small number of reports linking a minority of drivers to incidents of sexual harassment, abuse and poor driving.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

The safety of passengers, especially women and girls, is paramount. That’s why I’m bringing in tough new measures to ensure that when you catch a cab, you can be confident your driver will take you from A to B safely and without incident.

While the vast majority of drivers are hardworking and honest, we’re taking steps to remove the few who abuse their position and pose a risk to passengers.

The step will bring into full force the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safety and Road Safety) Act 2022 and is being backed by the family of Sian O’Callaghan, who was tragically murdered by a PHV driver in Swindon in 2011, aged 22. Her family has since been campaigning for tougher measures to protect passengers.

Sian’s family said:

To see this law being implemented and rolled out today across all local authorities is testament to Sian. It was in her nature to help others and this means so much to us personally.

Her name is now linked to a drastic improvement in passengers’ safety within taxis and PHVs, while also better protecting hard-working, law-abiding drivers themselves.

The act, introduced last year, was spearheaded by Darlington MP Peter Gibson and has been supported by Ms O’Callaghan’s family and the personal safety charity, Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

Suky Bhaker, CEO, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said:

We welcome today’s announcement of tighter checks on drivers as an important milestone in steps to achieve this. It is vital that licensing authorities have access to all relevant information to decide if a driver meets licensing safety requirements.

The existing database is already used voluntarily by some local authorities, but only 74% of councils in England are using it.

From today (27 April 2023), use of the database will be compulsory for every driver licence application and the Department for Transport will monitor its use closely. Councils that fail to do the necessary checks could face legal action.

Hosted by the National Anti-Fraud Network, the system records all instances where taxi and PHV driver licences have been refused, suspended or revoked on either safeguarding or road safety grounds.

Improving information-sharing between licensing authorities prevents drivers who could do harm from getting a licence elsewhere without being challenged.

Steve Wright MBE, Chair of the Licensed Private Hire Car Association, said:

This measure will help join up enforcement and compliance nationally between licensing authorities to prevent the unacceptable movement from one authority to another of those who are unfit to be in the sector.

The benefits of the database are already clear to licensing authorities using the system. In Luton, the platform revealed an applicant who previously had their licence removed due to safeguarding concerns. Despite the driver failing to disclose this in their application, the system ensured the licensing authority was aware and the request was rejected as a result.

Elsewhere, the database prevented a driver who had previously assaulted another taxi driver in Southampton from regaining a licence in Winchester.

Today’s announcement forms part of the government’s commitment to support survivors and prioritise, prevent and strengthen the pursuit of those who abuse their position of trust. Alongside the new Grooming Gangs Taskforce to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, this measure will weed out unfit drivers and safeguard passengers who rely on these services.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 20 April 2023.

Some vehicle testing and enforcement services might be affected by strike action at times during April 2023, May 2023 and June 2023.

Some Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) and Prospect unions are planning to take strike action during April 2023, May 2023 and June 2023. This includes:

• vehicle standards assessors
• specialist vehicle standards assessors
• traffic examiners
• vehicle examiners

The strike action is part of national industrial action by the PCS and Prospect unions over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms.

When the strike will be held

The strikes will affect different parts of Great Britain at different times.

Dates	Areas affected	Unions taking strike action
Monday 17 April and Tuesday 18 April	North-east England and Scotland	PCS
Thursday 20 April and Friday 21 April	North-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber	PCS
Monday 24 April and Tuesday 25 April	East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London	PCS
Thursday 27 April	London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales	PCS
Friday 28 April	All areas of Great Britain	PCS
Wednesday 10 May	All areas of Great Britain	Prospect
Wednesday 7 June	All areas of Great Britain	Prospect

The strike action on Wednesday 10 May and Wednesday 7 June 2023 is likely to affect DVSA’s vehicle services including:

• MOTs for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), buses and trailers
• MOT demonstration tests (specialist tests for people qualifying as an MOT tester)
• vehicle approval tests

DVSA does not expect the strike action on other days to affect MOTs for HGVs, buses and trailers, but will not know for certain until the strike action takes place.

MOTs for cars, vans and motorcycles

MOTs for cars, vans and motorcycles MOTs for cars, vans and motorcycles are not affected by the strike action. They will be taking place as planned.

Services for MOT testers

If you’re an MOT tester with an MOT demonstration test booked on the dates of the strike action, you should still go for your appointment, unless DVSA contacts you to tell you not to go.

Not all vehicle examiners are union members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike.

DVSA will automatically rearrange your demonstration test if it cannot go ahead because of the strike action.

MOTs for HGVs, buses and trailers

You should go to your vehicle test appointment as planned if it’s on the date of strike action.

Not all DVSA staff are union members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike.

If your MOT cannot go ahead

You will need to book another appointment with an MOT centre if your test cannot go ahead because of the strike action.

Find an MOT centre for HGVs, buses and trailers.

Tell DVSA if you cannot book a new test if both of these apply to you:

• you have contacted your local test centres and have been unable to book a test
• your MOT expires this month or has already expired

Report that you cannot book an HGV, bus or trailer MOT.

If you manage an ATF

Contact your network business manager if a vehicle standards assessor has not attended your site within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time.

To help customers with a test booked, DVSA encourages you to contact them directly once you know if their test will be affected.

Vehicle approval tests

You should go to your vehicle approval test appointment as planned if it’s on the date of strike action, unless DVSA contacts you to tell you not to go.

Not all specialist vehicle standards assessors are union members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike.

If your vehicle approval test cannot go ahead DVSA will automatically rebook your vehicle approval test for you if it cannot go ahead because of the strike action.

You’ll be sent the new details. You do not need to contact DVSA.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 20 April 2023.

Some driving tests might be affected by strike action at times during April 2023.

Some driving examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are planning to take strike action at times during April 2023.

The strike action is part of national industrial action by the PCS union over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms.

What types of tests might be affected

The strike action might affect:

• car driving tests
• motorcycle tests
• lorry, bus, coach and minibus driving tests (these are known as vocational tests)
• tractor or specialist vehicle driving tests
• approved driving instructor (ADI) part 2 (driving ability) or part 3 (instructional ability) tests
• ADI standards checks
• moped and motorcycle compulsory basic training (CBT) checks – but not the training courses themselves

The strike action will not affect theory tests.

Driving tests with private test providers

Your test will not be affected by the strike action if you’re taking it with a private test provider. This includes some:

• Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) part 3a (off-road exercise) tests
• Driver CPC part 4 (practical demonstration) tests

When the strikes will be held

The strikes will affect driving test centres in different parts of Great Britain at different times.

Dates	Areas affected
Monday 17 April and Tuesday 18 April	North-east England and Scotland
Thursday 20 April and Friday 21 April	North-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber
Monday 24 April and Tuesday 25 April	East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London
Thursday 27 April	London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales
Friday 28 April	All areas of Great Britain

Check which driving test centres are affected

The PCS union has told DVSA the strike action will affect driving examiners employed at the driving test centres listed on this page.

Tests might also be affected at other driving test centres that are not listed. DVSA will not know this until the day of the strike action.

North-east England and Scotland

These areas include these test centres:

Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South (Cove), Airdrie, Ayr, Bishopbriggs, Blyth, Darlington, Darlington LGV, Dumfries, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh (Currie), Edinburgh (Musselburgh), Elgin, Gateshead, Glasgow (Anniesland), Glasgow (Baillieston), Glasgow (Shieldhall), Gosforth, Grangemouth, Greenock, Hamilton, Hartlepool, Inverness (Seafield Road), Irvine, Kilmarnock LGV, Kirkcaldy, Livingston, Middlesborough, Paisley, Perth (Arran Road), Peterhead, Stirling and Sunderland.

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

North-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber

These areas include these test centres:

Atherton (Manchester), Barnsley, Barrow In Furness, Beverley LGV, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton (Manchester), Bradford (Heaton), Bradford (Thornbury), Bredbury (Manchester), Bridlington, Bury (Manchester), Carlisle, Carlisle LGV, Chadderton, Cheetham Hill (Manchester), Chester, Chorley, Crewe, Doncaster, Grimsby Coldwater, Halifax, Heckmondwike, Heysham, Horsforth, Huddersfield, Hull, Kendal (Oxenholme Road), Knaresborough, Leeds, Macclesfield, Nelson, Norris Green (Liverpool), Northallerton, Pontefract, Preston, Rochdale (Manchester), Rotherham, Sale (Manchester), Scarborough, Scunthorpe, Sheffield (Handsworth), Sheffield (Middlewood Road), Southport (Liverpool), Speke (Liverpool), St Helens (Liverpool), Steeton, Upton, Wakefield, Wallasey, Walton LGV, Warrington, West Didsbury (Manchester), Widnes (Liverpool), Workington and York.

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London

These areas include these test centres:

Ashfield, Barking (Tanner Street), Barnet (London), Basildon, Birmingham (Garretts Green), Birmingham (Kings Heath), Birmingham (Kingstanding), Birmingham (Shirley), Birmingham (South Yardley), Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield), Bishops Stortford, Borehamwood (London), Boston, Brentwood (London), Burton on Trent, Bury St Edmunds, Buxton, Cambridge (Brookmount Court), Chelmsford (Hanbury Road), Chesterfield, Colchester, Coventry, Derby (Alvaston), Dudley, Featherstone, Goodmayes (London), Grantham (Somerby), Hinckley, Hornchurch (London), Ipswich, Kettering, Kings Lynn, Leicester (Cannock Street), Leicester (Wigston), Leighton Buzzard (Stanbridge Road), Letchworth, Lichfield, Lincoln, Loughborough, Loughton (London), Lowestoft (Mobbs Way), Ludlow, Northampton, Norwich (Jupiter Road), Norwich (Peachman Way), Nottingham (Chilwell), Nottingham (Colwick), Nuneaton, Peterborough, Peterborough LGV, Redditch, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Southend-on-Sea, St Albans, Stafford, Stevenage, Stoke on Trent (Cobridge), Stoke on Trent (Newcastle under Lyme), Telford, Tilbury, Warwick (Wedgenock House), Watford, Watnall, Wednesbury, Weedon LGV, Wolverhampton, Worcester and Worksop.

Tests at other driving test centres in these areas might also be affected.

London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales

These areas include these test centres:

Aberystwyth (Park Avenue), Ashford (Kent), Aylesbury, Banbury, Bangor, Barnstaple, Basingstoke, Belvedere (London), Bletchley, Bodmin, Bridgend, Bristol (Avonmouth), Bristol (Brislington), Bristol (Kingswood), Bromley (London), Burgess Hill, Caernarfon LGV, Camborne, Canterbury, Cardiff (Llanishen), Cardigan, Carmarthen, Cheltenham, Chertsey (London), Chichester, Chingford (London), Chippenham, Crawley, Dorchester, Eastbourne, Enfield (Brancroft Way), Enfield (Innova Business Park), Erith (London), Exeter, Exeter LGV, Farnborough, Folkestone, Gillingham, Gillingham LGV, Gloucester, Greenford (London), Guildford, Hastings (Ore), Hendon (London), Herne Bay, Hither Green (London), Isleworth (Fleming Way), Lancing, Launceston, Lee On The Solent, Llanelli, Llantrisant, Maidstone, Merthyr Tydfil, Mill Hill (London), Monmouth, Morden (London), Newbury (Hambridge Lane), Newport (Gwent), Newport (Isle Of Wight), Newton Abbot, Oxford (Cowley), Pembroke Dock, Pinner (London), Plymouth, Plymouth LGV, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Rhyl, Sevenoaks, Sidcup (London), Slough (London), Southall (London), Southampton (Maybush), Southampton LGV, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton, Tolworth (London), Tottenham, Tunbridge Wells, Uxbridge (London), Wanstead (London), Weston-Super-Mare, Winchester, Wood Green (London), Wrexham, Wrexham LGV, Yeading (London) and Yeovil.

If you want to change your driving test date now

Not all examiners are PCS union members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike.

However, you can change your test to another date if you want to.

You must give at least 3 clear working days’ notice to change your test date, or you’ll have to pay again.

What to do if you do not change your test

You should go to your driving test appointment as planned if it’s on the date of strike action, unless DVSA contacts you to tell you not to go.

DVSA will call you to tell you what to do if you’re taking an instructor test including:

• ADI part 2 (driving ability) tests
• ADI part 3 (instructional ability) tests
• ADI standards checks

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 17 April 2023.

Plans to speed up the design, manufacture, and rollout of zero emission aircraft and infrastructure at UK airports.

Ministers and aviation chiefs have revealed an action plan for the next 2 years in the race to reach Jet Zero by 2050, as the government continues with ambitious plans to decarbonise faster than any other G7 country, grow the economy, and support hundreds of thousands of well-paid green jobs.

The Jet Zero Council – made up of industry, academic and government leaders – met today (17 April 2023) at Farnborough Airport. Through its 2-year plan, the council committed to continue working to speed up the design, manufacture, and rollout of zero emission aircraft and vital infrastructure at UK airports.

The plan sets out how the council will help to accelerate the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), by continuing to invest millions of pounds in first-of-a-kind SAF plants, supporting crucial scientific research on a larger scale, and helping to drive down production costs.

Farnborough Airport also played host to the Sustainable Skies World Summit today, which gathers experts and leaders from the worlds of aviation, government, energy, and engineering. UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper delivered the global Summit’s keynote speech, where he stressed the importance of the partnership between government, industry and academia in the international challenge to reaching Jet Zero.

The government has also welcomed the report Developing a UK SAF industry by Philip New, former CEO of the Energy Systems Catapult and BP Alternative Energy. The independent evaluation – commissioned by the Department for Transport – assesses what conditions are necessary to create a successful UK SAF industry.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

This government is a determined partner to the aviation industry – helping accelerate new technology and fuels, modernise their operations, and work internationally to remove barriers to progress.

Together, we can set aviation up for success, continue harnessing its huge social and economic benefits, and ensure it remains a core part of the UK’s sustainable economic future.

Emma Gilthorpe, Jet Zero Council CEO, said:

It’s fantastic for the Jet Zero Council to be meeting today at Sustainable Skies, maintaining the momentum built by government and industry on our vital journey to decarbonising aviation.

The 2-year plan published today, building on recent government commitments to secure demand for SAF in the UK, will ensure we continue to accelerate progress and achieve the Jet Zero Council’s objectives of delivering 10% SAF in the UK fuel mix by 2030 and zero emission transatlantic flight within a generation.

The Philip New report sets out a number of recommendations to help stimulate SAF production in the UK.

The government response to the report details the extensive work that is already underway to meet many of the recommendations, whilst highlighting what additional action could be taken to drive further investment in UK SAF production.

The UK’s Sustainable Aviation Fuels programme is one of the most comprehensive in the world. The Jet Zero Strategy sets out how we can achieve net zero emissions from UK aviation by 2050, importantly without directly limiting demand for aviation, and the £165 million Advanced Fuel Fund is also kickstarting production, with 5 projects already chosen to receive funding.

Turning to potential barriers to investment, the government recognises that many investors are looking for longer-term revenue certainty that the SAF mandate will not provide.

The government is therefore committing to work with the aviation industry on the best ways to decarbonise, including options for additional revenue certainty for a UK SAF industry.

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps said:

Having launched the Jet Zero Strategy last summer, I am thrilled to now support the launch of today’s new 2-year action plan to future-proof the aviation industry and accelerate the delivery of new green jobs.

Boosting investment in sustainable aviation fuels is at the heart of these plans today, marking a landmark step in spearheading the technologies that will keep passengers flying guilt-free.

Business and Trade Minister Nusrat Ghani said:

“There is no time to waste in creating a sustainable, decarbonised aviation sector fit for the future. By working in partnership with industry, we are determined to accelerate the development of innovative zero emission technology and secure the long-term success of our vital UK manufacturing sector and its global exports.”

Developing new low or zero emission aircraft technology is an important part of the Jet Zero strategy. The government is co-investing, with industry, in innovative aerospace technology, through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme which has a £685 million R&D budget over the Spending Review period (2022/23 to 2024/25).

Through this Programme, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has committed to fund the ‘UK Hydrogen Capability Network – Phase 0 Project’.

Led by Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) this 12-month study will work closely with industry to define the operating model for a group of open access research and development facilities designed to accelerate the development of liquid hydrogen propulsion aircraft technologies, capabilities and skills in the UK. It will also explore options for the supply of green liquid hydrogen.

The study was inspired by the BEIS funded Fly Zero project, which published its conclusion in March 2022.

This study brought together experts from across the UK to explore the design, technical and commercial challenges in realising zero-carbon emission commercial aviation by 2030. It concluded that green liquid hydrogen offers the greatest potential to power a new generation of zero-carbon emission aircraft and recommended further work to explore collaborative R&D facilities.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 15 April 2023.

New smart motorways to be removed from government road-building plans due to financial pressures and lack of confidence felt by drivers.

Plans for new smart motorways will be cancelled, delivering on the Prime Minister’s summer campaign pledge.

New smart motorways – including the 11 already paused from the second Road Investment Strategy (2020 to 2025) and the 3 earmarked for construction during the third Road Investment Strategy (2025 to 2030) – will be removed from government road-building plans, given financial pressures and in recognition of the current lack of public confidence felt by drivers.

Initial estimations suggest constructing future smart motorway schemes would have cost more than £1 billion and cancelling these schemes will allow more time to track public confidence in smart motorways over a longer period.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country.

That’s why last year I pledged to stop the building of all new smart motorways, and today I’m making good on that promise.

Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, to take their children to school and go about their daily lives and I want them to be able to do so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

We want the public to know that this government is listening to their concerns.

Today’s announcement means no new smart motorways will be built, recognising the lack of public confidence felt by drivers and the cost pressures due to inflation.

Independent road safety campaigner, Meera Naran, whose 8-year-old son Dev, died in a motorway collision on the M6 in 2018, said:

Since successfully campaigning for the 18-point action plan, £900 million commitment and the pause in the roll out in January 2022, there has been a lot of joined up thinking in mutually coming to this decision.

I thank ministers and executives for inviting me to work alongside them in memory of Dev, towards a mutual goal and for their commitment over the years.

The government and National Highways continue to invest £900 million in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways.

This includes progressing plans on installing 150 extra emergency areas across the network in line with the commitments made in response to the Transport Select Committee, as well as further improving the performance of stopped vehicle detection technology on every all lane running smart motorway.

The government will also continue to give motorists clear advice when using existing smart motorways.

While no new stretches of road will be converted into smart motorways, the M56 J6-8 and M6 J21a-26 will be completed given they are already over three quarters constructed.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 14 April 2023.

The 20-vehicle bus and coach operator licence of Millmans Coaches Ltd, t/as Grey Cars and Coaches of Torbay has been revoked by Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney following reports of serious mechanical defects.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 11 April 2023.

Winning projects will help to create greener ways of delivering freight across the UK.

Drones will be used to deliver packages on remote Scottish islands as part of 9 new innovative freight projects which have been awarded £1.2 million in government funding.

The first winners of the Freight Innovation Fund (FIF), backed by £7 million overall, have been announced today (11 April 2023) and could help create cleaner, more innovative ways of delivering freight around the country. This could lead to reduced emissions, increased numbers of high-skilled jobs and better delivery services in hard-to-reach parts of the UK.

The winners include Skyports Deliveries, which will use drones to improve island-to-island connectivity in the Orkney Islands, and Electric Assisted Vehicles, which is developing a 4-wheel, electrically assisted lightweight delivery vehicle to help reduce road emissions.

The fund is one part of the government’s Future of Freight plan launched last year, setting a strategy to work closely with industry to deliver a world-class freight system, which supports economic growth and builds on the measures already taken to tackle the global HGV driver shortage.

Roads Minister Richard Holden said:

Whether it’s drones for deliveries on remote islands or zero emission buggies – we want to invest in future technology that could transform how we move goods around the country while reducing emissions and traffic and creating skilled jobs.

The Freight Innovation Fund gives innovators the opportunity to test their ideas and help our freight industry become greener and more efficient – unlocking better connectivity and boosting growth across the country.

The winning projects are led by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have designed innovative technology and are partnered with existing industry companies to explore the viability of these solutions in real-world conditions.

The 9 projects that have been awarded funding are:

£150,000 for Skyports Deliveries Ltd (project based in Orkney, Scotland and partnered with Royal Mail and Loganair): improving logistics in ports and hard-to-reach areas through the Orkney I-Port project. It will create an intermodal transport hub to improve island-to-island connectivity using drones to make deliveries, conduct surveys and monitoring.

£120,000 for CurbCargo (based in London and partnered with Savills): using data to track the environmental impact of freight deliveries, which will prompt companies to change how they order products to reduce vehicle movements.

£119,000 for Lightricity Ltd (based in Oxford and partnered with Bradford Swissport Ltd): using a unique, patented technology that harnesses the energy from indoor and low-level light sources to power battery-free tracking devices. This will help companies realise the benefits of tracking devices without the cost challenges of battery change and sustainability impacts.

£150,000 for Electric Assisted Vehicles Ltd (based in Bicester, Oxfordshire and partnered with FedEx): developing a 4-wheel, electrically assisted lightweight delivery vehicle as an alternative to petrol and diesel vans.

£145,000 for Otaski Energy Solutions Ltd and Syselek Ltd (based in Gateshead and partnered with Costain): trialling their cost and energy-efficient smart charge and bi-directional converter, which allows electric vehicles to charge from any power grid source and discharge energy back to the grid or storage. This could help create an intelligent vehicle fleet charging system that increases grid reliability, resilience and stability and high adaptations to variable loads.

£129,000 for CocoonFMS Ltd (based in Lichfield, Staffordshire and partnered with Simarco Worldwide Logistics): creating a digital calculator to provide automated management of port costs and shipping expenses, providing more accurate invoice information to users, reducing port delays and improving planning of deliveries.

£145,000 for Entopy (based in Suffolk and partnered with Fujitsu Services UK and Atamai Freight): creating a digital twin of shipments to track them during their delivery, providing vital information and supporting greater use of digital products in the freight sector.

£133,000 for RoboK Ltd (based in Cambridge and partnered with Port of Tyne): trialling the use of their AI system to generate insights from existing video data, such as CCTV, to provide analysis on things like capacity and asset movement in real time to reduce costly delays and inefficiencies.

£100,000 for Estudio Cactus (based in London and in cooperation with Portsmouth International Port): trialling the use of their health, safety, security and environment software to provide operators real-time information about their port to increase efficiency through improved resource management.

The winning SMEs will benefit from a freight innovation fund accelerator, which will provide bespoke business support to help them access private investment. They will also be invited to join a “freight innovation cluster”, a community of innovators that will hold events, encourage collaboration and generate new opportunities, and stimulate growth within the wider freight sector.

The Freight Innovation Fund aims to accelerate the adoption of existing freight technologies within the freight sector and develop a future pipeline in line with the freight industry’s real-world needs. It is a 3-year £7 million programme designed to make delivering freight across the UK more efficient and cleaner.

The winning projects will support ideas and technology addressing 3 longstanding issues in the freight sector including:

• a lack of large-scale cross-industry data collection and sharing between different modes of freight transport, such as road, rail and maritime, could improve efficiencies and coordination
• difficulties in intermodal transport, such as between rail and road, and ways to improve how large consignments are broken up into smaller ones could reduce emissions and traffic
• improvements in freight distribution in ports across different transport modes could create knock-on benefits with timings, efficiencies and predictability of the journey

In 2022, the government published the Future of Freight plan, the first-ever cross-modal and cross-government plan for the UK freight transport sector. Government launched the Freight Innovation Fund competition, which is delivered by Connected Places Catapult (CPC), earlier this year in January.

Nicola Yates OBE, CEO at Connected Places Catapult, said:

The freight sector has an enormous opportunity to support jobs and growth across the UK, which is why today we are pleased to welcome the 9 SMEs to the first round of the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator.

Working with innovators and industry partners through our accelerator programme allows us to develop a pipeline of technology and new ideas that promise to help tackle the freight sector’s emerging needs, ensuring that resilience, efficiency and carbon reduction are core to the sector’s future.

The Freight Innovation Fund builds on previous government initiatives designed to support increased research and development in the freight industry.

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 6 April 2023.

Road safety improvements will be made to 27 of the most high-risk roads in England, which will help prevent fatal and serious injuries.

Drivers, passengers and cyclists across England will benefit from a £47.5 million injection into enhancing the safety of some of the most high-risk roads in England, the Department for Transport confirmed today (6 April 2023).

Through the third round of the Safer Roads Fund, 27 new schemes will be delivered, benefiting road users around the country by driving forward safety improvements such as:

• re-designing junctions
• improving signage and road markings

The programme will reduce the risk of collisions which will in turn reduce congestion, journey times and emissions.

As part of the fund, government is continuing to deliver a wide range of improvements across all roads, while working with local authorities and safety groups.

To date, £100 million has been provided through the programme to improve the 50 most dangerous roads in England, the majority of which are rural roads.

Some of the improvements already made include improved signage, safer pedestrian crossings and better designed junctions.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

Britain’s roads are some of the safest in the world, but we are always looking at ways to help keep drivers and all road users safe.

We’re injecting £47.5 million so that local councils around the country have the support they need to keep everyone safe, while reducing congestion and emissions and supporting local economies.

The allocation of £47.5 million to 27 different schemes has been based on data independently surveyed and provided by the Road Safety Foundation. The data analysed is based on a road safety risk, looking at data on those killed and seriously injured alongside traffic levels.

The previous rounds of the Safer Roads Fund programme focused on treating the 50 highest-risk local ‘A road’ sections in England with enhanced road safety engineering interventions. The scheme is set to prevent around 1,450 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years.

According to Road Safety Foundation analysis, early estimates suggest that the £47.5 million investment should prevent around 760 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years, with a benefit to society of £420 million.

Once the whole life costs are factored in for the schemes, the overall benefit cost ratio of the investment is estimated at 7.4, meaning for every £1 invested the societal benefit would be £7.40.

Dr Suzy Charman, Executive Director of the Road Safety Foundation said:

The commitment and funding announced today is transformational for road safety teams in local authorities across the country. It will allow them to proactively reduce risk and make these 27 roads safer and more inviting for all road users.

Systematic changes have already had a big impact on road death and serious injury, for example seatbelts and airbags protect lives when crashes happen. In the same way we can design roads safely so when crashes occur, people can walk away. This can be done by clearing or protecting roadsides, putting in cross hatchings to add space between vehicles which provides safer junctions like roundabouts, or adding signalisation and / or turning pockets, and including facilities for walking and cycling.

This additional investment builds on the government’s plans to recruit a specialised team of inspectors to build the country’s first ever Road Safety Investigation Branch. The team will look at how and why incidents happen and build an enhanced understanding of how we can better mitigate collisions.

It also follows the actions government has already taken to improve road safety, including:

• banning any use of handheld mobile phones behind the wheel
• updating the Highway Code to introduce a hierarchy of road users, which places road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy

The 27 schemes receiving funding from the Safer Roads Fund 3 are:

Road	Local authority	Funding
A586	Blackpool Council	£1,000,000
A35	Bournemouth Borough Council	£1,890,625
A2010	Brighton and Hove City Council	£600,000
A52	Derby City	£475,000
A104	Essex County Council	£1,360,000
A35	Hampshire County Council	£6,040,000
A5183	Hertfordshire County Council	£1,800,000
A165	Hull City Council	£2,990,625
A3056	Isle of Wight Council	£2,140,000
A5105	Lancashire County Council	£920,000
A5038	Liverpool City Council	£859,375
A186	Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council	£3,650,000
A6130	Nottingham City Council	£950,000
A609	Nottingham City Council	£475,000
A4158	Oxfordshire County Council	£800,000
A4165	Oxfordshire County Council	£875,000
A2047	Portsmouth City Council	£1,300,000
A6022	Rotherham Metro. Borough Council	£750,000
A6042	Salford City Council	£743,750
A4030	Sandwell Metro. Borough Council	£750,000
A625	Sheffield City Council	£1,425,000
A3025	Southampton City Council	£875,000
A13	Southend-on-Sea Council	£3,425,000
A1156	Suffolk County Council	£1,275,000
A25	Surrey County Council	£1,800,000
A439	Warwickshire County Council	£1,320,000
A3102	Wiltshire Council	£6,980,000

Total: £47,569,375