Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Environmentally Sustainable Transport

Thursday 7 September 2023 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Barry Sheerman asked about steps to encourage Departments to use environmentally sustainable transport.
  • The response indicated that greening Government commitments require Departments to address sustainable transport through hybrid working and location strategy.
  • Barry Sheerman expressed frustration about the Cabinet Office not actively pushing other Departments on sustainable transport.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Barry Sheerman Lab
Transport Environment
Context

The questioner is concerned about the government's efforts to encourage Departments to use environmentally sustainable transport.

Question

Whether he is taking steps to encourage Departments to use environmentally sustainable transport.

Answer from Alex Burghart

The greening Government commitments prescribe all Departments to address the matter of environmentally sustainable transport management by reducing and refining their need to travel through hybrid working and the current location strategy. Departmental locations, where possible, are all within 10 minutes' walk of a major public transport hub.

Answered
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Q2 Barry Sheerman Lab
Transport Energy
Context

The questioner is concerned about the Cabinet Office's lack of initiative in encouraging other Departments to improve their use of sustainable transport, especially regarding hydrogen power.

Question

Will this team wake up? They have huge potential in the Cabinet Office to influence every Department of State. From my perspective, as a passionate supporter of sustainable transport and particularly the revolution that is coming in hydrogen power, I see an inert Department not pushing other Departments to do better. Could they wake up and do something about this?

Answer from Alex Burghart

I can think of nothing nicer than being woken up by the hon. Gentleman. I can reassure him that we do encourage our colleagues in other Departments to go further on this. We have a range of carbon offsetting programmes in place and, as I say, our location strategy means that we try to locate people near public transport hubs. This is the very essence of a green transport strategy.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request regarding hydrogen power was not addressed.

How: I Can Think Of Nothing Nicer Than Being Woken Up By The Hon. Gentleman.

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