The Government has committed £2.5 billion since 2020 to support the transition to zero emission vehicles. This provides funding to offset the higher upfront cost of electric vehicles and more than £1.6 billion to be used to support charging infrastructure.

Plug-in Grants, to reduce the upfront cost of vehicles, will continue until at least 2024 for taxis and motorcycles, and 2025 for vans, trucks and wheelchair accessible vehicles. In addition, generous tax incentives are in place, including zero road tax and favourable company car tax rates, which can save drivers over £2,000 a year.

We want to ensure drivers who make the switch to an electric vehicle can charge easily. In March the Department for Transport published the UK electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy. The strategy sets out the Department’s vision and commitments to make electric vehicle charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station so that drivers can make the switch to an electric vehicle wherever they live.

The bus market in England outside London is deregulated. The Bus Services Act 2017 introduced new bus franchising powers for local authorities as well as providing other tools, such as Enhanced Partnership between operators and local transport authorities, to improve bus services.

Mayoral Combined Authorities, such as Liverpool, have automatic access to franchising powers in the Act, reflecting the clear, centralised decision making responsibility for transport they hold.

The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions on subsidised bus services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities. The Department provides around £43m of Bus Subsidy Operators Grant (BSOG) directly to English local authorities for local bus services.

The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services and increase passenger numbers.

Access for All has delivered step-free, accessible routes at more than 200 stations since it was launched in 2006, and a further 19 stations are currently under construction. To build on that success we have made a further £300 million available to extend the programme, and 300 stations have been nominated for that funding. I expect to announce the successful stations in April.