Latest news with #TransportSecretary
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Minister urges MMR vaccination after measles death
Following the reported death of a child from measles in Liverpool, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander calls for parents to ensure their children receive the MMR vaccine.
Bloomberg
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
UK Plans New Measure to Boost EV Sales, Transport Secretary Says
The UK plans to introduce new incentives to make it cheaper for people to buy new electric vehicles as the Labour government attempts to phase out the sale of polluting cars. Speaking on Sunday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed she will be announcing new measures to boost sales of EVs this week but declined to directly address reports in the Telegraph and the Times that the incentives will include up to £700 million ($948 million) in new subsidies and grants to buyers to help offset costs.
Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Labour to spend millions on electric car handouts
Labour will unveil £700m of taxpayer-funded subsidies to encourage the public to buy more electric cars. Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, will this week announce grants for drivers to help cover the upfront cost of a new vehicle as well as more cash for charging points. Her intervention comes amid growing concern within the Government that flagging sales of battery-powered cars are putting net zero targets at risk. Labour has kept Conservative plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, which will force motorists to switch to electric-powered vehicles. But many drivers have been put off by high upfront costs, with battery-powered models typically costing thousands more than their petrol counterparts. The average price of a new electric vehicle in Britain is just under £50,000, more than double the cost of a typical petrol car at £22,000. Electric vehicles have also been plagued by high depreciation, losing their value faster than petrol and diesel cars because their batteries degrade. The Transport Secretary told The Telegraph: 'We do know that the high upfront purchase cost of EVs is something that people are wary about. 'I think we've got to be honest and say there are a lot of people out there who think that EVs are just for the very wealthiest. 'We also want to really move away from people having range anxiety, to people having range awareness and knowing that they're going to be able to make the journeys that they want to make. 'It's right that the Government thinks in the round about what we can do to tackle both of the issues, on charging and on the upfront cost of purchase.' This week, ministers will announce two new taxpayer-funded schemes to make it cheaper to buy an electric car in an attempt to stimulate sluggish demand. Ms Alexander is expected to unveil a new £640m grant scheme which will give people money off the down payment on a new battery-powered vehicle. The Telegraph understands that the plan, to be published on Tuesday, will see the highest levels of grants available for UK-manufactured vehicles. It will favour Nissan in particular, which is planning to make the next generation of Leaf electric vehicle at its plant in Sunderland from next year. There will be a cut-off point at which the grant can no longer be claimed, with buyers of more expensive models, like Teslas, not expected to be eligible. Ministers revive Tory subsidy programme Any subsidy scheme may take the form of the Government underwriting loans, which drivers could take out to help them cover the upfront payment. The programme will effectively revive a system of cash handouts which were previously available to EV buyers before being axed by the Tories in 2022. Under that scheme, drivers got £1,500 off the price of a new electric car. Since then, grants have only been available for vans, taxis, trucks and motorbikes. At the time, ministers said the subsidies were no longer needed because they had 'successfully kickstarted the UK's electric car revolution'. Since then, EV sales have continued to grow strongly, but they have been increasingly fuelled by fleet purchases rather than private demand. Recent figures showed that the number of enquiries about new electric cars from ordinary consumers has fallen 65 per cent year-on-year. There are just over 1.5m EVs on the UK's roads at present, records show, compared with 19.2m petrol and 11m diesel vehicles. Motability's expanding role in EV market One of the major fleet buyers of electric cars is the taxpayer-funded Motability Scheme, which leases cars to people who receive disability benefits. The controversial programme, which has been branded Britain's biggest 'benefits scandal', has recently doubled its fleet of EVs to around 70,000 vehicles. On Sunday, Ms Alexander will also unveil £63m in funding to bankroll the installation of tens of thousands of new charging points across the country. Under the plans, councils will be given cash to install cables under roads where the houses do not have driveways to allow for on-street charging. It will mean that, for the first time, many EV owners who live in terraced houses will be able to use cheaper domestic electricity rates to charge their cars. There will also be extra cash to increase the number of electric ambulances, and road signs will be put up on motorways and A-roads to advertise charging stations. Put together, the two schemes will represent an investment by the taxpayer of around £700m over the next four years in boosting EV sales.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- BBC News
Assume the 100ml liquid rule at airports remains, says Transport Secretary
The Transport Secretary has told air passengers to assume the 100ml limit on liquids in hand luggage remains in place despite two airports changing their policies. Edinburgh and Birmingham airports have installed new scanners which allow bottles of up to two litres to be taken on board planes. But other airports around the UK are at different stages of putting technology in place that would mean the near 20-year-old rule on liquids could be relaxed. Heidi Alexander said: "You should work on the basis that it is 100ml at the moment unless you have heard from your airport otherwise." The new scanning machines use CT X-ray technology, meaning that passengers at airports in Birmingham and Edinburgh can do away with clear plastic bags filled with tiny toiletries that must be removed from luggage for inspection. Terminals have undergone complex and costly processes to install the new are heavy and some airports have had to reinforce floors to install them. Meanwhile, there are only a handful of manufacturers that make the scanners resulting in restricted supplies and delays to installation. Alexander told Times Radio: "The rollout of this new technology, the new scanning technology, has been overseen by the individual airports themselves. They have different contracts in place, different providers."While she said she was hopeful the technology could be rolled out sooner rather than later so flyers "have that extra added flexibility", she said: "I always advise people to check in with their airlines and their airports before travelling."Sources in the industry said described the approach to installing the scanners as "haphazard", with the issue of not having a consistent policy approach from government.A spokesperson for AirportsUK, said: "Aviation security procedures around liquids are evolving and this change will take place at different times at different airports."AirportsUK advised passengers to check security arrangements at every airport. "We would stress this involves return airports abroad as well as those in the UK, as rules will be evolving there too," it said. The rollout of the scanners across Europe has also been summer, the European Union had to revert back to 100ml rules because of a technical issue with new 100ml onboard liquid rule was introduced in 2006 as part of enhanced security measures following a series of terror-related incidents after two planes flew into the World Trade Centre's Twin Towers in New York on 11 September, 2001.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
Minister tells airline passengers to ‘work on the basis' that 100ml remains
Passengers preparing to fly from UK airports should assume the 100ml liquids rule remains in place unless they have been told otherwise by their airport, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said. Edinburgh and Birmingham airports have become the latest to allow passengers to keep liquids in their bags when going through security, and each liquid container can be up to two litres. Large electricals, such as tablets and laptops, can also remain in bags. This is because of CT scanners which generate more detailed images of what is inside luggage. Airport security rules over liquids were implemented in 2006 following a foiled terror plot to blow up planes flying from London to the US with homemade liquid bombs. This involved liquids being up to 100ml and put in clear plastic bags. Travellers failing to adhere to the rule is one of the biggest causes of delays at airport security. Ms Alexander told Times Radio: 'The rollout of this new technology, the new scanning technology, has been overseen by the individual airports themselves. 'They have different contracts in place, different providers. 'We have a situation in Edinburgh and Birmingham where they've got the new technology in place now and so are allowing people who are travelling to take liquids in containers up to two litres through with them. 'At all other airports the 100ml rule stays in place. 'From my perspective, if we can give some flexibility to passengers that are travelling from airports where the technology is in place, I think it would be wrong to insist that everyone should travel with the 100ml.' She added: 'You should work on the basis that it is 100ml at the moment unless you have heard from your airport otherwise. 'And I always advise people to check in with their airlines and their airports before travelling. 'And I'm hopeful that we get to a point where all airports have this new technology in place soon so that everyone can have that extra added flexibility when they're travelling.' A deadline of December 2022 for most major airports to deploy new scanners was initially set in August 2019 by then-prime minister Boris Johnson. After the aviation industry suffered huge disruption due to coronavirus travel restrictions, in December 2022 then-transport secretary Mark Harper set a new date of June 1 2024. Several airports struggling to meet the deadline – largely because of supply chain delays – were granted extensions in April last year. Two months later, the 100ml limit was reimposed at airports that were complaint because of concerns about how the machines were working. Several airports such as Gatwick, London City, Luton and Teesside allow passengers to keep liquids in bags, but only in containers holding up to 100ml each. Birmingham installed its new scanners last summer, but retained the 100ml liquids rule until regulatory approval was granted. Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, said the vast majority of its passengers are using new security lanes, and it is working with the Government to complete the rollout. It advises passengers to prepare for the 100ml rule to be in place for their flight. A Birmingham airport spokesperson said: 'This change will enable a faster and more efficient processing of hand luggage, following the £60 million investment in equipment and infrastructure made last year. 'We are pleased passengers can now benefit from this change in ruling, made by the Government in time for the summer peak.' Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh airport, said: 'A whole generation of travellers have only known the 100ml rule to be the case, so it really is a momentous day as we become the first airport in Scotland to lift the rule since it was introduced in 2006. 'The change allows more flexibility for passengers to take liquids through security, all while maintaining and improving our high safety levels through the use of 3D technology.'
