House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Andrew Selous asks what recent steps have been taken to promote cycling and walking.

Transport Minister Jesse Norman says the government has invested "enormous energy" into promoting both cycling and walking.

Andrew Selous asks whether more cycle paths be created as part of a plan to get half of all children cycling to school, as is the case in the Netherlands.

Shadow minister for local transport, Matt Rodda, says the government is due to miss its target to increase the number of people who walk and cycle, as "many people are scared to get on their bikes".

Jesse Norman says more is being done to ensure safe cycle paths exist in as many areas as possible.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour MP Graham Jones asks what steps the department is taking to reduce harmful emissions from road transport.

Transport Minister Jesse Norman says the government "sticks by" its plan for zero emissions from vehicles by 2040.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald says given road transport's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, more emphasis should be placed on car manufacturers to reduce emissions as soon as possible.

"You can't crawl along in the slow lane when it comes to climate change", he says.

Jesse Norman replies that ministers are making progress towards zero emissions "at a great pace".

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell asks what progress the government has made on reducing the level of civil aviation noise.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says a policy framework has been set up to ensure noise levels decrease.

Andrew Rosindell asks about the noise created from the new designated flight paths in London surrounding City Airport.

Chris Grayling says the framework will allow the government to be "much better at managing the impact on communities from civil aviation".

Labour MP Ruth Cadbury asks if Chris Grayling will reassess the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

The Transport Secretary says the question is not about the expansion of Heathrow Airport, but noise pollution.

"The reality is as older planes are phased out, noise will reduce, and this is the most important thing," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Labour MP Alex Norris asks what steps are being taken in response to the reduction in the number of rail users.

Transport Minister Jo Johnson says that despite a drop in the number of rail users last year, there was growth of rail passengers in the first quarter of 2018/2019.

He adds that new rolling stock from the train company Northern will be arriving shortly, and this will increase the amount of passengers using trains in the north of England.

On the issue raised by Alex Norris that passengers are being "priced out", Jo Johnson says fares have been frozen in real terms, and have only risen by 2% in real terms since 2010.

Conservative MP Sir Patrick McLoughlin asks what is happening with the 26-20 railcard announced in the budget last year.

Jo Johnson says ministers are awaiting a "full assessment" of a trial of the scheme, and "further steps will be announced in due course".

House of Commons
Parliament

Independent MP Kelvin Hopkins asks what recent assessment the Department of Transport has made of trends in the cost of railway infrastructure.

Transport Minister Jo Johnson says Network Rail is spending more on new infrastructure, adding that it is important for the government gets behind projects such as HS2.

Conservative MP Stephen Crabb asks if the minister will continue to focus on the electrification of the railways, which he says "is greatly important in the progression of rail travel".

He also asks for an update on Crossrail, which is due to open nine months late.

Jo Johnson says the government is investing more money in electrification, and that the government is "disappointed" that Crossrail was not delivered to the schedule outlined.

"We continue to monitor the progress of Crossrail closely", he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone asks what discussions Chris Grayling has had with the Scottish Government about the transportation of perishable Scottish food abroad after Brexit.

Chris Grayling says he is working with all parts of the UK to look at how the transportation of perishable food abroad will continue in the future.

He says he can "categorically assure the house that no flights will be grounded", as he acknowledges that "air travel is very important for the transportation of food."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

The first of the transport questions today come from Conservative MP Luke Graham, who asks what steps are being taken to improve the availability of electric vehicle infrastructure.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says over 14,000 public charging points for electric vehicles now exist, and "discussions are ongoing about having charging points in newly built homes".

Labour MP Jim Cunningham asks if Mr Grayling has spoken to Jaguar Land Rover, who have expressed concern over Brexit, as he says this could slow up the progression of electric vehicles.

Mr Grayling replies that he has had conversations with numerous car manufacturing companies about their plans for electric vehicles, and the department are "focusing their support on electric vehicles".

Good Morning - the day in the Commons starts shortly, when MPs will first be putting questions to ministers at the Department of Transport.

Then there will be two urgent questions: one from Labour MP Angela Rayner about the sale of the student loan book, and a second from Labour MP Chris Bryant about foreign fighters and the death penalty.

After this, Andrea Leadsom will outline forthcoming business in Parliament.

This will be followed by a statement from Transport Secretary Chris Grayling about the terms of reference of the government's review of the railways, external.

MPs will then move on to a general debate on the government's new strategy for supporting the victims of crime.

The Agriculture Bill has passed its second reading, which means it will now come under detailed scrutiny in committee.

The bill sets out a system for UK farming and environmental protections to support farmers after Brexit, which takes the UK out of the Common Agriculture Policy.

It sets out the framework for Defra's future Environmental Land Management Policy, moving away from the current subsidy system for farmers, and instead towards one that focuses on protecting and enhancing the environment.

Whilst the Agriculture Bill will not have any funding directly attached to it, as funding is ring fenced until 2022, the results of the next spending review in 2019 will determine what lies ahead for farmers in the UK.

The Commons now moves to the adjournment debate on the role of youth services in tackling youth violence, which is led by Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford Vicky Foxcroft.

We'll be leaving our coverage of the Commons there for today, join us tomorrow for Transport questions, the business statement and a general debate on the victims strategy.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs have voted against Labour's amendment to the Agriculture Bill.

Ayes: 227

Noes: 286

Majority: 59

The amendment would have declined to give the bill a second reading.

The bill then proceeds to the next stage with division.

House of Commons
Parliament

Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Minister George Eustice is now concluding the debate.

Addressing concerns that there isn't enough about agriculture and food in the bill, he lists a number of examples of where it is included, but says the bill is about more than just food production.

To questions about subsidy changes, he says "some of our most successful and vibrant food sectors have never been subsidised," adding that the government instead wants to address why some parts of agriculture are reliant on subsidies.

Farmers believe there is a great deal that they can do concerning "public goods", which the government want to reward, he says.

If Scotland don't want to work with us on this bill, adding the government is still open to including a schedule put forward by the Scottish government, they must make time to introduce their own legislation, he continues.

With that, MPs divide to vote on the Labour amendment, which would decline to give the bill a second reading.

The amendment argues that the Agriculture Bill doesn't provide a strategy to secure the UK's food supply.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow environment, food & rural affairs minister David Drew is now wrapping up the debate on behalf of the opposition. He says the issues raised throughout the debate highlight that there should have been some form of pre-legislative scrutiny before the bill was introduced.

He warns that there must be cross-party support for agriculture policy and cohesion across the devolved governments, "we cannot have four different systems of agriculture."

He says health appears to have "disappeared off the agenda" and says that Labour "will make no apology for making that link between environment, food and the health of our nation."

The trade bills the UK signs up to in the future will be the "crucial test", he says, adding that his party will not sign up to a single deal that reduces standards.

"We will work with the government on this but we want improve this bill, and make no apology for doing so."

House of Commons
Parliament

There are now only Conservative MPs looking to speak as part of the Agriculture Bill debate.

Priti Patel says farmers across the country will "judge the success of this legislation on its delivery," but thanks to Brexit "we have the chance now to back our farmers."

Scottish Conservative MP Douglas Ross says farmers in his constituency are "extremely positive" about several elements within this bill. In response to SNP criticism of the bill, he says MPs have heard "absolutely nothing" about what the SNP would do for agriculture in Scotland, "my farmers deserve better than that."

Luke Graham says: "farmers in my constituency are extremely excited about the opportunities presented by this bill."

House of Lords
Parliament

Summing up, Housing Minister Lord Bourne says he appreciates that the level of deposits needs looking at before committee stage.

He says he doesn't foresee "any negative side effects of this bill".

Lord Bourne says he agrees on the need for regulated markets, and an addition of this nature to the bill will be considered.

The Tenants Fees Bill passes its second reading and will go on to committee stage.

We'll be leaving our coverage of the Lords here for today.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Victoria Prentis says that despite not owning a working farm herself she has "the soil of Oxfordshire under my fingernails" and is determined that "we must get this right."

"We are losing productive ground to housing," she warns, adding that "we must assess the evidence rather than being swept up by environmental campaigning."

"British food is the best in the world," she says, stating that food production must not be sacrificed in exchange for environmental concerns.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's spokesperson for housing, Lord Beecham, says the failure to return a deposit should be considered as a criminal matter.

He says this is a "well intentioned bill", which has received "broad support in the Commons".

Lord Beecham says he agrees with the need to have selective licensing to ensure that only proper agencies and landlords who are fit to operate can do so.

He says that hearing the debate in the Lords this afternoon, it is clear more discussion of the six weeks rent deposit cap is needed.

Parliament's select committees really get going in October - so what's coming up?

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Shipley says there is "no doubt that the bill will bring transparency to the sector, protect tenants, and ban double charging."

He says he wants more clarification on why the amount set aside in the bill to help local authorities monitor landlords and agencies has been set at £500,000.

He says the briefing from Citizen's Advice said "the default fee clause allows landlords to charge more in other ways", which is "a loophole" and "a danger".

The ability for tenants to pay monthly installments of the deposit total, if it is set at six week's worth of rent, should be considered in the bill's committee stage, he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Mary Creagh, who chairs the environmental audit committee, says she has two big concerns about the agriculture bill:

• The powers given to ministers to "spend taxpayers money without any accountability"
• The lack of ambitious targets for the "restoration and recovery of nature"

She warns there is a risk of taxpayers money "incentivising" intensive farming that damages the environment.

"We must not get into a policy pickle with this bill", she adds.