Growth vs Green – a Contradiction at the Heart of DfT Policy

There is an irreconcilable contradiction at the heart of DfT policy, it became clear today.

Secretary of State for Transport Anne-Marie Trevelyan appeared before the Transport Select Committee this morning. She said that her department’s priorities are ‘growth’ and ‘green’.

She explained that ‘growth’ involves accelerating around 100 road projects, at the specific request of current Prime Minster Liz Truss.

It is clear that building roads increases greenhouse gas emissions – from CO2 embedded in construction materials and from induced demand.

The type of ‘growth’ pursued by the Trevelyan and the DfT is therefore incompatible with its ‘green’ objective – yet the Secretary of State sat before the committee and set out a logically incoherent strategy, and there was no indication that she was embarrassed about it.

Worse, not a single committee member challenged her on the obvious contradiction.

Active Travel

Ben Bradshaw MP asked Trevelyan about the status of funding for active travel. Is £3.8 billion still a commitment?

The Secretary of State said yes, with the caveat that there are different funding pots, some of which are not controlled by the DfT. For example some active travel money comes via the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

He also asked when Active Travel Fund 4 (ATF4) would be released.

The answer from one of the civil servants was that the DfT is still doing an evaluation. Bradshaw pointed out that the previous Secretary of State had already signed off on ATF4, but apparently the “new government” wants to have another look at it.

‘Just get on with it before the Chancellor claws the money back.’

Ben bradshaw mp

Bradshaw also raised the question of a threat to Active Travel England’s proposed status as a statutory consultee in the planning system. The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Simon Clarke, has put it in doubt.

There was no substantive answer from Trevelyan, presumably as she is not responsible for the decision.

She did say that she is strongly against pavement parking. It is 2 years since a consultation on the subject closed, and there has still been no response from the government.

Pavement parking could be dealt with in a streamlined transport bill, along with regulation of e-scooters.

HS2

Buckinghamshire MP Greg Smith asked a question about the costs of the HS2.

He said the costs have recently gone up from £136bn to £155bn (according to the ONS).

£15bn has been spent to date, but £8bn of that could be recouped by selling land that has been acquired. Why is the government still going ahead with HS2, he wanted to know.

Trevelyan pretended to misunderstand the question about land sales – she answered it on the basis that HS2 goes ahead, but doesn’t need all the land it has acquired. It was a childish tactic of the type that corrodes trust in government.

Other than that, her reply was blather.

Road-Building

Huw Merriman MP, Chair of the committee, made a very disappointing contribution on road-building.

He wants to speed it up, if possible by stopping necessary legal challenges such as that against the A303 dualling at Stonehenge. He described judicial review and other protections and safeguards as “blockers”.

He did not explain how road-building could ever be compatible with the UK’s net zero commitments.