GRANT SHAPPS

The Rt Hon Grant Shapps was appointed Secretary of State for Transport on 24 July 2019 in Boris Johnson's cabinet. He was Minister of State at the UK's Department for International Development from 11 May 2015 until 28 November 2015. He was elected the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield in 2005. During Bojo's September 2021 re-shuffle, he remained the transport minister.

Grant was appointed Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party in 2005, before being made Shadow Housing Minister in June 2007. Following the 2010 election, he served as Minister of State for Housing and Local Government in the Department for Communities and Local Government. Grant was appointed to the Privy Council in June 2010. In September 2012 he was appointed as co-chairman to the Conservative Party. At the same time he held the position of Minister without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office.

We only have the one Planet Earth, there is no Planet B. We must then look after what we have for the future of our children.

The UK government has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050. The transport sector accounts for the greatest share of UK GHG emissions: 28 per cent in 2018. Recognising the need to scale up efforts in the transport industry, the UK’s first Transport Decarbonisation Plan was announced in October 2019 to bring together a bold and ambitious programme of coordinated action needed for transport to play its part in reaching net zero transport emissions by 2050.

UK fuel standards already permit E10 to be sold, but petrol with more than 5% bioethanol, a grade known as E5, is not yet available at UK forecourts. Switching to E10 could reduce the CO2 emissions from a petrol vehicle by around 2% (in addition to the savings from E5), and, if combined with an increase to overall biofuel supply targets, could cut overall transport CO2 emissions by a further 750,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent to taking around 350,000 cars off the road.

This is a proposed interim measure that does not deal with carcinogens that cause lung cancer, among other diseases. If you feel strongly that we should get rid of vehicles that cause global warming altogether, why not write to Mr Shapps and tell him what you think? We think ICE vehicles should carry a government health warning, with the right to compensation for lung cancer victims.

FOSSIL FOOLS - Geriatric politicians with 'climate-senile' policies will find in difficult to break away from their corrupt ways, as part time politicians with two jobs. Their main job being to find paid consultancy work, rather than craft policies and create statute that works to protect our voters from lung cancer, energy shortages and a lack of affordable (sustainable) housing.

The 'zerophobics' are the undertakers of the political world, sending millions of ordinary people to an early grave, while loading us with NHS, hospital and staff costs that would not be needed if we had clean air in our cities.

Basically, the longer you are in politics, the more likely you are to be exposed to bribes, from climate deniers, mostly fossil fuel and energy companies, looking to keep on pumping toxic fumes into the atmosphere, so they can keep making money. The political undertakers are working with them to keep hospitals stocked with cancer victims. They are blood sucking vampires, draining what little you had saved for your retirement.

ACCORDING TO KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler)

The government’s decision to accept the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) recommendation for a net zero emissions target by 2050 is a striking development that puts the UK in a leadership position on tackling climate change. But it also raises the stakes for all parties. Concerted action will be needed across many sectors, from transport to energy to infrastructure, if we are to achieve this target

Air pollution is considered the world’s greatest environmental risk to health, accounting for 7 million global deaths annually. It has been termed a global public health emergency by the WHO. In the UK alone, an estimated 40,000 lives are cut short annually because of air pollution. Costs to society, business and health service add up to more than £20 billion each year. Carbon emissions, i.e. air pollution produced by internal combustion engine (ICE), including nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulates and sulphur dioxide, therefore constitute a major public health issue.

The sale of new petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) is already set to be banned in the UK by 2040 but the CCC has recommended bringing this forward to 2035 or even 2030, if the target of net zero emissions by 2050 is to be achieved.

Increasing numbers of Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZs) are set to come into existence in cities around the UK between now and 2026, with London’s ULEZ already in force. We can expect to see the definition of ‘ultra-low’ falling progressively over time, from 75g of carbon per kilometre now to perhaps 50g for cars and LCVs.

It has been estimated that a 44% reduction in the surface transport and residential sector is needed if the UK is to meet its 5th carbon budget.

Particular action is needed on medium and heavy goods vehicles, which so far have escaped the regulatory pressure placed on cars and LCVs. The UK Government’s Road to Zero strategy proposed only a voluntary reduction of 15% in greenhouse gas emissions for HGVs by 2025.11 Even if this is achieved, it will leave a mountain to climb by 2050. However, the EU has passed new rules requiring CO2 emissions from HGVs to be reduced by 15% by 2025 and 30% by 2030.

Infrastructure is another key issue, with extensive charging networks required. The government has set up a £400m Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, although more investment will undoubtedly be needed.

These challenges include the fact that electrification, hydrogen and bio-LNG are the only true zero-emission solutions, as well as the prohibitive cost and battery size and load or range restrictions for battery electric vehicles, and the nascent stage of hydrogen technology. Hydrogen fuel cell technology still lacks proof of concept and will require significant investment in re-fuelling infrastructure, which currently does not exist.

At the first stage technology proof of concepts need to be established to ensure that the fuel can be produced at scale and that it will be fit for each vehicle type.

Finally, businesses will need to be incentivised to invest in a network that supplies demand in line with the grid’s capabilities, forming a wider, seamless network that works for consumers, businesses, as well as the power networks.

Policy and regulation, charging and fuelling infrastructure, OEM investment, energy and fuel supply including battery and alternative technology, and customer demand all need to work together to drive change at the pace needed.

PUBLIC POLICY

Regulators and transport authorities will need to think in particular about introducing specific timelines and targets for larger commercial vehicles. Frameworks are needed that encourage trials and promote innovation. Regulatory sticks may be needed to drive the levels of change required. There is also the need for international co-operation to drive availability of ULEV vehicles and accelerate adoption across the fleet that will in practice contribute to emissions on UK roads

ENERGY

Transport decarbonisation must go hand in hand with decarbonisation of energy. Otherwise, it will fall short. If ‘dirty power’ goes into vehicles, dirty emissions will come out. The energy and power sector has an instrumental role to play in developing green technologies that can be integrated into transport modes.

OEMs

The automotive sector today faces many challenges and the big players are being disrupted by start-ups such as Tesla, Nikola and others. This only increases the need for them to increase the urgency of their investments in new models and technologies. Manufacturers are taking the challenge seriously – but a further step change is needed.

No single part of the ecosystem can achieve this on its own. The government’s adoption of the 2050 zero emission target fires the starting gun for what must be a new phase of increased investment, determination and coordination of efforts.

OFGEM'S DECARBONISATION ACTION PLAN

P 4 - Our use of electric vehicles may need to grow from 230,000 today to 46 million by 2050. To meet the challenge of net zero, we must now go further and faster, especially in decarbonising transport, heating and our industrial use of energy.

P 10 - Surface transport

The UK is on the brink of a rapid transition to electrified transport. However, the scale of the challenge is significant. There are over 30 million cars in the UK, but by Q3 2019, there were around 230,000 plug-in electric vehicles, up from just over 50,000 in 2015.9 The government’s current target is that the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans will end by 2040.

However, the CCC recommend that all new vehicles sold (excluding heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)), should be low carbon by 2035 at the latest, and preferably by 2030.11 The CCC forecasts a required 46 million electric vehicles on UK roads by 2050. This will need new charging infrastructure – the CCC estimates that 3,500 rapid and ultra-rapid chargers near motorways and 210,000 public chargers in towns and cities will be needed, up from 30,000 public chargers of all speeds currently installed.

Increased uptake of electric vehicles creates a rare opportunity for a win-win-win for society, through lower carbon emissions, improved air quality and a more robust and low-cost energy system. But this will only be achieved if drivers are supported to charge their vehicles typically at off-peak times, for example, through smart charging. Support for drivers using their electric vehicles in novel ways will also be needed, for example by ‘vehicle-to-grid’ technology to share energy from car batteries back to the electricity grid when it is needed.

P 13 - Ofgem is one of many organisations who must take responsibility for ensuring that GB progresses towards net zero. As an independent regulator, we will be able to challenge and provide leadership to other energy system stakeholders. However, we will also work alongside government and industry, recognising the whole system thinking that is needed, in considering the opportunities and implications of the electrification of transport and increasing energy efficiency and demand side management. We will use our convening power to bring people and organisations together to find solutions where joint action is needed.

OFGEM P 25 - Action 7 - Enabling electric vehicles at low cost

for maximising the benefits associated with electric vehicles (EVs). The National Infrastructure Commission estimated that, if EVs are rolled out without smart charging, average annual system costs could increase by £2 billion, adding up to £30 per year to domestic consumer bills.35 However, smart charging of EVs can also create opportunities for a more flexible and cheaper energy system, for instance by using vehicle batteries for short-term storage to smooth peaks in energy demand and maximise use of renewables. Government has consulted on mandating that all chargepoints are smart.

We have been working closely with government to support the rapid take-up of electric vehicles. To complement the government’s work, we will develop a regulatory strategy that will set out our role and define our actions in response to government policy on the electrification of transport. This will draw together activity on identifying and tackling regulatory barriers and enabling rapid roll-out of EVs in a cost-effective way. In coordination with our work on reforming electricity network charging, our strategy will outline our thinking on how network costs could be recovered to ensure networks are used efficiently and flexibly, and to allow consumers to benefit from new EV related products and services.

We will develop a regulatory strategy for electric vehicles, taking account of developments in government policy and technologies, to support roll out and maximise the consumer benefit. We will identify and tackle regulatory barriers, removing obstacles to new business models, products and services such as EV users selling flexibility services.

Good data use and availability are crucial to provide better visibility of system usage, spare capacity and constraints, to inform investment needs, and to facilitate opportunities for strategic coordination. Several innovations to support a low-carbon future, such as smart vehicle-to-grid flexibility services, flexibility platforms, peer-to-peer energy trading and new demand side response services, rely upon the energy system’s data architecture.

P 26 - We will support innovators

where possible by removing regulatory barriers to new business models, products and services. This includes the expansion of our regulatory sandbox service and a greater openness to adapt or lift some licence conditions to enable firms to experiment and test innovative concepts.40

p 27 Action 8 - We will also explore, using innovative experiments and trials, how to stimulate the necessary consumer behaviour required to enable them to play their role in decarbonisation and what steps Ofgem needs to take to support this.

In particular, we propose to explore how to encourage uptake and engagement with time-of-use tariffs and EV charging. This is likely to include:

(1) testing the impact of various time-of-use style tariff designs on consumer electricity consumption patterns and

(2) testing methods of increasing the adoption of smart charging, either through managed charging or timeof-use style tariffs amongst EV owners, e.g. default versus opt-in enrolment.

We will enable new energy service business models, particularly in the retail market, that will be needed to deliver the transition. We will do this by adapting regulatory requirements to enable experimentation and to foster innovation.

According to their website, the Boris Johnson's government’s is investing £1.5 billion in charging infrastructure, to encourage people to switch to clean transport that is powering the electric transition across the UK’s roads.

If we want to help UK consumers make the most informed decision when it comes to switching to an electric vehicle, it’s important that Go Ultra Low understands the latest consumer behaviour and embraces new technology. Voice Search is a growing trend and this new service will help support potential EV customers in a completely different and innovative way. It’s been great working with Wavemaker and in the space of 5 weeks we’ve developed content, designed the user experience and built the app.

Roads media enquiries
020 7944 3021
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020 7944 4292
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0300 330 3000

CONSULTATION ON E10 - Consultation proposing on introducing E10 petrol for UK vehicles.

Unleaded petrol currently contains up to 5% bioethanol, a grade known as E5, whereas E10 petrol contains up to 10% bioethanol and is not currently available.

The 2020 consultation proposes the introduction of E10 petrol as the 95 octane “Premium” grade, also proposing ensuring the ongoing availability of E5 petrol in the higher octane “Super” grade only, amending the mandatory labelling of E10 petrol and launching a call for evidence on future transport biofuels policy. The claim is that E10 petrol will reduce CO2 emissions from petrol vehicles by 2% and so could help the UK meet emissions reductions targets. To make your views count email before the end of March 2020:

Low Carbon Fuels,
Department for Transport,
Great Minster House,
33 Horseferry Road,
London, SW1P 4DR

Telephone 0300 330 3000
Website www.gov.uk/dft
General enquiries: https://forms.dft.gov.uk

Boris Johnson appointed Shapps Secretary of State for Transport upon his accession to Prime Minister. In the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle he retained this portfolio.

2015 - Minister of State, Department for International Development

On 11 May 2015, Shapps was appointed as minister of state at the Department for International Development. On 28 November 2015, Shapps stood down as minister of state due to allegations of bullying within the Conservative Party.

2012 - Conservative Party Chairman

In September 2012, Shapps was appointed Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party in David Cameron's first major reshuffle.
On arrival Shapps set about preparing Conservative Campaign Headquarters for the 2015 election by installing an election countdown clock.

In November 2012, Shapps hired Australian strategist Lynton Crosby to provide strategic advice and run the 2015 election campaign. Credited with helping John Howard to win three Australian elections and the re-election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London, Crosby is a controversial figure who was accused of having influenced government smoking policy in July 2013.

2013 - Bedroom Tax

In March 2013, Shapps defended the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (often referred to as the "Bedroom Tax") saying his own children share a bedroom. That September, Shapps complained to the Secretary-General of the United Nations about a press release issued in its name stating that the bedroom policy went against human rights. The UK consistently flaunts human rights in not guaranteeing an Article 13 effective remedy and numerous other violations if you take the time to look. There is no Article 1 or 13 in our Human Rights Act 1998, demonstrating the mindset of the State. Legal Aid cuts is another violation, this time Article 6 is breached.

In the same year, Shapps was criticised by Andrew Dilnot, Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, for wrongly claiming that nearly one million people on disability benefits had dropped their claims rather than face medical checks. The real figure was 19,700.

2010 - Minister of State for Housing and Local Government

In May 2010, Shapps became housing and local government minister within the Communities and Local Government department and immediately repealed Home Information Pack (HIP) legislation. He chaired the Cross-Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness which includes ministers from eight Government departments. The group introduced "No Second Night Out", a policy designed to prevent rough sleeping nationwide.

As Minister of State for Housing, Shapps promoted plans for flexible rent and controversially ended automatic lifetime social tenancies. He also introduced the New Homes Bonus which rewarded councils for building more homes. He denied claims that changes in Housing Benefit rules would be unfair claiming that ordinary people could no longer afford some of the homes paid for by the £24bn Housing Benefit bill. Shapps championed Tenant Panels.

In terms of climate change, he might have introduced binding targets for affordable (sustainable) housing, such as flatpacks with free approved designs and automatic planning permission. Instead, councils were allowed to run riot, going on a building spree that included usurping green belt and other land that was protected, where climate unfriendly housing hit boomtown proportions as the fat-cat kleptocrats moved in for the kill.

At the 2011 party conference, Shapps backed the expansion of right to buy with the income being spent on replacing the sold housing with new affordable housing on a one for one basis. This did not happen of course. Mainly because the loopholes were left wide open.

In 2012, Shapps launched StreetLink – a website and phone app for the public to bring help to rough sleepers.

2007 - Shadow housing minister

In June 2007, Shapps became shadow housing minister, outside the shadow cabinet, but entitled to attend its meetings.
He was shadow housing minister during the period of the last four Labour government housing ministers. During this period of opposition he argued in favour of a community-up approach to solving the housing crisis and warned against top-down Whitehall driven housing targets, which he believed had failed in the past.

2005 - Member of Parliament

Shapps stood again in the 2005 election and was elected as the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield, defeating the Labour MP and Minister for Public Health, Melanie Johnson. He received 22,172 votes (49.6%) and had a majority of 5,946 (13.3%), recording the second highest swing from Labour to Conservative in the 2005 election of 8.2%.

Shapps publicly backed David Cameron's bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party, seconding Cameron's nomination papers. Upon Cameron's election as party leader Shapps was appointed vice chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for campaigning.

He was a member of the Public Administration Select Committee between May 2005 and February 2007. At the 2010 general election he was re-elected with an 11.1% swing and a majority of 17,423, taking 57% of the vote. Shapps was opposed to the UK's withdrawal from the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum, but then voted for it in 2019.

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Phone: 020 7219 8497
Email: shappsg@parliament.uk

Welwyn Hatfield Conservative Association
Maynard House
The Common
Hatfield
AL10 0NF
Phone: 01707 262632
Email: nathaniel.chapman@parliament.uk

FORMER TRANSPORT UNDER SECRETARY - Claire Perry was a former transport under secretary of state. She might have moved a little quicker, as might Michael Gove. But the real blame for the mess we are in rest with the civil servants and instructing politicians going back to the 1990s. Red Flag policies were rife with petrochemical lobbyists ruling the day.

Boris Johnson

Prime Minister

Rishi Sunack

Chancellor Exchequer

Priti Patel

Home Secretary

Dominic Raab

Foreign Secretary

Michael Gove

Chancellor D. Lancaster

Ben Wallace

Defence Secretary

Matt Hancock

Health & Social Care

Liz Truss

International Trade

Gavin Williamson

Education

Oliver Dowden

Culture

Alok Sharma

MP Reading West

Robert Jenrick

Housing, Local Gov.

Therese Coffey

Work & Pensions

Robert Buckland

Justice

Anne-Marie Trevelyan

International Dev.

Grant Shapps

Transport

George Eustice

Environment

Brandon Lewis

Northern Ireland

Alister Jack

Scottish Sec. State

Simon Hart

Welsh Sec. State

Baroness Evans

Leader Lords

Amanda Milling

Party Chairman

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Leader Commons

Mark Spencer

Chief Whip

Suella Braverman

Attorney General

Stephen Barclay

Treasury Sec.

Boris Johnson - Prime Minister

MP Uxbridge & South Ruislip

Rishi Sunack

MP for Richmond, Yorkshire

Grant Shapps

MP Welwyn Hatfield

Philip Hammond

MP Runnymede & Weybridge

Alok Sharma

MP Reading West

Damian Green

MP for Ashford

Gavin Williamson

MP South Staffordshire

Liam Fox

MP North Somerset

David Lidlington

MP for Aylesbury

Baroness Evans

MP Bowes Park Haringey

Jeremy Hunt

MP South West Surrey

Justine Greening

MP for Putney

Chris Grayling

MP Epsom & Ewell

Karen Bradley

MP Staffordshire Moorlands

Michael Gove

MP Surrey Heath

David Gauke

MP South West Hertfordshire

Sajid Javid

MP for Bromsgrove

James Brokenshire

MP Old Bexley & Sidcup

Alun Cairns

MP Vale of Glamorgan

David Mundell MP

Dumfriesshire Clydes & Tweeddale

Patrick McLoughlin

MP Derbyshire Dales

Greg Clark

MP Tunbridge Wells

Penny Mordaunt

MP Portsmouth North

Andrea Leadsom

MP South Northamptonshire

Jeremy Wright

MP Kenilworth & Southam

Liz Truss

MP South West Norfolk

Brandon Lewis

MP Great Yarmouth

Nus Ghani

MP Wealden

Huw Merriman

MP Battle

Steve Double

MP St Austell & Newquay

Sarah Newton

MP Truro & Falmouth

Rebecca Pow

MP Taunton Deane

Jacob Rees-Mogg

MP Somerset

Gavin Williamson

MP Staffordshire

Thérèse Coffey

MP Suffolk Coastal

Caroline Ansell

MP Eastbourne

David Davis

MP Haltemprice & Howden

Claire Perry

MP for Devizes

Amber Rudd

MP Hastings & Rye

Theresa May - former PM

MP for Maindenhead

David Cameron

Former Prime Minister

John Major

Former Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

Former Prime Minister

The United Kingdom has many political parties, some of which are represented in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Below are links to the websites of the political parties that were represented in the House of Commons after the 2015 General Election: