Department for Transport

The Department for Transport takes national security extremely seriously. We work with partners across government, internationally, and with industry to understand, mitigate and respond to the full range of threats to the transport sector, including espionage. We will not hesitate to take action if necessary, with policy options continuously kept under review.

The Department for Transport considers the risks and potential impacts from power outages through ongoing robust resilience assessment and planning processes. The challenges presented by a range of different vehicle types and modes of transport, including electric vehicles, are considered as part of this. Our assessments are kept under continual review.

The Department works with the transport sector, local authorities, and other government departments to put in place measures to plan and prepare for acute power outage risks. Many transport providers work in conjunction with Local Resilience Fora as set out in the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004. This includes contingency planning to deal with local and regional emergencies, including power outages.

The Department for Transport considers the risks and potential impacts from power outages through ongoing robust resilience assessment and planning processes. The challenges presented by a range of different vehicle types and modes of transport, including electric vehicles, are considered as part of this. Our assessments are kept under continual review.

The Department works with the transport sector, local authorities, and other government departments to put in place measures to plan and prepare for acute power outage risks. Many transport providers work in conjunction with Local Resilience Fora as set out in the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004. This includes contingency planning to deal with local and regional emergencies, including power outages.

The Department for Transport considers the risks and potential impacts from power outages through ongoing robust resilience assessment and planning processes. The challenges presented by a range of different vehicle types and modes of transport, including electric vehicles, are considered as part of this. Our assessments are kept under continual review.

The Department works with the transport sector, local authorities, and other government departments to put in place measures to plan and prepare for acute power outage risks. Many transport providers work in conjunction with Local Resilience Fora as set out in the Civil Contingencies Act of 2004. This includes contingency planning to deal with local and regional emergencies, including power outages.

Improving performance is one of this Government’s strategic priorities for transport, we are determined to enhance services for passengers and deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. In response to our challenge to improve performance, the rail industry has set out a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and how to keep trains moving during disruptive events.

The Department has been clear with operators and Network Rail about its expectations on performance, and how operators and Network Rail will deliver for passengers and meet their needs - this includes cancellations. The Department expects train operators to mitigate disruption and provide reliable services for passengers wherever possible.

To improve reliability and reduce traincrew related cancellations, we have developed a seven-point plan for traincrew, which we have built into business plan requirements. Operators have provided a concise, data-driven and evidence-based plan for how they will deliver the seven-point plan as part of their Business Plan responses, which were submitted in early December. These plans cover staffing levels, recruitment, training, overtime and planning efficiency to improve reliability.

The Rail Minister is continuing to meet with the Managing Directors of all train operators and their Network Rail counterparts, to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards.

Hauliers play a very important role in supporting trade within the UK. The Government meets regularly with stakeholders involved in trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, such as representatives of the road haulage and wider logistics industry, including to understand cost pressures.

Hauliers transporting goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are supported by measures such as the extension of the 5 pence cut in fuel duty until the end of August 2026 and for Great Britain, discounts of up to £120,000 on new electric trucks are available thanks to an additional £18m to increase the Plug-in Truck Grant until the end of March 2026. Existing rates apply to Northern Ireland.

Measures were announced on 12 November that will restrict the booking and management of practical car driving tests to learner drivers, and limit test swaps and location changes.

This decision follows a call for evidence and a public consultation that many in the driving instructor industry responded to. These measures take into account the views of those who responded to the consultation and are designed to make the test booking process fairer, providing all learners with equal access to the booking system and ensuring that everyone pays the prescribed fee.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will continually monitor the effectiveness of these measures.

The table below shows the number of retailers the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has checked from March 2022 to April 2025.

The table below shows many incidents DVSA has recorded of e-scooters being sold illegally or without proper guidance of legal restrictions, for the same time period.

Please note, high level of non-compliance found in 24-25 FY is due to poor levels of compliance being found in the on-line marketplace. In that year DVSA’s market surveillance unit (MSU) looked into higher proportions sold in on-line markets due to apparent shifts in the way such items are sold.

c2c serves a mostly short distance turn up and go market, with around 95 per cent of all daily ticket sales made within a week of the date of travel. Affordability is therefore primarily determined by walk-up fares.

c2c reduced its single fares in December 2023 to always be half the equivalent of a return fare, a change made in readiness for the roll out of contactless Pay As You Go (PAYG) ticketing.

c2c is the first TOC in Britain to offer contactless PAYG ticketing on its whole network and advises that it has the lowest walk-up fares per mile of any train company in the southeast.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The agency is intensifying its efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests that will break down barriers to opportunity as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

In the coming months, DVSA will:

• Change the booking service to allow only learner car drivers to book and manage their tests
• Introduce a limit on the number of times a learner car driver can move or swap a test to twice and also limit the area they can move a test to once booked.
• Make use of MOD driving examiners for up to 12 months to help tackle driving test waiting times.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country, including for Preston driving test centre, to provide as many tests as possible. One new entrant driving examiner is currently awaiting checks and will be placed on a training course as soon as possible. An additional new entrant driving examiner is currently undertaking training, upon successful completion, the new entrant will be joining Preston from February.

A full-time driving examiner can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

There is no such prohibition. When a badge holder moves to a different council area, they can inform their new local authority which is able to request the information from their previous local authority. This information can be securely transferred via our Blue Badge Digital Service.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

National Highways’ (NH) standard practice is to report all flood events on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). This includes flood events within 200 metres of the SRN, or within 500 metres of a NH drainage asset. All such flood events are recorded in NH’s drainage data management system (DDMS). NH also maintain drainage and water quality records on its DDMS.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

My Department regularly hold discussions regarding the viable engineering options for the next stage of works on Hammersmith Bridge with their counterparts at both the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Transport for London. The Government intends to convene a further meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce in the near future to discuss next steps for the project. My Department’s officials will be in touch with key local stakeholders to arrange this in due course.

The Government intends to convene a further meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce in the near future to discuss next steps for the project. My Department’s officials will be in touch with key local stakeholders to arrange this in due course.

The Department has no such plans. Provision of lay-bys is a matter for local highway authorities. Advice to drivers on the safe use of roads, including taking appropriate breaks, is given in the Highway Code. There are no traffic regulations that encourage drivers to use lay-bys for rest breaks.

The Blue Badge scheme in the UK is administered and enforced by local authorities and applies to on-street parking locations only. While the UK has informal reciprocal arrangements with EU Member States, acceptance of any non-UK badge is ultimately a matter for local authority discretion.

The UK is a member of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport Resolution ECMT Resolution 97/4 and has accepted Resolution 97/4, but this is not mandatory, nor is it reflected in UK domestic legislation.

The UK continues to recognise disabled parking cards issued in individual EU/EEA Nations for people visiting and travelling in the UK. Any confirmation of reciprocity of this goodwill gesture is not legally binding. It is for individual EU Member States to decide if they will recognise a Disabled Parking Card issued in another country. Using a Blue Badge in Europe - GOV.UK

The Department for Transport has ongoing discussions with individual countries regarding continued recognition of the UK Blue Badge across the European Union (EU).

Through close working and partnership with our French and Spanish friends and allies, this Government has now secured the mutual recognition with France regarding each other’s disabled parking permits and are now currently working on the final agreement with Spain. This means that UK Blue Badge holders can now travel with confidence when heading to France for their holidays or travel and this will also apply to Spain in due course.

The Blue Badge scheme in the UK is administered and enforced by local authorities and applies to on-street parking locations only. While the UK has informal reciprocal arrangements with EU Member States, acceptance of any non-UK badge is ultimately a matter for local authority discretion.

The UK is a member of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport Resolution ECMT Resolution 97/4 and has accepted Resolution 97/4, but this is not mandatory, nor is it reflected in UK domestic legislation.

The UK continues to recognise disabled parking cards issued in individual EU/EEA Nations for people visiting and travelling in the UK. Any confirmation of reciprocity of this goodwill gesture is not legally binding. It is for individual EU Member States to decide if they will recognise a Disabled Parking Card issued in another country. Using a Blue Badge in Europe - GOV.UK

The Department for Transport has ongoing discussions with individual countries regarding continued recognition of the UK Blue Badge across the European Union (EU).

Through close working and partnership with our French and Spanish friends and allies, this Government has now secured the mutual recognition with France regarding each other’s disabled parking permits and are now currently working on the final agreement with Spain. This means that UK Blue Badge holders can now travel with confidence when heading to France for their holidays or travel and this will also apply to Spain in due course.

The Blue Badge scheme in the UK is administered and enforced by local authorities and applies to on-street parking locations only. While the UK has informal reciprocal arrangements with EU Member States, acceptance of any non-UK badge is ultimately a matter for local authority discretion.

The UK is a member of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport Resolution ECMT Resolution 97/4 and has accepted Resolution 97/4, but this is not mandatory, nor is it reflected in UK domestic legislation.

The UK continues to recognise disabled parking cards issued in individual EU/EEA Nations for people visiting and travelling in the UK. Any confirmation of reciprocity of this goodwill gesture is not legally binding. It is for individual EU Member States to decide if they will recognise a Disabled Parking Card issued in another country. Using a Blue Badge in Europe - GOV.UK

The Department for Transport has ongoing discussions with individual countries regarding continued recognition of the UK Blue Badge across the European Union (EU).

Through close working and partnership with our French and Spanish friends and allies, this Government has now secured the mutual recognition with France regarding each other’s disabled parking permits and are now currently working on the final agreement with Spain. This means that UK Blue Badge holders can now travel with confidence when heading to France for their holidays or travel and this will also apply to Spain in due course.

The Blue Badge scheme in the UK is administered and enforced by local authorities and applies to on-street parking locations only. While the UK has informal reciprocal arrangements with EU Member States, acceptance of any non-UK badge is ultimately a matter for local authority discretion.

The UK is a member of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport Resolution ECMT Resolution 97/4 and has accepted Resolution 97/4, but this is not mandatory, nor is it reflected in UK domestic legislation.

The UK continues to recognise disabled parking cards issued in individual EU/EEA Nations for people visiting and travelling in the UK. Any confirmation of reciprocity of this goodwill gesture is not legally binding. It is for individual EU Member States to decide if they will recognise a Disabled Parking Card issued in another country. Using a Blue Badge in Europe - GOV.UK

The Department for Transport has ongoing discussions with individual countries regarding continued recognition of the UK Blue Badge across the European Union (EU).

Through close working and partnership with our French and Spanish friends and allies, this Government has now secured the mutual recognition with France regarding each other’s disabled parking permits and are now currently working on the final agreement with Spain. This means that UK Blue Badge holders can now travel with confidence when heading to France for their holidays or travel and this will also apply to Spain in due course.

The charging regime for the Lower Thames Crossing has not yet been set. Many crossings in England, including the Dartford Crossing, already have a charge, and this will also apply to the Lower Thames Crossing. Charges are necessary to cover the costs of providing the infrastructure, whether funded publicly or privately. Under the Government's preferred financing option, the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model, it is envisaged that there would continue to be a discount for local residents once the transfer to the regulated private entity has completed.

The Department has not issued any Notices to Improve on any of the DfT Operator train operating companies in December 2025 because none have been in breach of their formal contractual terms.

The DfT regularly engages with all operators on service performance and financial management, aligned with this Government's priorities on improving performance and reducing subsidy.

The Department has commissioned independent evaluation on the trial, this research has not yet concluded.

The current evidence is provided by LNER and is available at https://assets.ctfassets.net/mxack5k9p2sw/6k2Evw4OmGsvywKgBg9U9j/e63a4ca09d2c4e01fada29f731d90f7b/Simpler_Fares_LNER_Website_Copy_Enhanced_Sept_2025.pdf .

The Government is developing a long-term rolling stock and infrastructure strategy, for the first time in over 30 years, and we expect to publish it this summer. The strategy will pursue modern standards of carbon-friendly traction, passenger comfort and accessibility that can unlock jobs, opportunities and economic growth right across the country. The strategy will outline our expectations for our future rolling stock needs, including consideration of capacity and reliability, and how these can best be met.

On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035 and a 70% reduction in the number of children (under 16) killed or seriously injured on roads in Great Britain by 2035, using a 2022-2024 baseline. This target will focus the efforts of road safety partners across Britain, with measures to improve road and vehicle design, protect vulnerable road users, and review motoring offences. All of this will be supported and monitored by a new Road Safety Board chaired by the Minister for Local Transport.

Road safety is a shared responsibility, and this strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.

Data on aircraft movements at UK airports is collected and published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). CAA aircraft movement data includes a ‘military’ category, but a split between arriving and departing flights is not provided.

Although Royal Air Force (RAF) Northolt does handle some civil flight movements, this is an RAF establishment, and data on aircraft movements at RAF Northolt is not collected by the CAA.

Data on the total number of aircraft movements at Heathrow, split by military and non-military, is provided in Table 03_1 of the annual CAA airport data publication and reproduced as Table 1 below. The last three complete years for which figures are available are 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Table 1: Aircraft movements at Heathrow Airport split by military and non-military

Note: Non-military category includes commercial, test and training, private, official and business aviation movements.

Source: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/airports/uk-airport-data/

Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022, the department ran large-scale THINK! advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the changes.

Via the THINK! campaign, we are also running year-round radio filler adverts encouraging compliance with the guidance to improve safety for those walking, cycling and horse riding. We will also continue to promote the changes via THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels, as well as through partner organisations.

However, as set out in the road safety strategy, more work is needed to continue embedding these changes. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with airports on a range of issues including noise pollution.

Major airports are required to produce noise action plans every five years. Current plans cover the period 2024-2028 and have been published on airports’ websites.

The government also sets noise controls at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. At other airports, appropriate noise controls should be set locally through the planning system.

Aviation safety is a government priority.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in its capacity as a regulator, does not hold any financial or commercial interest in aviation organisations. The CAA remains independent in its actions, including during any period of insolvency or restructuring.

If an approved maintenance organisation enters insolvency or a period of financial difficulties, the UK CAA may decide to increase the frequency and level of oversight, including unannounced audits, to ensure that it remains compliant.

If the CAA are notified of a senior management change or change in the financial situation of an approved maintenance organisation, that organisation will need to demonstrate to the UK CAA that the Accountable Manager has the necessary funding allocation for the intended maintenance activities carried out under its approval. If an organisation cannot meet these requirements, approval is suspended immediately.

To address concerns raised on the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements in the aviation sector, the aviation workforce has multiple means of raising collective safety concerns. The UK CAA has established a range of reporting channels, including mandatory and voluntary incident reporting and dedicated whistleblowing routes.

Staff working for industries regulated by the CAA can also use the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) service at any time to raise concerns confidentially.

Aviation safety is a government priority.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in its capacity as a regulator, does not hold any financial or commercial interest in aviation organisations. The CAA remains independent in its actions, including during any period of insolvency or restructuring.

If an approved maintenance organisation enters insolvency or a period of financial difficulties, the UK CAA may decide to increase the frequency and level of oversight, including unannounced audits, to ensure that it remains compliant.

If the CAA are notified of a senior management change or change in the financial situation of an approved maintenance organisation, that organisation will need to demonstrate to the UK CAA that the Accountable Manager has the necessary funding allocation for the intended maintenance activities carried out under its approval. If an organisation cannot meet these requirements, approval is suspended immediately.

To address concerns raised on the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements in the aviation sector, the aviation workforce has multiple means of raising collective safety concerns. The UK CAA has established a range of reporting channels, including mandatory and voluntary incident reporting and dedicated whistleblowing routes.

Staff working for industries regulated by the CAA can also use the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) service at any time to raise concerns confidentially.

Aviation safety is a government priority.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in its capacity as a regulator, does not hold any financial or commercial interest in aviation organisations. The CAA remains independent in its actions, including during any period of insolvency or restructuring.

If an approved maintenance organisation enters insolvency or a period of financial difficulties, the UK CAA may decide to increase the frequency and level of oversight, including unannounced audits, to ensure that it remains compliant.

If the CAA are notified of a senior management change or change in the financial situation of an approved maintenance organisation, that organisation will need to demonstrate to the UK CAA that the Accountable Manager has the necessary funding allocation for the intended maintenance activities carried out under its approval. If an organisation cannot meet these requirements, approval is suspended immediately.

To address concerns raised on the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements in the aviation sector, the aviation workforce has multiple means of raising collective safety concerns. The UK CAA has established a range of reporting channels, including mandatory and voluntary incident reporting and dedicated whistleblowing routes.

Staff working for industries regulated by the CAA can also use the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) service at any time to raise concerns confidentially.

Ferry services between Great Britain and Northern Ireland operate in a commercial and competitive market without intervention from the Government. The Department for Transport has no plans to subsidise ferry services between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Our priority is to ensure that fare evasion is addressed, with passengers treated fairly and in accordance with the correct procedures. DFT Operator (DFTO) has reviewed the revenue protection practices of its operators to ensure they are acting consistently and in accordance with legislation. Before an operator enters public ownership, DFTO reviews their practices and prepares to take any action that is required to align activity as appropriate. The Office for Rail and Road carried out a review of revenue protection, and we have accepted all of their recommendations. The Department will publish an update on this in due course which will outline the actions we and industry are taking to ensure revenue protection is addressed.

The Department for Transport publishes data on bus reliability and punctuality in England. This can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#bus-reliability-and-punctuality-bus09.

The Department is aware of several ‘Mobility as a Service’ apps at various stages of development and implementation across the country through regular engagement with local authorities. However, we do not maintain a comprehensive list of these. The geographic scope and funding models of such apps are a matter for local authorities.

The Department for Transport is committed to making the transport network safer for everyone, including women and girls, whenever and wherever they are travelling. As part of the Government’s aims to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade, the Department has an ambitious, evidence-based programme of work to help tackle VAWG on transport. This includes measures in the Bus Services Act 2025 such as training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and antisocial behaviour (ASB).

We know that women and girls are more likely than men to avoid travelling alone when it’s dark. The Department’s ‘Protected characteristics and public transport perceptions and safety’ research, published in 2023, also found that women were more concerned than men about the risk of violence regardless of the time of day. People living in rural areas were more likely to say they felt safe, albeit by a relatively small margin.

We are continuing to build our evidence base to better understand the prevalence of VAWG and ASB across the transport network so we can better target interventions. In the meantime, the Department will continue to work across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities to ensure that everyone feels and is safe when travelling.

In relation to taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs), the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is seeking a power to set in regulations national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons at Report Stage, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords. If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep women and girls and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.

The Government takes national security seriously and recognises the systematic challenges of increased connectivity and the cyber security implications for almost every area of government policy, including vehicles. The Department works closely with the transport sector and other government departments to understand and respond to cyber vulnerabilities for all transport modes.

A Strategic Outline Business Case was developed by Network Rail in 2021 which considered the potential benefits of upgrading rail infrastructure on the Uckfield line. This assessment concluded that the scheme would have positive impacts on train service performance and reliability, together with wider economic benefits. The scheme was paused by the previous government following Spending Review 2021; no development work has taken place since that point.

The Hon Member also may wish to contact Network Rail for information on their plans to maintain and renew rail infrastructure on the Uckfield line.

The Spending Review 2025 established allocations of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) up to financial year 2029-30, with further spending announcements made during Autumn Budget 2025. A profile of these spending limits is enclosed in the table below.

*CDEL is adjusted for TfL Business Rates Retention (£1.2bn p.a. from 2026-27).

Capital spending limits in future years and how they are allocated are subject to departmental business planning processes. Furthermore, the department will provide more detail on future spending plans at the appropriate Supply Estimate.

This Department is delivering improved regional transport through the £92 billion Spending Review settlement it received, driving the biggest boost to transport infrastructure in a generation and unlocking schemes that deliver for the taxpayer and support growth. In addition, where transport is devolved, the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have received the largest ever block grants in real terms, giving them record funding to invest in their own priorities.