Department for Transport

I am satisfied that that the current type approval regime ensures that only reputable and trustworthy entities are involved in the certification process.

The government is committed to improving transport services so they are more inclusive and enable people with sight loss to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all.

Our Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local transport. Through the Act, we are helping authorities to provide safer and more accessible bus stations and stops and mandating more streamlined disability training for bus drivers and frontline staff. We are also requiring local authorities to regularly review the accessibility of their bus networks through the development and publishing of a Bus Network Accessibility Plan.

The government recognises the concerns which have been raised about floating bus stops, particularly. On 20 November I wrote to all local traffic authorities in England requesting that they put on hold designs which require people to board or alight directly from or into a cycle track. The Act requires the Secretary of State to publish statutory guidance on their provision and design within three months of Royal Assent, drafting of which is underway.

We are also continuing the implementation of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations (AIR), which will require audible and visible destination and next stop information on board most local bus services by October 2026.

Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and that is why we have published a roadmap to an accessible railway. It sets out what we are doing now to improve the day-to-day travelling experience for disabled passengers in the lead up to Great British Railways being established. We have installed platform edge tactile paving at every station in England with the final station in Scotland due to be complete next month. The final Welsh station, currently closed for refurbishment, will have them installed when it reopens in April.

We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The Charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.

I am satisfied that that the current type approval regime ensures that only reputable and trustworthy entities are involved in the certification process.

The Government intends to publish the Road Safety Strategy this year.

The data collection stage of the pavement parking research is currently being specified as part of the preparatory work that is already underway and is being designed alongside policy development. We are considering when to launch the fieldwork aspect of the research, in tandem with responding to the consultation on pavement parking.

In 2024/2025 financial year, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received requests for registered keeper information from a third-party service provider on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council in relation to zero-emissions zones and moving traffic offences. It is not possible to say if requests specifically relating to traffic filters have been received as they would be included in the category of moving traffic offences. The Oxford congestion charge came into effect in October 2025. Oxford City Council requested information, also through a third-party service provider, for off-street parking management only.

Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 allows the DVLA to make information about UK vehicles and their registered keepers available for use by a local authority for any purpose connected with the investigation of an offence. The same regulation also allows the DVLA to make information available to a local authority in England and Wales when it is acting as an enforcement authority within the meaning of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004. These provisions apply to Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council.

The Department has taken careful note of the High Court ruling relating to the previous Government’s decision not to support the PFI arrangements for Birmingham City Council’s highway maintenance services.

The Department has subsequently conducted a consultation with the Council about the PFI contract and we have been carefully reviewing the Council’s detailed representations, with the Council’s support on clarification questions.

We are continuing to engage with the Council on the PFI with a view to confirming the decision on whether or not to support the continuation of the PFI contract as soon as possible.

I am committed to working together with Birmingham City Council to find a way forward which is in the best interests of the people of Birmingham and the taxpayer.

As part of GBR’s new role in determining access to its network, GBR will develop and issue Model Contracts. This will set the rights and obligations between an operator and GBR for the use of GBR's network. The provisions of the model contracts must be consistent with requirements in legislation and GBR’s AUP.

As of 31 October 2025, there are 0 staff in DfTc who have been absent for six months or more due to mental health.

The Framework Document is being reviewed and updated following the change of role from the DfT Operator of Last Resort to the Operator of First Choice and the transfer of circa 200 DfT staff to DFTO on 31 March 2026 which moves more operational functions into DFTO. The new Framework Document will be published on gov.uk.

The Government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and is committed to delivering growth and supporting modal shift to lower-carbon modes of freight transport. We have committed to the rail freight growth target of a 75% increase in freight moved by rail by 2050.

The recently laid Railways Bill sets out that the Secretary of State will provide GBR with growth targets for rail freight. As was the case during the development of the 2050 target, we will make informed forecasts about the future capability and capacity of the network when developing any further rail freight growth targets.

Network Rail has a regulated target of a 7.5% increase in rail freight by the end of Control Period 7 (March 2029). In the first year of reporting rail freight grew by 5%, which is significantly ahead of the 1.5% annual growth forecast.

Through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programmes, the Department has provided funding which has procured 1300 buses through ZEBRA 1, 1,955 buses through ZEBRA 2 and a further 319 buses due to scope increases. These buses were funded in 2021, 2024 and 2025 respectively and around 60% of these are from UK manufacturers.

The Government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing, and earlier this year launched the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. The Panel brings together industry experts and local leaders to achieve three key objectives of supporting growth in UK bus manufacturing, developing a pipeline of future bus orders and prioritising passenger-centric bus design.

The Contract Award notices for the leases entered into can be found here:

Direct award of a Lease for Class 701 rolling stock - Find a Tender

Direct award of a Lease for Class 444/450 rolling stock - Find a Tender

Direct award of a Lease for Class 158/159 rolling stock - Find a Tender

Direct award of a Lease for Class 455 rolling stock - Find a Tender

There are no Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) services for which only a postal order is accepted as payment. Trade licensing applications can also be paid for by cheque. The DVLA is currently developing improvements to its trade licensing service and this includes exploring the introduction of alternative payment methods.

The DVLA offers nearly 50 main customer facing services, with the majority of these being available online with a range of payment options. Only seven transactions currently require a manual payment by either postal order or cheque.

There are no Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) services for which only a postal order is accepted as payment. Trade licensing applications can also be paid for by cheque. The DVLA is currently developing improvements to its trade licensing service and this includes exploring the introduction of alternative payment methods.

The DVLA offers nearly 50 main customer facing services, with the majority of these being available online with a range of payment options. Only seven transactions currently require a manual payment by either postal order or cheque.

There are no Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) services for which only a postal order is accepted as payment. Trade licensing applications can also be paid for by cheque. The DVLA is currently developing improvements to its trade licensing service and this includes exploring the introduction of alternative payment methods.

The DVLA offers nearly 50 main customer facing services, with the majority of these being available online with a range of payment options. Only seven transactions currently require a manual payment by either postal order or cheque.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been selling previously unissued vehicle registration numbers since 1989. In that time more than nine million registration numbers have been sold, generating £4.1 billion in revenue.

Vehicle registration numbers that have been previously issued and displayed on a vehicle or held on a certificate of entitlement and allowed to expire are not resold.

The DVLA is currently developing a strategic plan which is designed to enable and optimise sustainable growth and ensure that annual sales income targets are consistently met or exceeded.

The Department’s latest published statistics on the number of public charging devices at local authority level are available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6900f9b584b816d72cb9aab6/electric-vehicle-public-charging-infrastructure-statistics-october-2025.ods.

The Department has no plans to update legislation to allow 30mph speed limit repeater signs on roads with street lighting. Repeater signing is not used on street lit roads subject to a 30mph speed limit because the lamp columns act as the repeaters. Guidance is provided in rule 124 of the Highway Code. This has been law for over 70 years and all drivers are required to learn this in order to pass their driving test.

Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade.

Last month, the Department and Greater Manchester Combined Authority jointly hosted a Safer Streets, Safer Transport Summit which brought together representatives from across the transport industry, Government, local authorities (including the North East Combined Authority), the third sector and policing to commit to taking action against anti-social behaviour (ASB) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Hexham Station has a very low crime rate, with no sexual offences reported this year or in 2024/25.

BTP officers in the North East attend the local Safer Transport Regional Group and the Violence Against Women and Girls on Transport Partnership Working Group, strengthening collaboration with partners and focusing joint efforts on preventing these offences.

BTP deliver numerous public campaigns to increase VAWG reporting across the network including in the North East. The Rail Delivery Group also delivers its ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, which is aimed at educating people about the different types of sexual harassment and encouraging reporting to the BTP or anonymously to Crime Stoppers.

The Government publishes data on its progress in decarbonising the central Government fleet, as part of wider reporting on the Greening Government Commitments. The most recent published data can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-government-commitments-april-2021-to-march-2024-report/greening-government-commitments-april-2021-to-march-2024-report.

As set out in the answer to Question 74957 on 9 September, the Secretary of State wrote to Stellantis to express serious concerns about the customer impact of the stop-drive recall currently affecting Citroën and DS Automobiles cars in the United Kingdom.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency officials continue to have regular engagement meetings with representatives from Stellantis about the Citroën/DS recall and continue to support Stellantis, prioritising safety while minimising economic and social impact.

This Government recognises the serious threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy.

Through the HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme (MFGS), the Department for Transport and industry partners are projected to deliver up to £35.7m of joint investment to enhance driver facilities and improve security at truck stops across England.

Drivers are now seeing the improvements that the scheme has been able to support, with more in development. The scheme is supporting operators across 30 counties in England to improve driver facilities, including investment in security measures.

The Home Office is working closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, which has multiple thematic desks, including a vehicle crime intelligence desk which covers freight crime. The Home Office has regular discussions with key partners, including Opal, about tackling organised freight crime.

The majority of DfT contracted train operators have contracts for specialist passenger facing security provision. Contract details for public sector operators can be found at this link https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. Details of private sector operators’ contracts are commercially confidential.

Changes to unregulated fares have typically followed a similar trend to regulated fares in recent years – so we expect the majority of passengers to benefit from savings.

We are also continuing to reform the complex fares system that we know creates significant confusion and does not work for passengers, including through introducing more tap in, tap out pay as you go across the country, and delivering long-distance fares reforms, such as through the trial with London North Eastern Railway (LNER).

The estimated net cost to the public purse of freezing certain regulated rail fares in March 2026 is set out in the table below. This is putting money back in the pockets of hardworking people when they need it most. With savings set to be available on over a billion journeys, the freeze will also make rail more affordable, encouraging more people to use the railway.

Currently the recording of e-bikes within STATS19 follows the relevant legislation, the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983, with officers encouraged in the STATS19 guidance (known as STATS20) to use an accompanying free text field to provide further details where possible.

The Standing Committee on Road Injury Collision Statistics (SCRICS), which oversees the STATS19 collection, is currently reviewing the recording of vehicle and propulsion types within STATS19 with a view to providing better guidance to reporting police officers on the classification of e-bikes.

The Government remains committed to ensuring the concessionary travel system is inclusive and enables disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity.

Under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), eligible disabled people are entitled to free off-peak bus travel between 09:30 and 23:00 on weekdays and all day at weekends and on Bank Holidays.

Local authorities are responsible for administering applications for disabled bus passes. To support them in this process, the Department provides guidance on assessing eligibility.

The ENCTS costs £795 million annually and any changes to statutory obligations would require careful consideration of the scheme’s financial sustainability. However, local authorities have discretion to offer additional concessions, such as extending travel times or providing companion passes, funded from local resources.

The Government has confirmed over £1 billion for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. Local authorities can use this funding in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, including enhancing concessionary travel locally.

The Department for Transport currently has no plans to bring forward proposals that would allow income generated from speed enforcement to fund specific road maintenance or road policing measures. Money from fines and penalty receipts, including those for speeding, is paid to the Treasury and goes into the Consolidated Fund.

The Consolidated Fund supports general expenditure on public services, which includes services that benefit motorists, such as policing, local government grants, and transport.

The Department is committed to working with the rail industry as we move towards the creation of Great British Railways to ensure that security provision on the network keeps staff and passengers safe. The Department are currently undertaking analysis of private security spend by the 14 train operating companies that have been or are due to be nationalised.

The British Transport Police (BTP) budget is set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). BTP's costs are passed on to individual Train Operating Companies and Network Rail. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals from the Force and views from industry. BTP work closely with BTPA and industry operators to make final resourcing decisions with their agreed budget.

In the year 2025/26 BTP received a 5.9% budget increase. The budget for 2026/27 will be set by the BTPA imminently following engagement with the rail industry. Like other police forces the BTP has operational independence, so the BTP Chief Constable and Chief Officers use a variety of data to inform the deployment of officers and other resources, following the agreement of the budget.

There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts. The British Transport Police have a specific remit to protect all rail staff and passengers.

Public transport workers do of course already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We therefore do not believe that creating a specific offence would have the intended purpose of reducing assaults.

There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts. The British Transport Police have a specific remit to protect all rail staff and passengers.

Public transport workers do of course already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We therefore do not believe that any further legal protections are necessary or would reduce assaults.

Ensuring value for money is a requirement for all DfT contracted train operators. Publicly owned train operators also have a duty to follow the guidance on managing public money.

The Department is committed to supporting local authorities in maintaining and renewing the local highway network, which is why by 2029/30, the Government will commit over £2 billion annually in local highways maintenance funding, doubling funding since coming into office. For the first time, we have confirmed allocations for four years of funding, enabling local authorities to plan ahead and move away from expensive, short-term repairs and instead investment in proactive and preventative maintenance.

In addition to this, the Spending Review announced £1 billion for key local highway enhancement projects and a new Structures Fund for repairing run down bridges, decaying flyovers and worn out tunnels.

I know that the work on Corporation Road Bridge has been ongoing since the beginning of 2022 and has faced significant challenges including a change of contractor which has led to considerable delays to these works. My officials are liaising with North East Lincolnshire Council Officers and I'm pleased to hear a new contractor has been appointed with the bridge likely to be reopened in December of next year.

High soil moisture deficit levels within earthworks arise when the earth has become dried out following prolonged dry hot weather, leading to the soil shrinking and cracks developing within. If this is followed by a period of extreme or prolonged rainfall, water entering these cracks can lead to rapid failure of the earthworks.

Network Rail has commissioned an active nationwide monitoring regime using remote sensors, modelling and geotechnical assessments to monitor slope stability across the network. It has also supported academic research, such as the ACHILLES programme, to further industry understanding on the loss of material strength from repeated cycles of wetting and drying. Intelligence from such research is fed into strategic whole life costing modelling to inform future renewal and maintenance activities. At the same time, Network Rail is engaging in proactive measures to reinforce embankments in high-risk areas and reduce water retention and erosion.

Together, these measures should reduce the risk of earthworks failure and improve the long-term resilience of these assets despite the increasing number of extreme weather events that are expected due to climate change.

I am aware that this issue has been particularly problematic on the West of England Line. I am assured by Network Rail that conditions are improving and that it plans to restore a full timetable from 29th November.

Reforming the connections process and investing in the grid is a key Government priority. This includes reforms that are expected to deprioritise over half of the existing queue based on readiness and strategic alignment with our strategy as set out in Clean Power 2030.

Department for Transport Ministers and officials meet regularly with their counterparts in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. These include discussions on the significance of getting sufficient grid capacity to electrify ports, for cruise and ferries to use shore power and policy options to accelerate connection dates for strategic demand customers, such as critical port sites. This is informed by the Department for Transport call for evidence on Net Zero Ports, published in March 2025, which posed questions on managing future energy demand at ports.

On 25 March, the Government published the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy and a call for evidence on Net Zero Ports. This call for evidence focused on potential options to reduce emissions from vessels at berth and how ports are managing their future energy demand, including the provision of shore power to customers such as cruise operators. We are considering the responses to the call for evidence and will set out next steps in due course.

In September, we announced an additional £448m of Research and Development investment for the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme. Through previous rounds of UK SHORE funding, we have already funded shore power projects, including nearly £20m for a shore power installation at Portsmouth International Port, which will soon allow visiting cruise ships to connect. Future rounds of funding will continue to support clean maritime solutions.

Given the importance of securing grid connections to providing shore power, the Government is working closely with Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator on fundamental reforms to the connections process, which will reduce the connections queue and prioritise progressing viable projects.

The British Transport Police’s (BTP) budget is set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). It is the executive non-departmental public body that oversees the Force and is their employer. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals from the Force and views from industry. BTP work closely with BTPA and industry operators to make final resourcing decisions with their agreed budget.

For the FY25/26, a budget increase of 5.9% was agreed. The British Transport Police Authority will set the Force’s budget for 2026/27 this month.

Like other police forces the BTP has operational independence, so it is for the BTP Chief Constable and Chief Officers to use a variety of data to inform the deployment of officers and other resources, following the agreement of the budget.

The Department has no role in determining the optimal numbers of BTP officers to meet their strategic plans as agreed with the BTPA.

The British Transport Police’s (BTP) budget is set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). It is the executive non-departmental public body that oversees the Force and is their employer. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals from the Force and views from industry. BTP work closely with BTPA and industry operators to make final resourcing decisions with their agreed budget.

For the FY25/26, a budget increase of 5.9% was agreed. The BTPA will set the Force’s budget for 2026/27 this month. BTP’s budget has increased by £87million since 2021/22.

Like other police forces the BTP have operational independence, so the BTP Chief Constable and Chief Officers use a variety of data to inform the deployment of officers and other resources, following the agreement of the budget. Decision over staffing and stations resourcing are reviewed regularly by the BTP under their optimal policing model.

The Department is committed to working with the BTP and rail industry to ensure the railway remains safe for passengers and staff, thanks to the efforts of officers and rail staff working tirelessly across the network.

Between the 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, just over 565,000 tests were recorded as being moved between driving test centres (DTC). This equates to approximately 31% of tests. Please note, in line with other published data that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) produces, this data currently only covers the 12-month period from July 2024 to June 2025.

The government is considering plans to review the existing requirements for motorcycle training, testing, and licensing in a manner that takes account of both long-standing plans in the Department for Transport and the Driver Vehicle and Standards Agency, and proposals received from the motorcycle sector. More details will be set out in due course.

We are working closely with the sector as part of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Authority to ensure that maritime operators will be sufficiently prepared to join UK ETS from July next year.

Regulators are running a voluntary onboarding period from next month which will help the sector engage with the ETS ahead of July and give them extra time to become familiar with how it works.

Additionally, the Authority will allow for ‘double-surrender’ for maritime operators for the first two scheme years, giving maritime operators extra time to familiarise themselves with UK ETS, and the digital systems.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks to introduce powers to set national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. If passed, national minimum standards would enable government to set robust standards for licensing across England, to keep all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel. It would also help reduce the variability of licensing standards across the country, which is a significant factor in inducing drivers to licence with an authority other than that in which they intend to work.

The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.

The National Audit Office’s report last year outlined that the number of public chargepoints being installed is on track to meet 300,000 chargepoints by 2030. The majority of these will be delivered by industry, which has already committed £6 billion of private sector investment in UK charging infrastructure before 2030.