Department for Transport

The Department is working closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the development of the Off-Road Machinery Decarbonisation Strategy. Further details of which, including publication timeline, will be shared in due course.

The Government understand that renters and leaseholders sometimes have barriers to installing EV chargepoints. In October 2025, the Government announced that it will consult on ways to ensure more people have an ability to charge from home. This includes removing barriers to those in rented and leasehold properties.

There are Government grants for landlords to install EV chargepoints and supporting infrastructure. We continue to consider what policy interventions are suitable in supporting the rental sector in the transition to EVs.

The Government recognises the difficulties that people renting or leasing properties can sometimes face when looking to install chargepoints.

In October 2025, the Government announced that it will consult on ways to ensure more people have an ability to charge. This includes removing barriers to those in rented and leasehold properties. We continue to incentivise renters, leaseholders, and landlords to install charging infrastructure through our domestic chargepoint grants and, additionally, new build residential properties have been required to install a chargepoint since June 2022.

The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) transition is crucial to the UK meeting its climate change obligations, as well as improving air quality and supporting growth.

The Government closely monitors regional deployment and the disparities in the location of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints, as detailed in statistics released in October 2025. Chargepoint availability is increasing across the country.

The Government’s £400 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund has been allocated to all highest tier local authorities in England to ensure equitable chargepoint rollout across the country. In total, it is expected to support the rollout of at least 100,000 EV chargepoints.

Hybrid trains play an important role in providing connectivity across the UK. Great Western Railway (GWR) has been working with its supplier Hitachi, which manufactured and maintains GWR’s Intercity Express Trains, to understand and address the significant recent and current issues with generator units. The Government expects all rail industry partners to work together urgently to deliver reliable services for passengers.

Department for Transport officials regularly meet representatives of the road haulage industry, including through the Freight Council and the Road Freight Industry Engagement Group. These discussions are wide ranging and include the market conditions for road freight and cost pressures.

Government measures that support the road freight sector include 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.

The Small Business Plan outlines how the Government will support small and medium sized businesses to grow and thrive across the UK through reforms to tackle late payments; finance to support start-ups and scale ups; removing unnecessary red tape and delivering growth boosting support for Digital and AI Adoption. The new Business Growth Service makes it easier for SMEs to access the right support for any stage of their growth journey.

The management of speed cameras on the strategic road network is split between National Highways and the Police, so the Department does not hold this data.

This anomaly resulted in a very small number of people incorrectly facing enforcement action for speeding offences and the Police have begun the process of redress.

Anybody affected by the anomaly will be contacted directly and, where appropriate, be reimbursed and/or have points removed from the licence. Steps will be taken to remedy any incorrect prosecutions.

As set out in the 16 December Written Ministerial Statement, National Highways has confirmed that this technical anomaly has occurred approximately 2,650 times on the impacted cameras over four years since 2021 and National Highways are now looking back to 2019. To place this in context, fewer than 0.1% of activations since 2021 were impacted by this anomaly and not all of the erroneous activations will have resulted in enforcement action.

A Home Office approved solution has been developed which National Highways are now working with the police to implement. It is important that road users have confidence in the technology on our roads and that is why I have committed to an independent investigation into how this anomaly came about to prevent this reoccurring in the future.

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 is an opportunity to reflect on the changes and challenges faced by motorcycle riders and the government has announced a consultation on an ambitious package of reforms to the training, testing and licensing regime for Category A moped and motorcycle licences in Great Britain.

While there is no mandatory requirement for motorcycles to be fitted with collision notification systems, aftermarket products exist that are promoted as being compatible with motorcycle riding.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is aware of the accident on the Valaris 121 jack-up drilling rig that occurred on the 14 November 2025. The MAIB has been in contact with the Liberian Ship Registry and received confirmation that the registry is conducting a preliminary assessment into the incident, which is in the evidence gathering phase.

As Valaris 121 was jacked-up, immobile and carrying out drilling operations, its operations fall under the purview of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Offshore. The MAIB has received confirmation that HSE (Offshore) has commenced an investigation into the accident, and HSE’s contact details have been passed to the Liberian Ship Registry.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is aware of the accident on the Valaris 121 jack-up drilling rig that occurred on the 14 November 2025. The MAIB has been in contact with the Liberian Ship Registry and received confirmation that the registry is conducting a preliminary assessment into the incident, which is in the evidence gathering phase.

As Valaris 121 was jacked-up, immobile and carrying out drilling operations, its operations fall under the purview of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Offshore. The MAIB has received confirmation that HSE (Offshore) has commenced an investigation into the accident, and HSE’s contact details have been passed to the Liberian Ship Registry.

In financial year 2024/25, a total of 1,723 properties were managed within the HS2 Managed Property Portfolio along the route of HS2 Phase 1 and the former Phase 2. This included residential, commercial, agricultural, forestry and wayleave interests, which collectively generated an annual rental income of £24 million. This income was fully used to offset the costs of managing properties acquired for HS2. Annual rental income naturally fluctuates as the proportion of tenanted properties changes over time.

The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.

The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.

The Department for Transport recognises the importance of safe and accessible pavements for all road users. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing pavement parking restrictions under existing civil parking enforcement powers, and statutory guidance advises that these operations should be self-financing.

While we keep enforcement policy under review, there are currently no plans to provide additional central funding for pavement parking enforcement in Surrey or Surrey Heath.

New devolved pavement parking powers were announced on 8 January 2026 and we will work with local government to develop the approach to implementation.

Following changes made to the Highway Code in 2022, the department ran THINK! Campaigns in 2022 and 2023 to raise awareness of the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the new guidance, with 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023.

The Government's new road safety strategy identifies that more work is needed to continue embedding these changes.

The THINK! campaign will continue to run three 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.

The Road Safety Strategy also sets out further actions to enable safer active travel including supporting councils to provide high-quality, easily accessible active travel schemes across England, and the development of its third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS 3).

As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety.

To support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety.

Road safety is a top priority for this Government. That is why the licensing regime for shared cycle schemes which we are bringing forward through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will include minimum standard conditions to ensure a national baseline of safety.

We will consult in depth before implementing licensing, with safety being a core consideration. Licence conditions could include reporting and maintenance requirements.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with shared cycle operators, local authorities, and other groups to understand the challenges and opportunities these schemes can present.

Road safety is a top priority for this Government. That is why the licensing regime for shared cycle schemes which we are bringing forward through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will include minimum standard conditions to ensure a national baseline of safety.

We will consult in depth before implementing licensing, with safety being a core consideration. Licence conditions could include reporting and maintenance requirements.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with shared cycle operators, local authorities, and other groups to understand the challenges and opportunities these schemes can present.

Ensuring the railway remains safe for passengers and staff, and creating a hostile environment for criminals on the network is a priority for both the Department for Transport and the British Transport Police (BTP). Decisions on the use of resource and deployment of officers across the railway are for the BTP, as an operationally independent police service.

The BTP’s screening policy, introduced in August 2024, takes into account factors including the possible time window an incident could have taken place in, but also the availability of witnesses and CCTV, the realistic prospect of a successful outcome, and a range of other factors. In some instances this may mean that an investigation is not progressed, but there is no blanket ruling and each case is assessed individually. BTP have not taken the decision to stop investigating bike theft that cannot be narrowed to a two-hour window.

BTP work closely with train operating companies and their counterparts in Home Office forces to run events at stations across the network, which provide practical crime prevention advice and services such as free bike marking to passengers. There was a 23% decrease in cycle theft recorded between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022, the department ran a THINK! campaign to raise awareness of the changes. This was followed by broader behaviour change campaigns in 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance.

The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes increased from 36% in January 2022 to over 50% in August 2022 and 70% in September 2023, with 86% of road users having heard of the changes by that time.

The Government's new road safety strategy identifies that more work is needed to continue embedding these changes.

The THINK! campaign will continue to run three 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.

The Road Safety Strategy also sets out further actions to enable safer active travel including supporting councils to provide high-quality, easily accessible active travel schemes across England, and the development of its third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS 3).

As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety.

To support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity.

Alongside this, the government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety.

The 2025 Spending Review allocated £24 billion of capital funding between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country.

The Department will confirm in the Third Road Investment Strategy, to be published in March 2026, how much capital funding will be invested in the Strategic Road Network over the five-year period 2026/27 to 2030/31, including annual funding profiles.

The Department has already announced £7.3 billion of capital funding for local highway maintenance over the four years in question and details of how this funding will be allocated and local authority funding allocations can be found on gov.uk.

The Department will also announce the outcome of its review of MRN schemes shortly, as well as next steps on the new Structures Fund.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises that last-mile delivery, including food delivery services, presents specific safety and compliance challenges. To address these challenges, DVSA has engaged with representatives from the sector and continues to collaborate on the development of guidance and best practice, including hosting a last mile delivery summit.

Operational enforcement activity is also undertaken where appropriate, particularly in relation to light commercial vehicles used within this segment.

In addition, DVSA does support police investigations – for example, by conducting technical assessments of modified “last-mile” fast-food delivery bicycle fitted with electric motors.

International Rail services operate on an open access basis, with fares set in line with commercial strategy by the private companies involved. The Government engages regularly with the independent Office of Rail and Road to discuss its regulatory activities, which for international rail services include competition and consumer protection matters.

The Government is committed to supporting the growth of our international rail connections with Europe and is working to establish a thriving and competitive market, which could deliver more competitive fares and greater choice, supporting industry to tackle capacity constraints and signing landmark agreements with Germany and Switzerland to pave the way for new routes.

The Government takes its commitment to national security extremely seriously, including for the transport sector. The National Security Act 2023 overhauled previous espionage laws and created a suite of measures designed to enable our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to deter, detect and disrupt the full range of modern-day state threats.

The Department will continue to work with partners across government and industry to ensure the transport sector is an even harder target for those states who seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK, making full use of the levers available to combat espionage and other state threat activity.

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.