Department for Transport

This Government recently announced a £2.4 billion Transport for City Regions (TCR) funding settlement for the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which will be available to spend from 2027/2028 to 2031/2032.

Decisions on how this money is to be spent are devolved to Mayor Richard Parker and WMCA.

While the information requested about expired retention certificates may be available, it would need to be extracted from different databases and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

My officials hold regular meetings with Surrey County Council to discuss transport in Surrey. We will shortly announce the regional allocations for the majority of the transport funding announced in the Spending Review. We have informed Surrey County Council of their allocation of the Local Transport Grant which is £38.19 million for the period from April 2026 to April 2030 for local transport improvements.

The Industrial Strategy recognises the importance of ports to the UK economy by their inclusion as a foundational industry, essential to enabling growth in the strategy’s eight sectors through providing critical inputs and infrastructure.

The UK’s ports industry is largely privately owned and operated, with government’s role primarily to ensure that the policy and regulatory environment supports efficient operation and investment. The Government is streamlining planning and regulatory processes for ports, including by updating the National Policy Statement for Ports. The Government is also committed to investing in road and rail connections to ports to improve the efficient and cost-effective transportation of goods and passengers.

In addition, the Government is working closely with Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator on fundamental reforms to the grid connections process that will release up to 500GW of capacity from the connections queue. This may enable ports to electrify more quickly where capacity is released in port locations.

Finally, the Government is deploying capital at scale through the National Wealth Fund, with ports being one of the five sectors to which it has committed at least £5.8 billion.

The Government is committed to helping local leaders improve local bus services and grow usage across England, including the North East, Northumberland and Hexham constituency. The Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives from the North East Combined Authority, including as part of our continued support to local transport authorities pursuing bus franchising.

We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £23.8 million has been allocated to the North East Combined Authority. This funding can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people.

The Government is committed to helping local leaders improve local bus services and grow usage across England, including the North East, Northumberland and Hexham constituency. The Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives from the North East Combined Authority, including as part of our continued support to local transport authorities pursuing bus franchising.

We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £23.8 million has been allocated to the North East Combined Authority. This funding can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people.

The Government is committed to helping local leaders improve local bus services and grow usage across England, including the North East, Northumberland and Hexham constituency. The Department for Transport regularly engages with local authority representatives from the North East Combined Authority, including as part of our continued support to local transport authorities pursuing bus franchising.

We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £23.8 million has been allocated to the North East Combined Authority. This funding can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people.

As with all Tier 1 projects, the Lower Thames Crossing is governed and funded by Government, with delivery by National Highways. The Development Consent Order was approved in March 2025 and enabling works will begin this year. Government is exploring funding options, including private finance, to support mid 2030s completion.

The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested.

Enforcement of illegal e-scooter use is a matter for the police and a range of motoring offences and penalties already apply.

A reply was sent by Lord Hendy on 18 November. I would like to apologise for the delay in replying.

This Government wants to improve passenger experience and strive towards enhancing and improving ticketing. We are delivering on extensions to Pay As You Go (PAYG) with contactless ticketing to an additional 50 stations on the 14 December in the Southeast.

Whilst initial delivery does not include upgrades to stations in the Surrey Heath constituency, I would like to assure you that our commitment to improving ticketing for passengers does not end with this tranche of stations. As such, we are considering a number of factors to determine which stations will be included in future phases of PAYG with contactless rollout. We will announce further details in due course.

The Department publishes statistics on the number of public charging devices at local authority level as part of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics.

The Department cannot provide breakdown of orders per individual manufacturer in 2025-26 due to commercial sensitivity. A list of motorcycles eligible for grant support is published online.

The Department cannot provide breakdown of orders per individual manufacturer due to commercial sensitivity. A list of vehicles eligible for grant support is available on Gov.UK.

The analysis of the costs and benefits of both Low Earth Orbit satellite technology and trackside infrastructure was conducted in the context of the Spending Review and was about prioritisation of potential projects and programmes. We would not ordinarily release this to protect the commercial interests of government and its suppliers. However, we are preparing a Business Case for LEO which we will publish in due course.

The future rail retail industry code of practice will set out clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) interacts with all market participants. It will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road, and GBR’s licence will require compliance with it. The Railways Bill enables the Secretary of State to introduce the licence condition that will underpin the code of practice and give it force.

The Government has confirmed that there will be full consultation on the production of the code of practice. Further detail on that consultation will be set out in due course.

Government is bringing track and train together in Great British Railways (GBR), which will be a directing mind able to take long-term strategic decisions to make the best use of the network and which will deliver benefits for passengers, freight users and taxpayers. GBR will set out their plans for passenger services and infrastructure in an Integrated Business Plan, which the Secretary of State will approve. When GBR proposes to update its business plan, under the Railways Bill it will be required to consult the Office of Rail and Road and Passenger Watchdog, as well as seek approval from the Secretary of State. This will ensure that there is expert, third party scrutiny on proposed material updates before delivery changes

GBR will take access decisions against duties clearly defined in the bill and public law principles including to act fairly and transparently. As ORR do now, we would expect GBR to publish its access decisions. GBR will be required in Legislation to publish its criteria for taking access decisions in its Access and Use Policy.

The main independent mechanism for publicly reporting safety incidents on the railways is the Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS). The Office of Rail and Road also operate an anonymous whistleblowing service. Therefore, no plans exist to create an additional independent mechanism for public reporting of rail safety incidents.

The aim of the Railways Bill is to unite track and train and to reduce the fragmentation that comes with the separation of infrastructure and passenger services operations – a model which has repeatedly failed passengers over many years. However, where there is a need for safeguards, there will be separation. For example, there will be separation of decision-making between GBR's retailer and the wider retail industry management functions for which GBR will be responsible. This will be delivered via a code of practice, which will be owned and managed by the ORR and have the force of a licence condition.

The transition to zero emission vehicles, including cars, vans and HGVs, received £1.8bn in the spending review settlement, which is additional to the £320m allocated at Autumn Budget 2024.

£40m was allocated for zero emission bus projects through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) Scheme at Autumn Budget 2024.

£63m in 2025/2026 will support Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production in the UK through the Advanced Fuels Fund. Further support is committed through the next SR period to 2029/30 – the parameters of this funding will be published in due course.

The SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism will be industry funded.

The Government has announced up to £2.3bn of funding over ten years to extend the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme to 2035. The programme supports industry led projects including the development of new low and zero carbon aircraft.

Since the launch of the National Science Foundation – UKRI Lead Agency Opportunity, the Department for Transport has provided one letter of support for a bid by UK academics. The scheme is administered by UK Research and Innovation, and the Department is not routinely involved in the application process.

The Department has conducted extensive engagement with stakeholders and members of the public to inform the strategy and has heard directly from motorcyclists and motorcycle representative groups including Motorcycle Action Group through our Call for Ideas and Regional Roadshow.

The insights gathered through our engagement activities have been analysed and are directly informing the strategy as it continues to evolve.

Officials also met bilaterally with the Motorcycle Action Group on 29 August 2025 to respond to a range of matters of concern to motorcyclists which included an update on the development of the strategy. An update was also provided at the most recent meeting of the officials led Motorcycle Strategic Focus Group on 15 September, chaired by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions annually. The most recent accredited official statistics cover the period 1990 to 2023 and are available online as part of the UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions statistics.

The National Motorcyclists Council attended a Ministerial road safety roundtable on 7 October 2024 which commenced external engagement on a future road safety strategy. Officials met bilaterally with the Motorcycle Action Group on 29 August 2025 to respond to a range of matters of concern to motorcyclists which included a brief update on the development of the Road Safety Strategy. An update was also provided at the most recent meeting of the officials led Motorcycle Strategic Focus Group on 15 September, chaired by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

The Government knows that reliable and frequent bus services are vital to providing access to services and keeping communities connected. The Government’s Bus Services Act 2025 puts passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of the industry by putting the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England.

As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated over £1 billion to support and improve bus services in 2025/26 and keep fares affordable. This includes £243 million for operators through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and BSOGPlus, and £712 million for local authorities. The BSOG helps operators to keep fares down and run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation. Of the £712 million for local authorities, the West Midlands Combined Authority has been allocated £50 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, including expanding services and improving frequency.

The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review. On 11 June, the Government confirmed additional funding per year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.

This information is not held by the Department for Transport.

Active travel funding allocations are based on capability level as assessed through Active Travel England’s annual capability ratings process. The ratings are used to allocate funding and to provide the right support to authorities to help them develop capability to deliver high quality schemes. This process has resulted in an increase in the number of active travel schemes completed on schedule from 58% in 2023/4 to 69% in 2024/5.

Since being established in 2022, Active Travel England (ATE) has provided over £560 million of funding to authorities. ATE have overseen the creation of over 400 miles of new walking and cycling routes (and hundreds of safer crossing and junctions) that the above funding has provided.

There has also been a 9% improvement in the (published) assessment by Active Travel England on local councils’ ability to deliver schemes overall (from 2022/23 to 2023/24).

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not capture any information on nationalities at either the theory or practical driving tests.

The DVSA has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test.

At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, and the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.

To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give driving examiners access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for a test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.

DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub to enable assessment of all information available and prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud and intelligence team to investigate such allegations.

The information is provided in the table below. Most of these costs related to ORR’s role and duties in respect of the Channel Tunnel.

While the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is responsible for issuing driving licences, enforcement of the law is a matter for the police.

The Department does not release this information on the grounds that it could prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs by undermining the collection of Dart Charge.

The Government is committed to supporting the logistics sector in developing the skilled workforces it needs. The Government has confirmed £136 million for Skills Bootcamps in 2025-26 to support more than 40,000 learners. Skills Bootcamps will remain an important part of skills provision and are now funded through Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local areas directly, empowering local leaders with greater control over skills development. Local leaders are considering what occupations, including HGV driving, to prioritise.

The Government also continues to support the sector with skills training through the Urban Driver and Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver apprenticeships, and through Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) via Jobcentre Plus.

The Government recognises that the majority of road fatalities (according to the latest statistics) occurred on rural roads (60%) with fewer fatalities on urban roads (35%) and motorways (5%).

Too many people are killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions, and this Government is working hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. More details will be set out in due course.

The Government recognises the vital role that surface access will play as part of any future expansion of Heathrow Airport. As part of the review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), launched on 22 October 2025, we will consider the transport infrastructure required to support a third runway, including rail connectivity and mode share targets. This will include considering the impacts for travellers from different regions, and the impact on the wider transport network in those regions.

The Government has been clear that expansion must be affordable and delivered in the best interest of passengers. Scheme costs should be minimised and financed through private funding, including any surface transport costs.

While it would not be appropriate to pre-empt the outcome of the ANPS review at this stage, it will be the responsibility of any expansion promoter to set out a surface access strategy demonstrating how they will meet the requirements set out in the ANPS.

Yes. In addition to the above referenced Special Order P35/2024, a second application was also cleared on 29th January 2024 for tram movements between the same two sites, with a Special Order number of P37/2024.

The government is committed to a fair and open rail retail market, in which Great British Railways (GBR) will sell tickets alongside, and compete with, independent retailers. Moreover, the retail industry management functions currently performed by the Rail Delivery Group will move to GBR.

To ensure fairness when GBR takes on these functions, the government has announced a range of safeguards, including an industry code of practice. The code of practice will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR interacts with all market participants and impose separation of decision-making where relevant. It will be owned and managed by the ORR, and GBR’s licence will require compliance with it.

In carrying out its functions and duties, GBR will also be subject to relevant competition and subsidy control law.

The future rail retail industry code of practice will set out clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) interacts with all market participants. It will be owned and managed by the ORR, and GBR’s licence will require compliance with it. The Railways Bill enables the Secretary of State to introduce the licence condition that will underpin the code of practice and give it force.

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.

The Department works with all operators through the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on their work to prevent sexual offences across the rail network, including funding the initial launch of the RDG’s Zero Tolerance campaign in 2021.

Furthermore, the Department has implemented contractual changes to improve the steps operators take to prevent VAWG on the network, including requiring operators under public ownership to ensure their public-facing staff complete sexual harassment training on a regular basis.

My Department’s priority is to ensure that UK seafarers and operators have the latest and most secure documents to facilitate their operations and movement. The maritime passport is an interesting concept that we will consider further as we move forward with updating all our documentation requirements.

The trams were moving under Special Order permit (certificate) number P37/2024 signed on the 29^th January 2024 cleared for in Special Order application ref: RFS/2988.

The actual movement notification for the tram movements was submitted under ‘STGO AIL Cat 3’ on ref: RFS/3062 on the 25^th January 2024.

Under the government’s plans, the retail industry management functions currently performed by the Rail Delivery Group will move to Great British Railways. This includes the oversight and management of central systems that all retailers use, and the licensing of third parties to operate as rail ticket retailers.

We are working closely with industry partners to ensure transition plans are as smooth as possible.

As part of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) review, the Secretary of State will carry out an Appraisal of Sustainability which will include a Strategic Environmental Assessment, which will consider greenhouse gas emissions.

As per the Appraisal of Sustainability for the existing ANPS, this will include consideration of emissions from the way people travel to and from the airport, as well as aircraft movements. It will be for individual promoters to submit Environmental Impact Assessments as part of any Development Consent Application in relation to Heathrow expansion.