Department for Transport

An estimate of potential future demand for charge points was originally published in the 2022 “Taking Charge: The National Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy” and ranged from 280,000 to 720,000 in 2030. This analysis was updated in 2024 to a range of 250,000 to 550,000 in 2030.

We closely monitor charge point rollout and publish public charger statistics monthly. Statistics include publicly and privately funded public charge points. We support uptake through targeted grants and funding and regularly engage with local authorities and the private sector on progress. The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund is expected to deliver another 100,000 public chargers across England, leveraging significant private sector investment alongside public funding. The LEVI Fund requires local authorities to complete quarterly reporting of charge point delivery.

The Get That Electric Feeling campaign was established to help boost the uptake of electric vehicle ownership ahead of the phase out of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. It aims to highlight the benefits of driving an electric car, including lower charging and maintenance costs.

The Get That Electric Feeling campaign has been launched under the Make Britain a Clean Energy Superpower mission, with a total campaign budget for 2025/26 of £4.56 million, excluding contractors. As the campaign is currently live, we do not have a consolidated breakdown of costs.

Budgets for future phases have not yet been confirmed.

As part of the Road Safety Strategy, the Department for Transport has published a public consultation on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, including seat belt usage. The consultation seeks views on strengthening sanctions for non‑compliance with seat belt requirements, including the potential introduction of penalty points, and additional penalty points for drivers who do not ensure child passengers are appropriately restrained.

No decisions have been taken, including on the detailed scope of any changes or how they would apply in practice. The consultation closes on 11 May 2026. Policy decisions will be taken after the consultation has closed and stakeholders’ views have been considered.

The information requested is not available.

The Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) do not hold information on the reasons put forward in exceptional hardship applications.

Decisions on whether exceptional hardship has been established, and the grounds advanced in support of such applications, are matters for the courts.

DVLA’s role is to update and maintain the driver record using information provided by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, and it does not receive or hold the underlying reasons cited to the court.

The fares freeze is expected to save existing rail passengers £600m in 2026/27, putting money back in the pockets of hardworking people when they need it most. This will include savings of more than £300 per year for some commuters.

This is the first time in 30 years that passengers will benefit from a freeze, and this historic intervention recognises the importance of affordability for rail passengers. In addition to the fares freeze we are also reforming fares more broadly across the system, making it easier for passengers to feel confident they are buying the right ticket for their journey.

The 2025 Spending Review allocated £19.5 million to deliver a new two-platform station at Haxby on the York-Scarborough line. Work has started to secure planning consents, and the project is progressing toward contractor appointment to deliver the station.

Improving road safety is one of my Department’s highest priorities. Injuries and fatalities from road collisions caused by driving are unacceptable, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users.

The total spend on the THINK! road safety campaign for the years requested is as follows:

• 2023–24 outturn: £5,180,103.98

• 2024–25 outturn: £4,336,057

• 2025–26 forecast: £3,880,000

• 2026–27 forecast: £5,529,000

Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer to process as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals. The DVLA is currently experiencing an increase in the volume and complexity of driving licence applications. This has unfortunately led to longer waiting times for some customers.

The DVLA keeps applicants informed of key updates on their case, including when medical information is requested or chased.

To improve performance, the DVLA is updating its online service, and launching a new casework system. A new digital medical services portal will also launch in April. These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with medical applications and answer telephone calls, will deliver real improvements for customers.

In 2024/25 the DVLA achieved 85 per cent against its customer service measure to make a licensing decision in 90 days in 90 per cent of medical driving licence cases.

Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer to process as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals. The DVLA is currently experiencing an increase in the volume and complexity of driving licence applications. This has unfortunately led to longer waiting times for some customers.

The DVLA keeps applicants informed of key updates on their case, including when medical information is requested or chased.

To improve performance, the DVLA is updating its online service, and launching a new casework system. A new digital medical services portal will also launch in April. These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with medical applications and answer telephone calls, will deliver real improvements for customers.

In 2024/25 the DVLA achieved 85 per cent against its customer service measure to make a licensing decision in 90 days in 90 per cent of medical driving licence cases.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question 94298, answered on 8 December 2025.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-fleet-commitment/government-fleet-commitment.

https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-vehicle-grants/motorcycles.

The Department does not hold information on manufacture location as part of the motorcycle grant.

The Department considered all relevant circumstances of West Midlands Trains’ (WMT) position prior to transferring its services into public ownership on 1 February 2026. The Department does not expect WMT’s cost base to rise as a result of the transfer. With any change in operator, private or public, there are always some implementation costs, which will be determined in due course. However, these are expected to be offset by future payments to outgoing private sector operators falling away.

The Department does not expect performance to deteriorate and WMT will be required to meet agreed performance targets included in a Services Agreement. There are no changes to contracted staff terms and conditions including pension arrangements because as part of the transfer into Public Ownership, a full TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) process was undertaken.

Once Great British Railways (GBR) is established, it will retail online by consolidating individual train operators’ ticket websites. This will take place alongside a thriving private sector retail market, which will continue to play a key role in driving innovation and investment and encouraging more people to choose rail. Further information about the approach to GBR’s future ticket retailing website and app will be made available in due course.

The Department will set out further plans for fares reform, including any future approach to demand based pricing, in due course.

The Department will update the local road maintenance ratings on an annual basis. Each update will use the most recent road condition data available at the time of publication. The current ratings already incorporate road condition statistics for the financial year ending 2024.

Future ratings will incorporate datasets from the financial year ending 2025 and, if available at the time of publication, from the financial year ending 2026.

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern and other partners to confirm a start date for the first East West Rail services between Oxford and Milton Keynes as soon as possible.

Modern vehicles – including cars and buses - are increasingly using software to support safer driving, to improve diagnostics and to provide a host of other services such as navigation and entertainment.

The Government takes national security extremely seriously and recognises the systemic challenges of increased connectivity and the cyber security implications for almost every area of government policy, including vehicles. The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance to help organisations understand and manage the associated risks, ensuring that system connectivity is approached in a way that balances security with the significant benefits it provides.

The department introduced two new regulations: one to strengthen vehicle cybersecurity and one on software updates (UN Reg 155 and UN Reg 156). The cybersecurity regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber-attacks.

We are aware of recent reports from Norway concerning an electric bus manufacturer and officials are looking into this, and the Transport Secretary will update the Transport Committee once the work is complete.

Local highway authorities, such as Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

In line with this, no direct discussions have been had with Essex County Council or Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in Basildon or Thurrock.

Although the Government does not monitor drainage infrastructure for classified and unclassified local roads, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance.

For example, guidance on asset management for local highways authorities can be found in the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highways Infrastructure. This states that “drainage assets should be maintained in good working order to reduce the threat and scale of flooding. Particular attention should be paid to locations known to be prone to problems, so that drainage systems operate close to their designed efficiency.”

Local highway authorities, such as Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

In line with this, no direct discussions have been had with Essex County Council or Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in Basildon or Thurrock.

Although the Government does not monitor drainage infrastructure for classified and unclassified local roads, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance.

For example, guidance on asset management for local highways authorities can be found in the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highways Infrastructure. This states that “drainage assets should be maintained in good working order to reduce the threat and scale of flooding. Particular attention should be paid to locations known to be prone to problems, so that drainage systems operate close to their designed efficiency.”

Local highway authorities, such as Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

In line with this, no direct discussions have been had with Essex County Council or Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in Basildon or Thurrock.

Although the Government does not monitor drainage infrastructure for classified and unclassified local roads, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance.

For example, guidance on asset management for local highways authorities can be found in the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highways Infrastructure. This states that “drainage assets should be maintained in good working order to reduce the threat and scale of flooding. Particular attention should be paid to locations known to be prone to problems, so that drainage systems operate close to their designed efficiency.”

The Department approved and funded the use of 12 additional trains (60 extra carriages) for the CrossCountry network. These additional trains were introduced in May 2025 and have increased the Inter-City train fleet substantially and enabled CrossCountry to add thousands of seats each week to its Inter-City network. West Yorkshire is likely to see a direct benefit from this, depending on the daily operational needs of the operator.

Northern has begun discussions with train manufacturers to procure around 250 new train sets to replace the oldest trains in its fleet. Approximately two-thirds of its existing fleet is targeted to be replaced in the next 10 years.

TransPennine Trains is currently in a live procurement, which is seeking to purchase a core order of 29 units. These trains will seek to realise benefits from the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme and support an increase in seats on journeys between York to Leeds; Leeds to Huddersfield; Huddersfield to Manchester Victoria and; Huddersfield to Manchester Piccadilly.

London North Eastern Railway have added 60,000 extra seats across the route each week through their transformational timetable change in December 2025 and plan to add more capacity in the future by replacing its 7-car InterCity 225 trains with new 10-car 897 trains.

The Department does not collect data on the number of roads that have been, or are currently being, adopted by local authorities. Decisions on whether to adopt a road rest with the relevant local authority, provided the road meets the necessary design standards for adoption. The Department is aware of a decline in the adoption of roads within new developments and is undertaking research to better understand the adoption process under the Highways Act 1980 and how it might be improved in the future. We will aim to publish the findings of the project as soon as possible this year.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

Examiner capacity is rising. Since April 2025, and as of January 2026, DVSA has seen an increase in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) DEs, from 1,413 to 1,546; an increase of 130 FTE DEs.

An estimate of potential future demand for charge points was originally published in the 2022 “Taking Charge: the National Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy” and ranged from 280,000 to 720,000 in 2030.

This analysis was updated in 2024 to a range of 250,000 to 550,000 in 2030. Both the 2024 NAO ‘public chargepoints for electric vehicles’ report, and the Climate Change Committee 2025 Progress report, concluded that rollout is on track.

As of 1 February 2026, there are 88,513 public charging devices across the country. The majority of public chargepoints will be delivered by industry, who have already committed £6 billion of private sector investment before 2030.

Business rates and the ongoing 2026 valuation process is a matter for the operationally independent Valuation Office Agency. The Government is committed to supporting a thriving and competitive international rail market, signing landmark deals with partner countries to establish new direct routes and working with industry partners to address the barriers to growth, paving the way for new entrants to the market and unlocking private investment.

The Department for Transport (DfT), and the Department’s Rail Operator (DFTO) currently have no plans to reallocate rolling stock in use by West Midlands Trains and, as part of the recent transfer into public ownership, all leases have been extended until at least 2028.

Under Great British Railways (GBR) we expect it to be easier to move rolling stock in response to changed circumstances than it is today. The criteria for such decisions will be developed in due course ahead of GBR’s establishment.

Passenger affordability is a top priority for this government when setting rail fares. That is why this year we have taken the historic step of freezing regulated rail fares for the first time in 30 years, putting money back in hard working people’s pockets and delivering savings for passengers across billions of journeys.

It is important that we strike the right balance between affordability for passengers and reducing the burden on taxpayers. As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the Railways Bill, future fares policy under Great British Railway (GBR) will be guided by strategic parameters and guardrails, set by the Secretary of State and aligned to GBR’s financial settlement, providing GBR with greater autonomy and flexibility compared to today. These will reassure passengers that their fares will remain affordable, while ensuring sustainable use of taxpayer money on the network.

Great British Railways (GBR) will be a directing mind for Britain’s railway. The Impact Assessments for the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill and the Railways Bill set out the rationale for reform. We continue to look at international best practice and work with industry on targets.

GBR will be required to consult Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) where decisions on passenger services or rail infrastructure could have a significant impact on their areas. GBR will also have regard to the Local Transport Plans of MSAs to ensure local priorities are considered.

The Bill enables cooperation between GBR and MSAs, allowing for information sharing and the ability to enter into arrangements regarding railway functions. This will enable close partnership working, providing opportunities for MSAs to shape local services and integrate rail with other modes. In addition, the Bill establishes the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as a robust and independent appeals body, providing a clear route for appeal of GBR’s access and charging decisions.

GBR will offer single-point local accountability for Mayors, with empowered local management as part of Business Units responsible for track and train. Local influence and control will need to be balanced with GBR taking decisions in the interest of the wider regional and national network.

There are no minimum allocation guarantees in place. Mayors currently have varying roles in rail matters affecting their areas, and the detail of future arrangements has not yet been decided.

No assessment of the potential economic impact of moving trains away from the West Midlands has been made because the Department for Transport, and the Department’s Rail Operator (DFTO Ltd), currently have no plans to reallocate rolling stock in use by West Midlands Trains and, as part of the recent transfer into public ownership, all leases have been extended until at least 2028.

The Department has engaged with Clean Cities Campaign as part of routine stakeholder engagement.

The Department has engaged with Transport and Environment as part of routine stakeholder engagement.

The Department has not provided funding to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, but has met with them as part of routine official-level stakeholder engagement.

The Department has not made a specific estimate of the number of additional lorry parking spaces that will be required over the next five years. However, the Department will shortly launch a new National Lorry Parking Survey. This will provide a comprehensive picture of current capacity, demand and driver welfare facilities across England. The findings will inform future policy on HGV parking and welfare and will support planning applications for new or expanded sites.

The Department has recently strengthened the powers available to local highway authorities through the Street and Road Works (Charges and Penalties) (Amendments) (England) Regulations 2025. These measures are intended to support councils in coordinating utility works more effectively and encourage timely completion of roadworks, including during major transport infrastructure projects.

These enforcement powers operate alongside lane rental schemes, which allow authorities to charge up to £2,500 per day for works on the busiest roads at the busiest times.

As the Regulations only came into force in January 2026, it is too early to assess their full impact. The Department will review the strengthened penalty regime and the expanding use of lane rental schemes as evidence becomes available, to ensure they collectively support more efficient coordination of street works and reduce disruption to road users.

The Department has recently strengthened the powers available to local highway authorities through the Street and Road Works (Charges and Penalties) (Amendments) (England) Regulations 2025. These measures are intended to support councils in coordinating utility works more effectively and encourage timely completion of roadworks, including during major transport infrastructure projects.

These enforcement powers operate alongside lane rental schemes, which allow authorities to charge up to £2,500 per day for works on the busiest roads at the busiest times.

As the Regulations only came into force in January 2026, it is too early to assess their full impact. The Department will review the strengthened penalty regime and the expanding use of lane rental schemes as evidence becomes available, to ensure they collectively support more efficient coordination of street works and reduce disruption to road users.

Decisions on how to allocate road space between different modes remain for local authorities, designers and practitioners.

Metrics 1, 2 and 3 were based on road condition statistics for the financial year ending 2024. Data for the financial year ending 2024 was the most recent data available at the time of producing the ratings. Where local highway authorities were unable to provide data for the financial year ending 2024, data for the financial year ending 2023 was used.

Data on local classified roads can be collected over 2 years, with the majority of data from the most recent financial year. For the unclassified road network, data is collected over a 4-year period. Further detail on the data collection process and timelines can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-network-size-and-condition-statistics-guidance/road-condition-statistics-a-basic-guide-and-quality-assessment#timeliness-and-punctuality.

The Department does not hold information on seating capacity on all routes operated by London North Eastern Railway in each of the last 12 months, broken down by month.

Rolling stock companies own and lease trains and carriages worth billions of pounds. It would not be responsible for the Government to take on the cost of renationalising all the rolling stock at the present time, as there are other urgent pressures on the public purse and we need to focus on wider rail reform.

We recognise the value that the private sector can bring, including funding improved trains and infrastructure. But we must secure much better value from the rolling stock market in future – which is why for the first time in over 30 years, the Government is developing a long-term rolling stock and infrastructure strategy. We expect to publish this strategy later in 2026.

There are no current plans to standardise across all train operators.

We have one of the most generous delay repay systems in Europe and continue to make progress on improving the ease with which passengers can claim Delay Repay with the majority of the Department’s contracted train operators offering automated 'one-click' compensation.

Delivering Great British Railways will make it even easier and more convenient for passengers to claim Delay Repay, including through the upcoming Great British Railways website and app.

Information on the number of formal complaints relating to accessibility or communication barriers at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) over the last three years is not readily available.

The DVLA offers a variety of reasonable adjustments to customers which can range from simple adjustments such as providing correspondence on coloured paper or in large print, to providing a ‘Video Relay Service’ for British Sign Language users who want to contact the DVLA via telephone.

As part of fulfilling its obligations under the Equality Act 2010, the DVLA’s contact centre agents are trained to assist customers who may require reasonable adjustments. Operating instructions and knowledge articles help staff to ensure they follow the correct processes to identify the most suitable form of support for the customer, depending on their individual needs.

For customers who do not want or are unable to use the telephone, a webform service is also available to customers 24/7. The DVLA is also planning to launch a WhatsApp service.

Although the DVLA continues to develop its digital channels to improve customer service and support offerings, it recognises not all customers want or are able to transact digitally and provides paper application facilities as appropriate.