Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral statement by her of 8 July 2025 on Road and Rail Projects, Official Report, column 815, if she will publish the (a) full detailed Green Book analysis, (b) costs and (c) benefits cost ratios for (i) each of the 50 schemes announced in that speech and (ii) the A12 widening scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Business case documents, costs and benefit cost ratios for major schemes, including for the Strategic Road Network and for relevant schemes in the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline are published on gov.uk.
For the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) widening scheme, information is already available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
For the wider set of 50 schemes referenced in the Secretary of State’s statement on 8 July 2025, detailed Green Book analyses, costs, and benefit cost ratios for each scheme have not been published as a single package.
The scheme-level business cases and economic assessments for projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio are published as they are finalised and reach the appropriate stage in the investment process. Summary information on costs and benefit cost ratios for major transport schemes may also be found in the Department for Transport’s Major Projects Portfolio, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/major-projects-data
In the case of Major Road Network schemes, the business cases belong to the relevant local authorities. Whilst we encourage them to publish these, it is their decision whether to publish their business cases on their respective websites.
As each scheme progresses, further documentation is released and made available on gov.uk as appropriate. The Government is committed to transparency and will continue to make business case documents available in line with Green Book and Treasury guidance as schemes move forward.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department can provide information on the levels of (a) rail and (b) road infrastructure investment allocated to Surrey Heath constituency as a result of the 2025 Spending Review.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are yet to announce the detail of all transport infrastructure investment following the Spending Review. This will be announced in due course. However, 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.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help support the wider community utility of rail stations in the north of England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to support the community rail sector across the north of England, including through funding for station adoption groups and Community Rail Partnerships. This support is delivered via train operating companies and through the Community Rail Network (CRN), who provide access to grants and resources to its members. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the role of Community Rail will be more important than ever. Community Rail will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities in the north of England.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support community rail in the north of England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to support the community rail sector across the north of England, including through funding for station adoption groups and Community Rail Partnerships. This support is delivered via train operating companies and through the Community Rail Network (CRN), who provide access to grants and resources to its members. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the role of Community Rail will be more important than ever. Community Rail will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities in the north of England.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to speed up the rollout of South Western Railway Arterio trains in Surrey following renationalisation.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The new Managing Director, Lawrence Bowman, has been tasked with drawing up a plan to introduce the new Class 701 Arterio fleet. South Western Railway (SWR) has accelerated the Arterio rollout with five additional units introduced since the transfer to public ownership (12 units in total) compared to only one additional unit being introduced in the six months prior to transfer. The Department is working with SWR to ensure the remaining fleet are introduced as soon as possible.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to include measures to tackle the use of (a) illegal and (b) unregulated e-bikes in its Road Safety Strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Only e-bikes that are fully compliant with the requirements of the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 are legal to use on the roads, and we recognise the risk to road safety of those e-bikes that are not compliant with regulations.
The Government treats road safety very seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more detail in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had discussions with Heathrow Airport on flights being held in a holding pattern over residents' houses between 5:30 and 6:00am.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
NATS is responsible for providing air traffic services at Heathrow Airport. There are defined flight routes and procedures for aircraft landing at Heathrow but for operational and safety reasons aircraft may be held in a holding pattern prior to landing. These reasons can include the need to ensure safe separation between aircraft as well as weather conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the use of cloned vehicle registration plates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government understands how distressing this criminal activity can be for innocent motorists. 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, including the use of cloned number plates.
The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must be registered with the DVLA. It is a legal requirement for suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that number plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied.
The DVLA assists the police and Trading Standards in their enforcement against number plate suppliers who trade illegally. When notified, the DVLA will investigate and pass on intelligence to the police who are responsible for investigating this criminal matter.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking's report entitled Unregulated and unsafe: the threat of illegal e-Bikes, published in June 2025, whether her Department plans to support the introduction of scrappage schemes for unsafe (a) e-bikes and (b) conversion kits.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While there are no plans to introduce a scrappage scheme, the Government is bringing forward the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. This will enable the UK product safety framework to keep up with innovative products and technological progress, giving Ministers the power to update relevant product safety laws accordingly to tackle products that pose greater risks.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the cancellation of the A12 widening scheme on housing growth.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced on 8 July 2025, this Government inherited a series of commitments that could not be afforded, therefore the Secretary of State for Transport had to take the difficult decision not to progress the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) Widening Scheme. The decision was based on evidence assessed against a wide range of criteria including housing growth impacts and in line with the HMT Treasury Green Book and the Department’s Transport Analysis Guidance. The Department will continue to work with National Highways and relevant partners to explore whether there are any small-scale interventions to potentially address issues on the A12 to support housing growth.