Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will issue guidelines to airlines on the treatment of passengers with neurological disabilities, including standardised procedures for fitness-to-fly assessments.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Aviation must be accessible to all, and everyone has the right to travel with dignity and ease. UK law prohibits refusal of carriage by air based on any disability, impairment, or condition, except where restrictions are required due to safety reasons.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published guidance on airline accessibility including on assisting people with hidden disabilities. In addition, it issued its Airline Accessibility Guidance in 2024, which will be used to assess airline performance against accessibility requirements. This states that decisions on requiring medical clearance must be made on a case-by-case basis, and only where there is a valid reason for doing so.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department made of the potential impacts of removing the ability for driving instructors to book driving tests on behalf of learners on test availability.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.
The measures the Secretary of State for Transport announced on 12 November are designed to make the practical driving test booking process fairer, providing all learners with equal access to the booking system and ensuring that everyone pays the prescribed fee.
The decision follows a call for evidence and a public consultation that sought views from the driver training industry, learner drivers and other interested parties. In reaching this decision, impacts were fully considered. Further detail on the rationale, which will set out the detailed analysis, will be provided in the consultation report which will be published in due course.
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 plans to conduct an impact assessment of the DVSA’s policy to restrict driving instructors from booking test appointments.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.
The measures the Secretary of State for Transport announced on 12 November are designed to make the practical driving test booking process fairer, providing all learners with equal access to the booking system and ensuring that everyone pays the prescribed fee.
The decision follows a call for evidence and a public consultation that sought views from the driver training industry, learner drivers and other interested parties. In reaching this decision, impacts were fully considered. Further detail on the rationale, which will set out the detailed analysis, will be provided in the consultation report which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to commission an investigation into the (a) internal governance, (b) operational effectiveness and (c) performance management of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Learning to drive is a major milestone in life for many, and no one should be held back by long and uncertain waits. That is why this government has launched a robust plan to bring waiting times down and restore confidence in the broken system we inherited from the previous government.
On 12 November, the Secretary of State for Transport, updated the Transport Select Committee on the government’s ongoing response to high driving test waiting times. In the coming months, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency 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 Ministry of Defence (MOD) driving examiners for up to 12 months to help tackle driving test waiting times.
These changes will be introduced in spring 2026. DVSA will publish the full outcome of its consultation with details on how the changes will be implemented and when, as soon as possible.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has chosen to investigate and report on the causes of car driving test delays, and update on DVSA’s plan and progress in tackling these issues, the scale and nature of the waiting times for booking practical car driving tests. This includes examining the root cause of the delays and how DVSA has responded to the delays. DVSA has worked with DfT and the NAO team to provide the information needed for its investigation. The NAO intends to publish its report in winter 2025/26.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the DVSA’s internal systems for addressing delays in practical driving test appointments.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Learning to drive is a major milestone in life for many, and no one should be held back by long and uncertain waits. That is why this government has launched a robust plan to bring waiting times down and restore confidence in the broken system we inherited from the previous government.
On 12 November, the Secretary of State for Transport, updated the Transport Select Committee on the government’s ongoing response to high driving test waiting times. In the coming months, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency 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 Ministry of Defence (MOD) driving examiners for up to 12 months to help tackle driving test waiting times.
These changes will be introduced in spring 2026. DVSA will publish the full outcome of its consultation with details on how the changes will be implemented and when, as soon as possible.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has chosen to investigate and report on the causes of car driving test delays, and update on DVSA’s plan and progress in tackling these issues, the scale and nature of the waiting times for booking practical car driving tests. This includes examining the root cause of the delays and how DVSA has responded to the delays. DVSA has worked with DfT and the NAO team to provide the information needed for its investigation. The NAO intends to publish its report in winter 2025/26.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on prioritising access to the national grid for port electrification to support ports who wish to offer onshore power supply connection to cruise line customers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve road safety outside schools.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The safety of our roads is an absolute priority for this Government.
Local authorities have a range of traffic management measures available to them to help improve safety outside schools including reducing speed limits, traffic calming, and introduction of a School Street where appropriate. On 19 November 2024 Active Travel England and the Department for Transport published joint School Streets Guidance. The guidance is available at School Streets: how to set up and manage a scheme - GOV.UK
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions have taken place with highway authorities in England on the potential impact of yellow box enforcement on congestion and pollution on the road network.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No such discussions have been held with highway authorities. Primary legislation requires local authorities with designated powers to have regard to the Secretary of State's statutory guidance on moving traffic enforcement, which includes box junction markings. This guidance includes measures to reduce congestion, enabling walking and cycling, reduce rat-running, create more pleasant places to live and work in and improve road safety.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 92100 on Great British Railways: Environment Protection, if she will take legislative steps to require Great British Railways to publish an annual environmental performance report.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to legislate for a specific annual report on environmental performance. Reporting requirements for GBR will be set as part of GBR design, ensuring transparency in GBR’s delivery. We expect that GBR will include detail in its Integrated Business Plan and its annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the transport adaptation strategy will be published.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In 2024, DfT consulted on a draft transport adaptation strategy and published a summary of responses in March 2025. We will shortly publish the transport adaptation strategy.