Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on national guidance for dealing with incidents involving lithium-ion batteries on the strategic road network.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport works closely with the Home Office and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on lithium battery safety. The Government has published guidance for roadside recovery operators working with electric vehicles, many of which contain a lithium battery. This guidance is applicable to incidents on the Strategic Road Network. National Highways continues to work with emergency services to ensure that any incidents are resolved as effectively as possible.
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 the Answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 101836 on Railways: Barnsley and Sheffield, what the revised launch date is for the GPS-based pay as you go trial between Sheffield and Barnsley.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are continuing to work closely with Northern and the supplier to address the problems that have caused Digital Pay As You Go Trial 4 to be delayed, and will launch the trial as soon as possible. Northern will provide an update to participants in the respective trial as soon as possible.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the status is of the community rail programme; what changes have been made since 1 July 2024 to (a) the community rail recognition process, (b) guidance issued to train operating companies on community rail engagement and (c) the Department’s objectives for community rail; and if she will publish a summary of those changes.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to support the accreditation process for Community Rail Partnerships (CRP). The Community Rail Network (CRN) reviews processes, accounts, and governance and recommends to the Department when a CRP has met a certain standard of operation to receive accreditation. The Department works with the CRN to continuously improve this process while maintaining the aims of accreditation.
The Department engages with train operating companies on Community Rail on a regular basis, and train operating companies continue to provide funding for the CRPs they support.
The Government is committed to supporting Community Rail in the longer term, and the establishment of Great British Railways provides the opportunity to improve how we support this important programme. The Department will provide an update if there are any changes to the way in which Community Rail is delivered.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding her Department has provided to support community rail, including (a) community rail partnerships and (b) station adopter schemes, in each financial year since 2019-20; and what funding is planned for 2025-26.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Community Rail Partnerships (CRP) are awarded funding from both the Community Rail Network (CRN) and train operating companies. CRPs then allocate funding to station adopter groups within their catchment. Funding has remained at a consistent level since 2019-20.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects to announce which schemes will be taken forward under the Access for All programme.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
In May 2024, the previous government selected 50 stations for initial feasibility work for potential upgrades as part of the Access for All programme, before delivery funding was secured. On 15 January 2026, we confirmed that 8 Access for All projects will be progressing directly to delivery and 23 projects will undergo design work for potential future delivery.
Full details were provided to the House in a Written Ministerial Statement which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/improving-accessibility-at-railway-stations-across-britain.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any train operator has failed to meet its performance benchmarks since entering public ownership.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since April 2025, all operators funded by the Department - both public and private - have failed at least one performance benchmark. Performance is measured on a four-weekly basis against ambitious and realistic targets. We expect train operators to work consistently towards meeting these targets and delivering good performance for passengers.
Recent data published by the Office for Road and Rail shows that reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership under DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO) compared to private sector operators contracted by DfT.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of creating a new brown tourist sign for ruined abbeys that excludes the depiction of a spire to prevent confusion between ruined abbeys and working churches.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of creating a new brown tourist sign for ruined abbeys.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Feasibility studies are a routine part of the Department’s approach to assessing potential transport projects, and the associated costs are managed within individual programme budgets rather than held in a single collated dataset. These studies are conducted across a wide range of programmes, and where work does not lead to a project progressing, the expenditure remains part of normal project development activity. Producing a total figure for feasibility studies undertaken over the past five years for projects that did not proceed would therefore require a disproportionate manual review of programme‑level records.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the East of England APPG and Local Government East's report entitled Opportunity East One Year On, published on 19 November 2025.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government welcomes the Opportunity East One Year On report. To support the region, the Chancellor unveiled the OxCam Growth Corridor last year which has the potential to boost the economy by up to £78bn by 2035. This initiative is supported by East-West Rail, which will provide faster journeys between Oxford and Cambridge and unlock up to 100,000 new homes.
During the Spending Review period, the Department will provide Cambridgeshire & Peterborough with £31.8 million to promote buses and £24.9 million to promote active travel schemes. This funding will support local residents to access jobs, education and services.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 22112, what progress she has made on assessing the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to create a new category for vehicles that park four wheels on pavements.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 8 January 2026, the Secretary of State announced the publication of the government’s formal response to the 2020 public consultation 'Pavement parking: options for change' which sets out the legislative measures to tackle pavement parking.
In the first instance we will give local authorities powers in 2026 to issue Penalty Charge Notices for vehicles parked in a way that unnecessarily obstructs the pavement.
At the next opportunity we will also introduce the necessary primary legislation to make powers available on an opt-in basis to local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking across their whole area. They will also have powers to exempt locations where pavement parking would still be necessary to maintain traffic flow, such as in narrow streets. Where there is no strategic authority, unitary authorities and county councils would also have the choice to opt in.