Department for Transport

My department does not hold that specific information as local authorities procure buses.

However, through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas programme, in phase 1, 491 zero emission buses out of 1194 (41.1%) were manufactured outside of the UK. For phase 2 of the programme, 567 zero emission buses out of 1269 (44.7%) were manufactured outside of the UK.

Multi-year allocations of the Local Authority Bus Grant allocations were published on GOV.UK on 5 December 2025.

Due to continuing commercial negotiations, I regret that it is not possible to share the requested information at this point.

The Department is currently developing the package of measures required to implement S19 of the Road Safety Act 2006. This will include mandated driving instruction standards. Police, Fire and Rescue, and NHS Ambulance services are fully engaged at both chief officer level, and with their respective Driver Training Advisory Groups, which have provided expert input into the drafting of the minimum training standards. Further announcements will be made in due course.

The information requested is not held.

The Department has no plans to review the current arrangements under which local authorities are responsible for meeting the capital costs of installing fixed speed cameras, as part of their wider capital expenditure responsibilities. Revenue raised through fixed‑penalty notices issued by speed‑camera enforcement is paid into the Consolidated Fund and therefore received by HM Treasury.

The Government has no plans to promote awareness of vehicle write-off categories or to make the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motor Vehicle Salvage (‘Code of Practice’) statutory. This is because the code is owned and was established by the motor insurance industry through the ABI, as part of their efforts to improve road safety by ensuring that unsafe vehicles do not end up back on the roads.

There is already guidance titled ‘Scrapping your vehicle and insurance write-offs’ which can be found at gov.uk, this includes information on vehicle write-off categories and how and when to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

The Government also has no plans to review existing guidance with regards to electric and hybrid vehicles. The latest version of the ‘Code of Practice’, published in May 2025, includes guidance on ‘High Voltage (HV) Battery Electric Vehicles (Over 60 Volts)’.

The Government has no plans to promote awareness of vehicle write-off categories or to make the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motor Vehicle Salvage (‘Code of Practice’) statutory. This is because the code is owned and was established by the motor insurance industry through the ABI, as part of their efforts to improve road safety by ensuring that unsafe vehicles do not end up back on the roads.

There is already guidance titled ‘Scrapping your vehicle and insurance write-offs’ which can be found at gov.uk, this includes information on vehicle write-off categories and how and when to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

The Government also has no plans to review existing guidance with regards to electric and hybrid vehicles. The latest version of the ‘Code of Practice’, published in May 2025, includes guidance on ‘High Voltage (HV) Battery Electric Vehicles (Over 60 Volts)’.

The Government has no plans to promote awareness of vehicle write-off categories or to make the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motor Vehicle Salvage (‘Code of Practice’) statutory. This is because the code is owned and was established by the motor insurance industry through the ABI, as part of their efforts to improve road safety by ensuring that unsafe vehicles do not end up back on the roads.

There is already guidance titled ‘Scrapping your vehicle and insurance write-offs’ which can be found at gov.uk, this includes information on vehicle write-off categories and how and when to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

The Government also has no plans to review existing guidance with regards to electric and hybrid vehicles. The latest version of the ‘Code of Practice’, published in May 2025, includes guidance on ‘High Voltage (HV) Battery Electric Vehicles (Over 60 Volts)’.

The Department commissioned ground-breaking independent research into headlamp glare in 2024, which was published in November 2025. This provided an important first step and a second phase of research is being developed to identify the vehicle design factors that may be responsible. Officials are currently engaging with relevant stakeholders to inform the programme of work, and we expect to procure and commission this next phase in the spring.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) carries out proactive monitoring of online marketplaces to identify products with potentially misleading claims such as road legal or MOT compliant.

Where appropriate, DVSA targets test purchasing and carries out assessments to confirm compliance with applicable standards and engages with sellers to correct inaccurate advertising and remove non-compliant products from sale. In the last year, DVSA has investigated 113 cases. DVSA has no estimate on prosecutions as it is dependent on the effectiveness of other interventions.

In October 2024, we formed the motor insurance taskforce, which worked across government, bringing together departments and independent regulators to understand the complexities of the market and to agree a set of actions to help stabilise and reduce premiums. The final taskforce report was published on 10 December 2025.

Member departments included the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Education, who as part of the taskforce, are acting to address the broader factors that contribute to the cost of claims.

This includes transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners and support the industrial strategy. For example, government is providing £182m over the next 3 years to develop engineering skills to allow the development of short courses specially targeted at engineering skills to support the advanced manufacturing, clean energy and digital sectors. It will also fund the rollout of 14 new Technical Excellence Colleges (TEC), including four in Advanced Manufacturing and related sectors.

There has also been an increase in vehicle technicians, mechanics and electrician apprenticeships with nearly 13,000 completed in the last 5 reported years and 4,000 of these in the latest year, 2024/25. The number of EV-trained technicians is also increasing through industry-led measures such as upskilling and continuous professional development.

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is responsible for maintaining local roads in the Hertsmere constituency. The Department provided £35,671,790 in highways maintenance funding to HCC for the 2025/26 financial year and has confirmed a further £180,402,000 for the next four years (2026/27 to 2029/30) as part of the Department’s record £7.3 billion investment into local highway maintenance. This multi‑year settlement gives HCC the certainty to plan more proactive and preventative maintenance, helping to reduce potholes and improve overall road condition.

To ensure authorities maintain and repair their roads effectively, the Department has introduced a new traffic light rating system based on road condition, spending, and use of best practice. Hertfordshire received an amber rating under this system, with their individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green for spend and amber for best practice.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with local authorities. I met the Local Government Association on 10 February to discuss highways maintenance policy, and Departmental officials met HCC on 11 February to discuss their highways maintenance operations.

Information on overseas travel by Ministers is published quarterly and can be accessed by using the following link:

DfT: ministerial travel and meetings - GOV.UK

Information on expenses including for overseas travel by the DfT's senior officials is also published quarterly and can also be found using the following link:

DfT: senior officials’ business expenses, hospitality and meetings - GOV.UK

The Transport Secretary was briefed in September, and as soon as Ministers were informed of the national scale in October, they acted immediately to prevent any further incorrect fines, points or prosecutions.

The technical anomaly impacts 154 Highways Agency Digital Enforcement and Compliance System cameras deployed on 10% of the strategic road network.

As set out in response to WPQ 103428 on 19 January, a Home Office approved solution to this issue has been agreed, and National Highways and the police are continuing to work together to implement this as a priority.

The Department has made no such assessment. Local authorities are responsible for managing traffic on their networks, and National Highways for managing the Strategic Road Network of motorways and trunk roads. Both are subject to the Network Management Duty under the Traffic Management Act 2004, which requires them to manage their road network with a view to achieving ‘expeditious movement’ of all traffic, and facilitating expeditious movement of traffic on a neighbouring authority’s network.

It is for local authorities and National Highways to work together to agree appropriate diversion routes and circumstances under which these may be required.

The Expiry Date of East Midlands Railway’s National Rail Contract (NRC) with the Department is October 2030, with a ‘Core Term Expiry Date’ of October 2026. Under the terms of NRCs, the Secretary of State can give the operator at least three Railway Periods’ notice (usually 12 weeks) to end the contract on a date stipulated by the Secretary of State, provided that the date is no earlier than the Core Term Expiry Date and coincides with the end of a Railway Period.

The Secretary of State has previously announced that Govia Thameslink Railway services will transfer into public ownership on 31 May 2026, and has outlined the intention for Chiltern Railways’ and Great Western Railways’ services to then follow. Expiry notices will be issued to confirm the dates of transfer once a final decision has been taken regarding each operator. Ministers will take decisions on further transfers in due course.

Services currently delivered by private sector operators under contract with the Department will transfer to a public-sector operator as current contracts expire, after they reach their contractual break point or if the contractual right to terminate is met - avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators for early termination.

The Prime Minister has made a generational UK Government commitment to modernise Welsh rail. Following the 2025 Spending Review, this work is already underway supported by the following funding sources:

• DfT Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline
• The Levelling Up Fund
• The Cardiff Capital Region City Deal
• The North Wales Growth Deal
• Welsh Government Transport Budgets
• Private-sector funding contributions

Further UK Government funding allocations will be confirmed at future Spending Reviews, leveraging further contributions from local partners and private sector investment, to deliver all the projects outlined in Transport for Wales’ vision for rail across Wales and the Borders as quickly as possible.

At least £445 million has been set aside for rail improvements in Wales as part of the 2025 Spending Review and Infrastructure Strategy.

This investment marks the beginning of a long-term UK Government commitment, announced by the Prime Minister, to modernise Welsh railways.

The Prime Minister has pledged that the UK Government will collaborate with the Welsh Government to deliver all the projects outlined in Transport for Wales’ vision for rail across Wales and the Borders as quickly as possible.

Further UK Government funding allocations beyond the £445m already announced, will be confirmed at future Spending Reviews.

The business cases currently being developed for the new stations will determine anticipated ongoing maintenance costs, which will be funded according to standard industry practices upon their commissioning and entry into service.

The government is committed to improving public transport services, so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all.

Our Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local transport. Through the Act, we are helping authorities to provide safer and more accessible bus stations and stops; mandating more streamlined disability training for bus drivers and frontline staff and requiring local authorities to regularly review the accessibility of their bus networks through the development and publishing of a Bus Network Accessibility Plan.

We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers on rail services and that is why we published the Department’s roadmap to an accessible railway. It sets out what we are doing now to improve the day-to-day travelling experience for disabled passengers in the lead up to Great British Railways being established. The Railways Bill will also establish a Passenger Watchdog, protecting the rights of disabled passengers by monitoring service delivery, investigating persistent issues, and advocating for improvements. We are also continuing to install accessible routes at stations through our Access for All programme and have completed a programme to install platform edge safety tactiles on every platform in the country.

We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The Charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.

Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline funding is not allocated based on local authorities or constituencies. Rather, investments are made on schemes which deliver the greatest value for money for the national network and are most aligned to the Government’s priorities.

The Department for Transport published the National Survey of Lorry Parking on 29th September 2022 which highlighted what improvements to lorry parking facilities were most needed. The survey showed an average shortage of around 4,500 HGV parking spaces for the month of March 2022 and identified driver concerns with the quality of welfare facilities and security of lorry parks.

In response to these findings, the Department launched the HGV Parking Matched Funding Grant Scheme (MFGS) in 2022 to improve driver welfare facilities, increase secure lorry parking provision, and enhance site security. Through this scheme, up to £35.7 million of joint investment is being delivered to upgrade truck stops across England. This is in addition to up to £30 million of joint investment by National Highways and industry partners to improve lorry parking facilities along the strategic road network.

My Department works domestically and internationally to improve seafarer welfare. The UK takes a leading role at the IMO to secure greater protections for seafarers, including at recent meetings on seafarer fatigue and working hours.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency enforces seafarer welfare, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 which requires seafarers working on international services calling frequently at UK ports to be paid at least the equivalent to UK National Minimum Wage.

The Government has also legislated through the Employment Rights Act 2025 to provide for a mandatory seafarers’ charter to protect those working aboard international services frequently calling at UK ports.

Through the HGV parking and driver welfare match funding grant scheme the Department for Transport and industry partners are projected to deliver up to £35.7m of joint investment to enhance truck stops across England. This significant investment is in addition to joint investment by National Highways and industry of up to a further £30 million, aimed at improving lorry parking facilities along the strategic road network.

The scheme is supporting operators across 30 counties in England to improve driver facilities such as security measures, toilets, showers, refreshment facilities and increasing lorry parking spaces.

The Assessment Independent Panel Member was Jacob Meagher.

Although we have still to agree the detail of any provisions on maritime security and safety with the European Union, we do not anticipate that any such arrangements will require the United Kingdom to make additional financial contributions to the European Union.

The Freight Workforce Group brings together government and industry representatives to monitor workforce trends across the freight and logistics sector and provides a structured forum for employers of all sizes, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to share evidence on skills gaps, barriers to employment and emerging labour market pressures. The Group has been effective in establishing a shared understanding of current employment levels and where action is required across government and industry to support the sector.

The Group has identified the need to support more young people into the sector and to build resilience in its workforce and improve employment levels generally by recruiting from under-represented groups. As a result, industry members of the Group have taken the lead in developing guidance aimed at providing the necessary tools and advice to employers to take steps to make this happen. This will be published by the Department in due course.

My Department has been closely involved in the development of the Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (Freedom from Violence and Abuse) Strategy, which includes nine commitments to help improve safety for women and girls on the transport network. These commitments focus on prevention, early intervention and response, and align with the Government’s ambition to halve VAWG within a decade.

The figures previously given for the total budgeted spend on publicity for drug driving in 2024-25 reflect the July 2024 reductions in communications spending across government departments.

Physical and verbal abuse against transport workers is unacceptable and something the Department takes very seriously. The Department’s best practice guidance to taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England is clear that authorities are required to consider crime and disorder reduction while exercising their duties; this includes ways in which the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime can be used to protect drivers. Guidance is also included for the trade on ways they can increase safety and what to do when incidents occur.

The Department’s statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should consult on the mandating of CCTV in vehicles. The Department’s view is that CCTV in vehicles can enhance both drivers’ and passengers’ safety and consideration of the merits of CCTV by licensing authorities must include both aspects.

The Best Practice Guidance highlights that health and safety law creates duties on businesses where requirements apply to workers in the same way as they do for employees. Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (Health and safety for gig economy, agency and temporary workers - HSE) outlines the different type of workers and what is expected of businesses who use their services. This means business subject to duties should establish effective management arrangements and carry out an assessment of the risks to workers while they are at work, and to other people who may be affected by their work activities. Any assessment should identify the significant risks affecting workers and others, and, importantly, identify measures to reduce those risks.

The Government is consulting on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, as part of the recently published Road Safety Strategy.

As part of this, the Government is consulting on the general principle of lowering the drink drive limit in England and Wales, which has remained unchanged since 1967 and is currently the highest in Europe.

Current evidence does not suggest a widespread or sustained adverse impact on the hospitality sector overall. However, the Government will consider potential impacts on rural hospitality businesses, including pubs, as part of its analysis of consultation responses.

The Government will conduct an impact assessment following consultation responses and an evidence-led options analysis, and will publish it in line with usual practice where required.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it. It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.

Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.

The Department has announced a record £7.3 billion investment into highways maintenance over the next four years which will enable local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys. As part of this investment, Herefordshire Council is eligible to receive over £114.7 million.

This financial year, the Department funded the UK Roads Leadership Group to deliver regional workshops for local highway authorities across the UK to share information about the increased risks to their networks from extreme weather. This is alongside the publication of Transport Hazard Summary documents last year, that provide introductory information to support the transport sector to manage natural hazards, including the risk of flooding.

The third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) due to be published in March will set out the funding that will be provided to National Highways for the operation, maintenance and renewal of the strategic road network over the period from 2026/27 to 2030/31.

The Department has announced a record £7.3 billion investment into highways maintenance over the next four years which will enable local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys.

By confirming funding over a four-year period, local authorities will have greater certainty to plan ahead and move away from short-term fixes, enabling more proactive and preventative work to stop potholes from forming in the first place.

The Department will monitor how effectively local authorities use this record level of funding through annual transparency reports, incentive funding requirements which encourage authorities to follow best practice in highways maintenance, and the new traffic-light ratings system which was announced in January. Together, these measures will provide clearer oversight of local performance and help ensure that funding is used to deliver lasting improvements for road users.

Great Western Railway is responsible for staffing levels at train stations including in relation to ticket offices. Departmental officials hold regular discussions with Great Western Railway regarding its plans and performance at stations to ensure it is delivering for passengers and taxpayers.

The personalised registrations scheme has been operated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) since 1989 and has raised more than £3 billion for HM Treasury. The scheme is operated in line with the law and established terms and conditions, with the primary purpose of maximising returns for the Exchequer.

No specific assessment of trends relating to the immediate resale of registration numbers purchased from auctions has been carried out. Around 30 per cent of registration numbers are purchased by companies who trade in the resale of registration numbers.

Registration number auctions are fair and transparent open market sales. Once a registration number has been purchased, the buyer has the legal right to display that registration number on a vehicle subject to the rules governing the conditions of transfer, retention and assignment of a registration number to a vehicle.

There are no plans to restrict speculative purchasing or the subsequent resale of registration numbers as these activities are lawful and consistent with the nature of an open auction process.

There are also no plans to restrict sales of registration numbers to individuals with a requirement that is assigned to a vehicle registered in the buyer’s name and within a set period of time or otherwise returned. Such a change would represent a significant departure from the current market-based approach and have a significant impact on a well-established number plate market, which includes small and medium enterprises and individuals who wish to sell the rights to their registration number.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) understands the importance of ensuring test-ready learner riders can take their test as quickly as practically possible.

DVSA is committed to providing motorcycle testing provision in North Wales and deploys examiners from other parts of the country to help meet demand. DVSA has also made additional tests available at Bangor driving test centre to account for the difficulty caused by the weather over the winter months.

Additional testing provision will be available in Bangor from March 2026.

DVSA also continues to recruit driving examiners in North Wales, and hopes this will provide the opportunity to nominate individuals for motorcycle examiner training in 2026.

The Expiry Date of East Midlands Railway’s National Rail Contract (NRC) with the Department is October 2030, with a ‘Core Term Expiry Date’ of October 2026. Under the terms of NRCs, the Secretary of State can give the operator at least three Railway Periods’ notice (usually 12 weeks) to end the contract on a date stipulated by the Secretary of State, provided that the date is no earlier than the Core Term Expiry Date and coincides with the end of a Railway Period.

Official statistics on the condition of local roads in England are published annually Road conditions in England to March 2025 - GOV.UK. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Local Highway Authorities are required to provide consistent Road Condition data in line with MHCLG single data list requirements 130-01 and 130-02.

In September 2024, DfT released a new standard for road condition monitoring. This new standard transforms the use of data in highway maintenance by introducing innovative new methods for monitoring the condition of local roads in England, while ensuring the quality and comparability of road condition data across the country.

Local authorities must procure a survey that has demonstrated that they can deliver data against PAS 2161 in the approval process defined by DfT. Regular approval exercises will be conducted to assess whether technologies can produce comparable and standardised road condition data. Only those technologies that meet the defined criteria and performance thresholds will be approved for use in national reporting.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency officials meet regularly with Ministry of Defence counterparts to discuss the application of merchant shipping legislation to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and other MoD shipping on non-commercial service. This relationship is set out in a memorandum of understanding between the MoD and MCA, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House.

The 2025 Spending Review allocated £302 million from the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) for rail enhancement investment in Wales, directly overseen by the Department for Transport. This forms part of the overall £445 million set aside for rail improvements in Wales as part of the Spending Review and Infrastructure Strategy.

The £302m RNEP funding will be distributed over financial years 2026/27 to 2029/30, with annual budgets currently being finalised in collaboration with the rail industry in Wales. Further UK Government funding allocations will be confirmed at future Spending Reviews.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. In the interests of road safety, the DVLA must be satisfied that the required medical standards are met before a licence is issued.

Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer to process as the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued. Where the DVLA is made aware that an applicant needs their licence for employment or for other reasons that are causing hardship, the application will be prioritised where possible.

The DVLA is currently experiencing an increase in both the volume and complexity of driving licence applications from people with one or more medical conditions. This reflects an ageing population keen to maintain independence and mobility. Unfortunately, this has led to longer waiting times for some customers. In 2024/25 the DVLA made more than 830,000 medical licensing decisions with forecasts showing that more than 925,000 medical applications and notifications will be received in 2025/26.

To keep up with growing customer demand and to offer a better service, the DVLA is updating its online service and is launching a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to drivers with medical conditions.

The DVLA will also be launching a new digital medical services portal in April. These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with medical applications and answer telephone calls, will deliver real improvements in services and turnaround times for customers.

Applicants renewing an existing licence may be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they can meet specific criteria. More information on this can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1180997/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.pdf