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: 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.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support the long-term viability of community rail organisations in the context of (a) her Department's rail reforms and (b) the inception of Great British Rail.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As we move towards establishing Great British Railways (GBR), the Community Rail movement will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities. We will continue to work closely with the Community Rail Network to identify opportunities to support the community rail sector ahead of the standup of GBR.
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: 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: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the freight throughput was in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) passing through Felixstowe port in the most recent 12 months for which data are available; and how many and what proportion of those TEUs were transported out of the port by rail by destination distribution centre in the same period.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Container throughput passing through Felixstowe port in the calendar year 2023 was 3.246 million TEU.
Source: DfT Port Freight Statistics 2023. Data for the 2024 will be published 30th July 2025.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6698eaf1fc8e12ac3edaff36/port0203.ods
The Department for Transport does not periodically collect data on hinterland movement of freight from seaports and therefore cannot provide the proportion of TEU that was transported out of the port by rail by destination distribution centre in the same period.
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 her Department has made of trends in the length of driving test waiting times in (a) Surrey and the (b) South-east.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is seeing some of the highest demand for driving tests it has ever seen. Demand remains high, owing in part to a major shift in customer booking behaviour.
DVSA’s main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times at all test centres, including in Surrey and the South-east.
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.
Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.
On 28 May, the DVSA launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 23 July. In line with the consultation principles, DVSA will aim to publish a summary of responses, including the next steps, within 3 months of the consultation closing.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support initiatives aimed at increasing cycling participation among women and girls.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department and Active Travel England (ATE) work with local authorities and other delivery partners to support active travel outreach programmes for underrepresented groups, including women and girls. This includes funding for Bikeability cycle training for children and outreach programmes to engage underrepresented groups through Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival programme and local authorities.
In addition, ATE is working with local authorities across England to provide high-quality cycling infrastructure including as part of wider transport schemes. This includes providing lighting for walking and cycling schemes, improving social safety and delivering road safety improvements to existing schemes.
Responsibility for many aspects of transport in Scotland, including active travel, is devolved. My honourable friend the member for Edinburgh South West may wish to speak to the Scottish Government regarding steps taken to increase cycling participation among women and girls in Scotland.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Active Travel England has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England (ATE) staff are provided equipment from the Department for Transport to enable them to work across multiple locations, including from home where appropriate. This includes meeting legal obligations to provide reasonable workplace adjustments for staff who require them.
ATE does not record expenditure in a way that separately identifies costs specifically related to home working. Additionally, ATE’s hybrid working policy is non-contractual and does not entitle staff to additional equipment or to be reimbursed for items to facilitate home working.
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.