Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by her Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions (PQs).
The proportion of Parliamentary Questions answered by the Department during the May-November 2025 period is as follows:
Month answered | Named Day Questions answered on time | Ordinary Written Questions answered on time |
May 2025 | 100% | 97.50% |
June 2025 | 100% | 100% |
July 2025 | 99% | 100% |
August 2025 | N/A | N/A |
September 2025 | 95% | 99% |
October 2025 | 94% | 96% |
November 2025 | 91% | 92% |
The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the governments consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 1 December (HL12185), how many light vehicles, excluding those used for covert purposes, are operated by West Yorkshire Police.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number of vehicles that are operated by West Yorkshire Police.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new publicly available electric vehicle charge points were (a) installed and (b) brought into operation in each month since July 2024 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department publishes statistics on the number of public electric vehicle charging devices available across the UK each month: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69135a271fcc92b3f34963ca/electric-vehicle-public-charging-devices-november-2025.ods.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of new cars registered in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024 were zero-emission vehicles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is given in the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/developing-faster-indicators-of-transport-activity
Data for November 2025 was published on 10 December.
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 regional air travel.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Regional airports serve our local communities and act as a gateway to international opportunities, alongside maintaining social and family ties and strengthening the bonds between the four nations.
The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector. It is for airports to invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines are well placed to deliver services to their customers by responding to demand for different routes.
The public service obligation (PSO) regulations enable the protection of existing domestic routes that are in danger of being lost. The government currently joint-funds three PSO routes into London from Derry/Londonderry, Newquay and Dundee.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she will publish the road safety strategy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government intends to publish the Road Safety Strategy this year.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with British Airways on reducing the number of cancelled flights.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The resilience of the UK aviation sector is key to its success. As UK aviation operates predominately in the private sector, it is the responsibility of industry to ensure appropriate contingency plans are in place to minimise potential disruption and cancellations.
My officials regularly engage with the aviation sector to discuss strategies in place to minimise disruption and cancellations and ensure resilience exists across the network to deliver for their customers. This involves regular communication with airlines, including British Airways, airports, ground handling agents and industry bodies.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve cross-government understanding of developments in drone technology, and what plans the has to improve inter-departmental collaboration on the regulation and deployment of drones.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government is delivering the Future of Flight Programme which is a joint programme between the whole of government, the Civil Aviation Authority and industry. A key strategic objective of the Programme is to achieve routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights by 2027.
This year we spent over £21m to fund necessary regulatory changes and to support industry to commercialise the innovation that was made possible through the Future Flight Challenge. The Regulatory Innovation Office has identified drones as one of its first set of five priorities and, jointly with the previous Minister for Aviation, set the Civil Aviation Authority six key priorities to unlock growth in the sector.
As the Minister for Aviation, I chair the Future of Flight Industry Group which brings together key stakeholders across central and local government, the regulator and the industry to agree the strategic directions and ensure that the UK's ambition reflects the sector's needs.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to regulate the sale and purchase of private escooters.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under existing legislation, businesses are responsible for ensuring the products they place on the UK market, including e-scooters, are safe. When selling e-scooters, retailers must be clear that they can only be used on private land with the landowner’s permission. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency Market Surveillance Unit carries out surveillance of e-scooter retailers to ensure they are being sold lawfully and that retailers are making legal restrictions on e-scooter use sufficiently clear.
The Product Regulation and Metrology Act, which secured Royal Assent this July, has created powers that will allow government to set specific product regulations and labelling requirements, and hold online marketplaces to account to prevent the illegal sale of e-scooters.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve public transport connections in the West Midlands.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The West Midlands Combined Authority will receive almost £2.4bn in Transport for City Region (TCR) funding up to 31/32.
Enabling Mayors in recipient areas to deliver schemes that align with local priorities, the TCR programme provides unprecedented, multi-year, consolidated funding settlements to enhance the local transport networks of some of England’s largest city regions, including investment in public and sustainable transport infrastructure, to help to drive growth and productivity. It is for the Combined Authority to determine how this funding is allocated across the city region in line with local priorities.