Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new driving instructors have been hired since January 2015.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not employ driving instructors. By law, approved driving instructors (ADI) cannot work as examiners at the same time as being a registered instructor, even temporarily.
Whilst DVSA does not have the power to either increase or limit the number of ADI, the number of instructors on DVSA’s ADI register has increased in the last few years.
The attached spreadsheet shows the number and percentage of practical driving test bookings, where the initial test candidate’s driving licence number was subsequently changed to a different driving test candidate’s licence number, in each month since March 2025.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Network Rail's spreadsheet published on 2 February 2022 entitled Payments for disruption on the railway, if Network Rail will publish an updated version of that table.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail publish information to meet their statutory obligations and where it would be valuable to the public.
They aim not to duplicate information published elsewhere (for instance on their Safety Central site, their Annual Report and Accounts, or through the Rail Data Marketplace).
Annual Schedule 8 payment figures are published in Network Rail’s Regulatory Financial Statements.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the expected remit, budget, and governance arrangements of the UK Maritime Innovation Hub are.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Maritime Innovation Hub will serve as a globally leading unit, encouraging innovation and supporting economic growth by helping innovators navigate the UK’s regulatory landscape. It will work collaboratively with classification societies and relevant UK regulators to facilitate innovation in the maritime sector, including initiatives for the trial and safe use of future fuels and other novel technologies.
Funding for the Innovation Hub from 2026/27 onwards is subject to the Department for Transport's Business Planning process.
The UK Maritime Innovation Hub will be within scope of the Department for Transport and Maritime and Coastguard Agency's existing Governance arrangements, with the necessary system of controls in place to monitor the performance of the Hub, ensuring it delivers value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department has made on access to the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through our regular engagement with the aviation industry, we are aware of the operational implications following the loss of access to the EU’s European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service.
The Department continues to work with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, who are leading the Government’s business case on a future Satellite Based Augmentation System, to ensure that aviation requirements are understood and considered as part of the decision-making process.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's joint press notice entitled Mirror, signal, manoeuvres: Military driving examiners mobilised to cut test backlog, published on 12 November 2025, which areas the military driving examiners will be deployed to.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has accepted the resource of Defence Driving Examiners (DDEs), to be based at the driving test centres with the highest demand near their MOD base or home location.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate her Department has made of the savings arising from the establishment of Great British Railways; and what (a) data and (b) calculations her Department used to make this estimate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Railways Bill Impact Assessment provides an assessment of the potential impacts of the rail reform policies within the Railways Bill, including the establishment of Great British Railways.
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 Answers of 20 October 2025 to Question 78714 and of 30 October 2025 to Question 84271 on Railways: Tickets, whether the Department considers current participation levels in the Digital Pay As You Go trials in (a) Yorkshire and (b) the East Midlands to be sufficient to draw conclusions about the scheme’s effectiveness.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Digital Pay As You Go trials are an opportunity for passengers to test cutting-edge technology and benefit from simpler, more flexible tickets. We have had good engagement from passengers, with 2,214 participants signed up across the three live trials.
The Department and delivery partners are pushing for as close to 1000 participants per trial as possible. We are working with Ipsos, an independent research agency, to effectively evaluate passenger views and participation rates of all trials. The findings from this evaluation will underpin Ministerial decisions on the next steps for any future schemes.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the proposed new Periodic Review funding process for Great British Railways, what mechanisms will be in place to ensure that investment in reopening stations such as Aldridge is considered alongside major infrastructure schemes when funding allocations are agreed.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
During the new Periodic Review process, Great British Railway (GBR) will need to develop an integrated plan across all its proposed activity, this includes infrastructure, passenger services, and railway enhancements such as new stations. This integrated plan will ensure that all funding commitments from different sources and at different times, including those made during the new periodic review, will be considered and align across GBR’s responsibilities.
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 31 October 2025 to Question 84310 on High Speed 2 Line, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the four-year deferral of work on the Handsacre link on (a) journey times and (b) the economy during the initial operating period of HS2.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The deferral of work at Handsacre is not expected to have any impact on journey times once the delivery of HS2 is complete.
The economic benefits of the government's delivery plans for HS2 will be considered as part of the updated business case being developed in line with the work on the programme reset.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to publish a statement of financial relationship between Great British Railways and the Department for Transport, including arrangements with devolved administrations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Relevant GBR financial information will be published in due course as officials continue to work with industry partners to ensure that the sector’s financial model is best placed to deliver change.