Found: Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill Minister of State for Rail Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London

Found: Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill Minister of State for Rail Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road

Found: Westminster London SW1A 0AA [email protected] +44 (0)20 7219 2226 @TransportCttee Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 16 March (HL15607), what further progress they have made in closing or mitigating the gaps in legal powers relating to aviation safety; and whether they plan to intend any further legislation to address this issue.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government remains committed to maintaining the UK's world-leading aviation safety regime. Since my Answer of 10 April, the Government has introduced the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill, which includes measures to restore powers lost following EU exit to create and amend aviation safety-related criminal offences and penalties where necessary. These measures address the gaps identified by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and will help ensure that aviation safety requirements can continue to be updated and effectively enforced.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 8 September (HL2927), what plans they have to raise the proportion of permit applications which involve collaborative working.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Government is encouraging greater collaborative working between highway authorities and utility companies through the expansion of lane rental schemes. Eighteen months ago, there were five lane rental schemes in operation. There are now 26 approved schemes, including 14 enabled by legislation that came into force in September 2026. Lane rental schemes provide a strong financial incentive for promoters to coordinate activities and undertake collaborative working, helping them to reduce or avoid charges and minimise disruption to road users.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 29 September (HL3702), what improvement in journey times between Hull and Leeds and between Hull and Manchester they expect from the introduction of battery-electric trains; and on what date they expect those trains to enter passenger service on routes serving Hull.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We expect to see a journey time improvement of 5-6 minutes between Hull and Manchester and up to a minute between Hull and Leeds in comparison to today.

New trains will be in operation on services to and from Hull by December 2034. They may be introduced on this route sooner, but this will need to be considered alongside the unit delivery schedule and driver training plan.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 9 September (HL2269), why they cannot mandate the purchase of British-built buses given that funding is being provided by the HM Treasury.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

We are prevented from requiring that grant funding should be used to procure ‘British Built’ buses This prohibition is founded in long-standing World Trade Organization (WTO) law and also implements our commitments in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

However, while the Government cannot mandate the purchase of British-built buses, at the final UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) agreed to commit that a 10% minimum of social value criteria would apply in all future bus procurement exercises.  This means that when procuring buses, MCAs will consider the positive impact a manufacturer has on our society, the environment, and on the local community as part of their decision-making process.

UK-based bus manufacturers have benefited the most from the Department’s funding programmes, such as ZEBRA. It is estimated that over 60% of ZEBRA-supported buses will be procured from UK-based manufacturers.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 15 September 2025 (HL10214), what progress they have since made for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's digital services other than driving licence transactions being available 24 hours a day.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services for driving licence transactions, vehicle licensing and vehicle excise duty enforcement penalty payments are already available 24 hours a day.

Since December 2025, all DVLA online vehicle services have been available until 9pm.

The DVLA is working to extend all services to 24 hour availability – this requires wider transformational changes to vehicle services which are currently in development.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 23 June (HL Deb col 546), how many DVLA staff are allocated to police compliance by registered suppliers of number plates.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) employs 13 staff who are involved in administering the Register of Number Plate Suppliers (RNPS) scheme.

There are six RNPS Enforcement Officer posts where the post holder spends all their time on the RNPS scheme. Please note that two of these posts are currently vacant while new members are recruited.

There are also four staff who deal with RNPS queries and applications as part of their role. The team is managed by an Executive Officer for whom this is 50 per cent of their role, a Higher Executive Officer for whom this is 70 per cent of their role and a Senior Executive Officer for whom this is 40 per cent of their role.

Found: After Clause 77 LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL 293_ After Clause 77, insert the following new Clause—

Found: LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL 252_ Clause 66, page 38, line 28, at end insert— “(4) At any time after

Found: LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL 252_ Clause 66, page 38, line 28, at end insert— “(4) At any time after

Found: LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL 252_ Clause 66, page 38, line 28, at end insert— “(4) At any time after

Found: OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill Minister

Found: Railways to exercise a function under clause 3(1)(a) 5 Railways Bill After Schedule 2 LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL

Found: Railways to exercise a function under clause 3(1)(a) 19 Railways Bill After Schedule 2 LORD HENDY OF RICHMOND HILL

Found: Investigation Branch Robert Balls DfT Board Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP Secretary of State Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Found: Hospitality (£) Heidi Alexander Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

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Found: only) Heidi Alexander Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Found: Environment, Food & Rural Affairs The Rt Hon John HEALEY MP Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord HENDY of Richmond Hill

Found: orr.gov.uk Parent Department: Department for Transport Responsible Minister: Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Found: 57 List of Ministers’ Interests - October 2026 Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill

Found: Letter dated 19/102026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Baroness Morgan of Coates regarding issues

Found: Letter dated 19/102026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Baroness Morgan of Coates regarding issues

Found: Letter dated 12/10/2026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Lord Berkeley regarding Wi-Fi implementation

Found: Letter dated 07/10/2026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Lord Moylan regarding the Government's view

Found: Letter dated 15/09/2026 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Lord Moylan, Lord Harper and Lord Lansley