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

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

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