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 December (HL12602), whether they will now state when the amount in question was last uprated in line with inflation.

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

The agreed industry scale rate for lorry drivers’ overnight subsistence is not uprated in line with inflation. Normally the relevant industry body, in this case the Road Haulage Association, would approach His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to discuss changing the industry rate. If individual haulage operators think the industry rate is inadequate, they would need to provide evidence to HMRC that drivers are incurring expenses that exceed the current benchmark rate to have a bespoke rate agreed.

Employers can choose to reimburse drivers for the actual subsistence costs incurred when staying away from home, rather than pay the set benchmark scale rate.

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 December (HL12329), when they plan for Euston station to be equipped with full step-free access for passengers.

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

Work is continuing with delivery partners to develop affordable, integrated plans for Euston Station, which will include the new HS2 terminus, along with upgrades to the existing Network Rail and London Underground stations and local transport facilities. The development of these plans will include provision of step free access for passengers. The Department will set out more details in due course as the plans for Euston Station are progressed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 1 December (HL12185), what estimate they have made of the total annual budget of West Yorkshire Police.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

West Yorkshire Police will receive funding of up to £659.6m in 2025-26. You should note that this figure includes core Government grants and council tax precept only and does not represent the totality of the force’s budget. The Home Office does not routinely collect information on other police force revenue.

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), whether the consortium appointed by Network Rail to deliver infrastructure works to the west of Leeds as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme has made payments to crane hire companies to cover the cost of police escorts in connection with the movements of cranes and vehicles; and, if so, how much has been spent since October 2024 by their largest supplier of crane or lifting services, and for how many movements.

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

The cost for police to escort abnormal loads to Transpennine Route Upgrade worksites, when required, is included within crane hire companies’ costs to the consortium. The Department does not hold information on the breakdown of crane suppliers’ costs or the number of movements they undertake.

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), whether Network Rail’s Transpennine Route Upgrade programme is largely funded by central and local government.

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

I can confirm that the TransPennine Route Upgrade programme is wholly funded by central government.

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), whether they will publish the livery, if any, of the vehicles funded by the consortium, and whether that livery was specially designed for escorting abnormal loads or suitable for general policing duties.

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

The vehicles funded by the West Alliance as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme are Volvo XC90s. The vehicles have standard police livery, and in addition of ‘Abnormal Load Escort’ on the rear side windows. The vehicles are only used for abnormal load escorts and not general roads policing duties. Transfer of funds took place on 26 March 2025 and 20 June 2025, amounting to £175,000.

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), whether they will publish the make and model of all of the vehicles funded in whole or in part by the consortium.

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

The vehicles funded by the West Alliance as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme are Volvo XC90s. The vehicles have standard police livery, and in addition of ‘Abnormal Load Escort’ on the rear side windows. The vehicles are only used for abnormal load escorts and not general roads policing duties. Transfer of funds took place on 26 March 2025 and 20 June 2025, amounting to £175,000.

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), whether they will publish the date and amount of all relevant transfers of funds from the consortium to West Yorkshire Police.

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

The vehicles funded by the West Alliance as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme are Volvo XC90s. The vehicles have standard police livery, and in addition of ‘Abnormal Load Escort’ on the rear side windows. The vehicles are only used for abnormal load escorts and not general roads policing duties. Transfer of funds took place on 26 March 2025 and 20 June 2025, amounting to £175,000.

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.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 27 November (HL11894), why time changes of such small increments are used in the calculation of journey saving; and what assessment they have made of the extent to which time changes in these increments can be depended upon.

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

Our approach to the modelling and appraisal of journey time changes is intended to capture the behavioural choices of travellers, and the resulting impacts on the welfare of society.

There is evidence from everyday life of individuals making choices that suggest they value very small time savings. For instance, pedestrians may choose to cross rather than wait for traffic lights to change, while travellers may rush to catch an underground service, to save 1-2 minutes.

The most recent national study into passenger values of time (Arup et al, 2015), considered this issue, and we provided the rationale for capturing the full range of sizes of time saving as part of our 2016 consultation response on values of travel time.

Firstly, that appraisals are carried out ‘at the margin’ for an incremental scheme, and hence capturing time savings of any size and valuing them at a constant unit value provides a robust mathematical framework to aggregate impacts in a consistent fashion across appraisals.

Furthermore, to ensure a representative approach, we want to reflect the full spectrum of sizes of time saving attributable to different kinds of schemes and different modes. Our approach to the capturing of small time savings is consistent with appraisal frameworks in other countries, for example Sweden.

We intend to gather further evidence on the value of small increments of time savings as part of the next national value of time study, currently being planned.

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Found: Letter dated 13/11/2025 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Lord Moylan regarding the Planning and Infrastructure

Found: Letter dated 02/12/2025 from Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to Peers regarding questions raised during the