Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of removing the 50 kilometre regular service restriction currently applied to drivers aged 18 and 19 holding a category D licence on the number of qualified drivers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that the bus and coach sector has had issues recruiting and retaining bus drivers in recent years, and is considering next steps following the consultation held on this issue in April 2024.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to provide financial support to small businesses to purchase zero emission heavy goods vehicles after 2026.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has kickstarted the deployment of zero emission heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and their supporting charging and fuelling infrastructure through initiatives such as the Plug-In Truck Grant (PiTG), the £30 million Depot Charging Scheme, and the up to £200 million Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID).
These initiatives are open to all businesses, including small businesses, to support the uptake of zero emission HGVs by lowering upfront costs and supporting the provision of dedicated HGV charging infrastructure.
The PiTG remains in place until the end of the 2026/27 financial year. The ZEHID programme is funding hundreds of ZE HGVs and their associated recharging and refuelling sites by March 2026.
While the Depot Charging Scheme will close on or by 28 November 2025, by supporting necessary infrastructure, the funding will provide confidence to the logistics sector and support British businesses to transition to zero emission.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the statistics entitled Monthly total number of electric vehicle public charging devices available in the UK, published on 1 October 2025, if she will provide a breakdown by local transport authority.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Geographic breakdowns of the number of public electric vehicle charging devices in the UK are published in the tables for Electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics: October 2025.
Table 1a summarises the number of public charging devices by region and local authority.
Table 7a summarises the number of public charging devices by parliamentary constituency.
The Department does not hold this data summarised at local transport authority level.
The tables are included as a supplementary attachment to this response.
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 she is taking to improve charging infrastructure for electric heavy goods vehicles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The up to £200 million Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) is kickstarting the deployment of zero emission HGV infrastructure and has already funded 73 planned infrastructure locations, representing over 360 chargers. The Government is further supporting the installation of charging equipment at depots through the £30 million Depot Charging Scheme.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a zero emission vehicle mandate for heavy duty vehicles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government believes that more needs to be done to decarbonise the road freight sector. We are considering our regulatory approach to decarbonise new non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles and will engage with stakeholders in due course.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to publish an update to the National Travel Attitudes Study statistics.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The National Travel Attitudes Study (NTAS) is currently paused whilst the department explores options for its future.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department’s road safety strategy will include an assessment of the potential impact of daylight hours on accident rates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The road safety strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies. We intend to publish the strategy this year.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department expects passenger train services to begin operating on the first section of East West Rail between Oxford and Milton Keynes.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is working closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the service. We are looking forward to commencing services as soon as all necessary authorisations and agreements are in place. Passenger services will commence once train testing and driver training have been completed.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of adopting single/double summer time on road safety.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The department has not made a recent assessment of the potential of adopting single/double summertime on road safety.
The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the best possible use of the available daylight.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of (a) the prevalence of illegally modified number plates and (b) the adequacy of current enforcement and detection mechanisms; and whether she plans to review the associated penalties.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime and to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation.
The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must be registered with the DVLA. It is a legal requirement for number plate suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that number plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied. Selling a number plate without carrying out these checks carries a maximum penalty of a fine of £1,000 and the potential removal from the Register of Number Plate Suppliers (RNPS).
The safety of all road users is a top priority for the Government. As part of the development of our Road Safety Strategy, the Government is considering a range of policies relating to motoring offences, and we will set out next steps for the strategy in due course. Officials are also considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable RNPS process which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers. On-road enforcement for offences relating to the display of number plates is a matter for the police.