Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the coach industry on battery electric motorway charging networks.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In line with the Government’s ambitions for zero emission vehicles, the Government is working with industry to make charging for longer journeys easy, fast and reliable.

Officials continue to engage with industry, including motorway service area operators, chargepoint operators, and coach operators, on supporting provision for larger vehicles such as coaches.

Coach operators were also eligible for the up to £30 million Depot Charging Scheme, which opened in July 2025 and for which applications are now being assessed.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what measures the Government will take to hold contracting authorities accountable in delivering procurement strategies that support domestic supply chains, particularly within the UK bus manufacturing sector.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This Government is committed to ensuring procurement strategies do everything possible to support UK jobs and industry. Since coming to office, we have consulted on procurement reforms to boost domestic supply chains and create more opportunities for businesses including across the UK bus manufacturing sector.

We are supporting Combined Mayoral Authorities to coordinate the procurement of buses through a Crown Commercial Service commercial agreement. This will be supplemented by the soon to be published ten-year pipeline of future bus orders, which will provide much needed certainty to the sector.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed a) by UK bus manufacturers and b) UK companies within the bus manufacturing supply chain; and what steps he is taking to increase jobs in this sector.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

According to industry estimates, the UK Bus Manufacturing sector employs around 4,300 people directly with approximately 13,000 in the supply chain. HMG is committed to boosting the UK bus manufacturing sector’s competitiveness, accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles and increasing jobs. This includes the £2.5bn DRIVE35, to support R&D in strategic vehicle technologies, accelerate their commercial scale-up, and unlock investment across zero emission vehicle manufacturing, including buses. In addition, HMG announced £15.6 billion for Transport for City Regions alongside a Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel bringing local leaders together to translate funding and reform plans into a steady and growing pipeline of manufacturing orders.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the level of additional funding for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to undertake the proposed functions in the Railways Bill; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring the ORR has sufficient levels of resources to achieve a sufficient level of (a) independence and (b) expertise to fulfil the proposed functions in the Railways Bill.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Railways Bill gives ORR a statutory power to levy a fee, providing stable and predictable funding to support its independence and effective operation. ORR's own analysis has been reflected in the SR settlement for 2026–27 to 2028–29. Final funding levels will depend on how ORR implements its new role and will remain subject to Spending Review outcomes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Railways Bill factsheet: tickets and retail, published on 5 November 2025, whether the Office of Rail and Road will lead the consultation on the statutory Code of Practice or whether this will be undertaken jointly with her Department.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The future rail retail industry code of practice will set out clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) interacts with all market participants. It will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road, and GBR’s licence will require compliance with it. The Railways Bill enables the Secretary of State to introduce the licence condition that will underpin the code of practice and give it force.

The Government has confirmed that there will be full consultation on the production of the code of practice. Further detail on that consultation will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on policies to support growth in the bus manufacturing sector.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

My officials work closely with DBT officials, including through the ongoing work of the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on the ecological restoration and improvement of a) privately owned woodland, b) ancient woodland and c) plantations on ancient woodland sites in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are a number of different Government funded actions that contribute to ecological restoration and improvement of woodland in England, so it is not possible to give a precise answer to this question.

The Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) option WD2 – woodland improvement, administered by the Rural Payments Agency and supported by the Forestry Commission, covers activities in England aimed at improving woodland condition and biodiversity. This includes interventions such as thinning, selective felling, pest control, and habitat enhancement; and can include restoration of ancient woodland for the relevant landowners.

This is one option available to support ecological restoration and improvement of woodlands and the spend for this option over the past three years is as follows (note we do not have the data required to differentiate between privately owned woodland and other ownership).

2022: £11,591,832

2023: £13,014,527

2024: £19,314,485

A supplemental action is also available under CSHT to restore and maintain plantations on ancient woodlands sites (WS2). This supplements WD2 and is verified before agreement to be on a plantation on ancient woodland site. This was first available in 2023 and the spend for this over 2023-24 is:

2023: £79,266

2024: £555,703

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of ticket sales for season tickets from (a) Leighton Buzzard to Euston, (b) Cambridge to Kings Cross, (c) Bath to Paddington, (d) Three Bridges to Victoria, and (e) Guildford to Waterloo in 2024-2025 financial year.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The number of season tickets is shown below:

Where London Terminals is listed as the destination, this is used rather than the mainline station as a destination. London Terminals is the London all terminals ticket, this gives the passenger flexible travel into London when multiple terminal options exist.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of removing the requirement to publish new premises licences or variations in local printed newspapers on the audience reach of statutory notices, the sustainability of local journalism, and the ability of communities to remain informed about decisions that may affect local services and amenities.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Following the Licensing taskforce report, the Government published a Call for Evidence on reforming the licensing system which closed on 6 November. The Call for Evidence invited views on the impact of licensing reforms, including in relation to Recommendation 4 of the taskforce on ending the requirement for printed statutory notices in local newspapers for alcohol licences. The reforms collectively aim to create a modern, proportionate, and enabling system that supports economic growth, revitalises high streets and fosters vibrant communities.

More broadly, the Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We also recognise that local press and statutory notices in particular continue to play a central role in keeping communities informed about decisions that affect local services and amenities.

Additionally, the sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, taking advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and providing a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We also welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions to help public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively.

DCMS is monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of statutory notices. This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future. It will be taken into account in our planned review of statutory notices as part of the Local Media Strategy, which will more broadly consider the merits of making changes to existing requirements to place statutory notices in print local newspapers, including the impact this has on local transparency and the newspaper industry. The review will also take forward final decisions on the future of alcohol licence notices. More will be announced on the Strategy and the review in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of moving rail functions from Transport Focus to the new passenger watchdog on integration between train and bus.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Passenger Watchdog will be grown out of Transport Focus, which will be given significantly stronger powers to become a more effective passenger champion in rail. Therefore, no rail functions are being moved out of Transport Focus. The watchdog will be multi-modal from the start and continue to cover Transport Focus’ existing watchdog functions covering trams, buses, coaches and England's strategic road network. This ensures it can monitor transport user experience across these modes.

Found: Members present: Ruth Cadbury (Chair); Steff Aquarone; Dr Scott Arthur; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer

Found: Members present: Ruth Cadbury (Chair); Steff Aquarone; Dr Scott Arthur; Jacob Collier; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer