Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will bring forward amendments to the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill to require the Civil Aviation Authority to assess and publish the costs and effects on participation of significant rule changes affecting gliding and other general aviation activities; and what safeguards she plans to provide against disproportionate air navigation charges on those activities.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Bill already provides a framework for proportionate and accountable rulemaking. The Civil Aviation Authority will be required to consult those it considers likely to be affected before making rules, including general aviation stakeholders where relevant. The framework also ensures appropriate ministerial oversight, with Ministers setting the CAA's strategic priorities and objectives, retaining powers of direction, and being able to reserve specified matters to the Secretary of State.
Charges for air navigation services are set by the CAA through an established process which includes safeguards such as targeted consultation and rights of appeal. Charges follow the internationally recognised ‘user pays’ principle and general aviation is largely exempt.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in which month she expects to lay the Private Parking Code of Practice.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Private Parking Code of Practice was laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the operation of local rail services integrated into Greater Manchester’s Bee Network will be under a concession awarded and managed by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local rail services integrated into Greater Manchester’s Bee Network will continue to be operated by the existing train operating companies, with those operators managed by the Department for Transport Operator Limited. The Government and the rail industry have been working closely with Transport for Greater Manchester to progress this, which will lead to better outcomes for passengers through simpler fares and improved connectivity with other modes.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2026 to Question 19073 on East West Rail Line: Rolling Stock, (a) which modifications to the trains remain outstanding, (b) when she expects those modifications to be completed, (c) when she expects the full testing regime to be completed and (d) what outstanding steps will be required following completion of testing before passenger services can commence.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Physical modifications to the trains intended for the Oxford-Milton Keynes service have been completed. Trains remain subject to software being finished and tested. Passenger services will commence once staffing arrangements have been finalised and the necessary staff are in place, the trains have completed the required software updates and testing, and all remaining infrastructure requirements, including Winslow station handover, have been completed.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the adequacy and testing of NATS contingency arrangements for a failure of its flight processing systems.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has commissioned the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to lead an independent investigation of the NATS outage on 8 September, which will also consider the technical issue that occurred in Prestwick on 21 September. The review will examine the causes of the incidents, broader questions relating to NATS' resilience, capital investment and modernisation plans, helping to identify any lessons needed to strengthen the resilience of the UK air traffic management system.
The Department also receives regular updates from NATS on the modernisation of its air traffic control systems, with technical changes closely monitored and overseen by the CAA as the independent regulator.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2026 to Question 4264 on Passenger Railway Services: Public Ownership, what savings from management fees have been realised to date following the transfer of passenger services into public ownership; what her Department’s latest estimate is of annual savings once all franchised contracts have expired; and whether any transferred operator’s Police Service Agreement with the British Transport Police Authority has changed in cost since transfer.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Savings from management fees and other savings are routinely considered by the Public Ownership Programme as part of continuing reporting processes. The programme does not publicly report on fees saved during transfers due to commercial confidentiality reasons.
Public ownership will save taxpayers up to an estimated £150 million every year on fees currently paid to privately-owned train operating companies, once all services currently delivered under contract with the Department have transferred.
Police Service Agreements (PSAs) are required for train operators on the railway. While PSA costs may change from year to year, there has been no change in the overall approach to PSAs, nor any substantial change in costs for transferred operators, as a result of public ownership.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much apprenticeship levy funding paid by businesses in the automotive sector has expired unused in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are widespread misconceptions that there is significant unspent levy funding available to spend. However, this is not the case. Over the last five financial years, 99% of the English growth and skills budget was spent.
Levy-paying employers in England can access funding through their Apprenticeship Service accounts, yet we do not record their industry or sector when they first register for an account. Therefore, we are unable to provide sector-specific data that shows the amount of levy funds entering employers’ accounts or the amount that has been spent or that has expired.
It should be noted that the UK wide apprenticeship levy is not legally hypothecated and, as such, revenues from the levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund and not directly allocated to apprenticeships. Separately, the annual growth and skills (previously apprenticeship) budget for England is set at each spending review. The English growth and skills budget increased to a record breaking £3.3 billion in the 2026-27 financial year.
The funds in levy paying employers accounts are notional (reaching around £6.7 billion) and far exceed the total levy paid by employers annually and is more than double the annual growth and skills budget. If all levy paying employers spent all their notional levy funds, we would far exceed the available budget and there would be insufficient funding for non-levy payers, typically SMEs, which represent around 30% of apprenticeship spend.