Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, i) how much funding in total was granted to applicants to the HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme ii) how much of this funding came directly from matched funding from the Department for Transport and iii) whether the department plans to re-open the scheme for further applications.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The total amount of government funding contractually committed to improvement projects for the HGV Parking Matched Funding Grant Scheme, as of 19 March 2026, is £13,599,303.45.
The scheme held three application windows. The table below sets out awards and spending to date per window as of 19 March 2026. Projects that were cancelled by operators after notification of an award are not included in these figures.
Application window opened | Total awarded | Total - spend to date |
Window 1 - Nov 2022 | £5,427,497.05 | £4,754,717.54 |
Window 2 - Sept 2023 | £4,778,778.09 | £4,335,848.03 |
Window 3 - May 2024 | £3,393,028.31 | £1,852,762.51 |
Overall MFGS | £13,599,303.45 | £10,943,328.08 |
There are no plans for further windows of the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Matched Funding Scheme.
Funding for further lorry parking improvements is planned for the third road investment strategy (RIS3) as part of the Customer and Community Designated Funds, subject to confirmation of the National Highways RIS3 settlement.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her department has to ensure that the road safety strategy includes provisions to support lorry driver welfare.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 7 January 2026 the Department for Transport published the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035.
The Government expects the employers or engagers of anyone driving or riding for work to ensure that they are as safe as possible on the roads. Working with industry we will pilot a National Work-Related Road Safety Charter for businesses that require people to drive or ride for them, including considering the use of HGVs. The Charter will aim to help employers to reduce work-related road risk and improve safety for all road users by promoting good practice, and to improve compliance with current legislation and guidance.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of i) truck stops and ii) Motorway service areas have received any non self-certified security accreditation.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government does not operate a mandated or voluntary lorry parking security accreditation system. Trucks stops and Motorway Service Areas set their own security standards unless they voluntarily join a private accreditation scheme. Therefore, the Department for Transport does not hold this information.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had discussions with Tesla UK regarding the potential child safety implications of vehicle-integrated artificial intelligence systems.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not had discussions with Tesla specifically regarding potential child safety implications of vehicle-integrated artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Many manufacturers use AI tools and techniques to develop and optimise various aspects of vehicles, including their safety systems. For those aspects covered by vehicle technical regulations, the systems are required to be fixed (i.e. they are no longer permitted to evolve) before they are placed on the market and subject to objective testing to verify their performance.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the total identifiable expenditure per head on railways as shown in her department's Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2025, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of spending on railways in Wales in the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Our 10 year UK Infrastructure Strategy, published in June 2025, acknowledged that for too long Wales’s long-term rail infrastructure needs have not been recognised and committed the UK Government to delivering at least £445 million of rail enhancements funding for Wales.
This transformative rail package, the majority of which will be delivered over the Spending Review Period to 2030, will reconnect Wales’s industrial heartlands, improve commuter journeys and drive economic growth in communities that have long suffered from poor transport links.
This funding is on top of the almost £2 billion that Network Rail will invest in the operation, maintenance, and renewal of railways in Wales during Control Period 7 (2024-2029), to tackle climate change, improve train performance from current levels, and invest in the areas that matter most to passengers and freight users.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department classifies heavy rail projects located entirely within England as (a) local and (b) national projects.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Government is responsible for heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales so spends money on this in Wales rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so through the Barnett formula. This approach applies to investment in heavy rail by the Department for Transport, including HS2 and East-West Rail, and is consistent with the funding arrangements for all other policy areas reserved in Wales as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has received representations from the Welsh Government requesting that the East-West rail project be reclassified as an England only project.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There have been no formal representations from the Welsh Government on this matter.
The UK Government is responsible for heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales so spends money on this in Wales rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so through the Barnett formula. This approach applies to investment in heavy rail by the Department for Transport, including HS2 and East-West Rail, and is consistent with the funding arrangements for all other policy areas reserved in Wales as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any of the regional transport infrastructure projects announced on 4 June 2025 will be classified as England and Wales projects.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Chancellor announced the £15.6 billion Transport for City Regions settlements on 4 June 2025 for investment in the local transport networks of 9 eligible mayoral strategic authorities in England. Local transport is devolved to the Welsh government.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to support the use of shore power technology at the Port of Fishguard to aid maritime decarbonisation.
Answered by Mike Kane
The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions programme has previously allocated over £33m to five shore power demonstrator projects at Aberdeen, Atlantic and Peninsula Falmouth, Cammel Laird shipyard, Leith and Portsmouth.
These projects have informed Government policy making about maritime decarbonisation, and in March 2025, the Government published its Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy. A core policy within this Strategy is taking action to reduce emissions from vessels whilst at berth. Although the Government remains technology neutral, we recognise that shore power will play a role in reducing emissions from vessels at berth, supporting our mission to make Britain a Clean Energy Superpower.
Alongside this Strategy, the Government also published a call for evidence on Net Zero Ports to explore the opportunities and barriers to reducing emissions at berth, with a focus on the role ports can play in enabling the shipping sector to decarbonise. Ports policy is devolved, so this will inform Government policy relating to English ports. However, we welcome input from ports and their tenants in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to this Call for Evidence to broaden our understanding of the issues.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve truck stop facilities for HGV drivers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department and industry are jointly investing up to £43.5 million to upgrade truckstops across England. This is on top of up to £26 million joint investment by National Highways and industry in lorry parking facilities along the strategic roads network.
This investment is supporting operators across 30 counties in England to improve security, toilets, showers and refreshment facilities and increase lorry parking spaces.