Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Lessons learned: Governance and decision‑making on mega‑projects, published on 12 March 2025, whether her Department plans to implement the recommendations on clarity on the roles and responsibilities of those involved.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has an established rolling programme to continuously improve project delivery, drawing on lessons learned from its own portfolio and external reviews, including those published by the NAO. Our project delivery governance and assurance frameworks are aligned to best practice recommended by NISTA and the Government project delivery standards. DfT remains committed to continuous improvement and we are currently reviewing priorities for future improvements using recent learning from the NAO and other publications such as the James Stewart Review.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the press release Full steam ahead: young people take the drivers seat to improve train services and unlock jobs of 7 May 2025, if she will publish an evaluation of the impact of this policy within a year of implementation.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The rail industry will be responsible for implementing the policy of lowering the minimum age requirement to be a train driver from 20 to 18, which will be enacted through changes to the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations 2010. To ensure that this is done safely and responsibly, we have asked the rail industry to prepare an implementation plan, which will be kept under regular review. The regulations will be reviewed every five years, in line with usual government practice.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to extend the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate to coaches.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department ran calls for evidence on the decarbonisation of coaches in spring 2022 and on zero emission HGV and coach infrastructure in autumn 2023. We will provide an update on coach decarbonisation in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 open access rail operators on (a) connectivity, (b) passenger choice and (c) service quality.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the right circumstances, Open Access can provide benefits such as improved connectivity and choice for passengers but can also increase costs to taxpayers and create additional performance pressures on an already constrained network.
We are clear that there will remain a role for Open Access in the reformed rail sector, but equally that it must genuinely add value and not simply inhibit the efficient operation of the network or divert revenue from existing operators – all of which are currently supported by the taxpayer in some form.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to defer the ban on the sale of new (a) petrol and (b) diesel vehicles indefinitely; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of such a deferment on UK-based vehicle producers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government has provided crucial certainty to British industry by re-instating the 2030 phase-out date for new cars relying solely on internal combustion engines. We are committing £4.5 billion to support the public and our automakers on the journey to fully decarbonising new cars and vans by 2035, including £650 million specifically to reduce the prices of new EVs. The certainty these commitments provide industry unlocks investment and benefits British consumers.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to defer the ban on the sale of new (a) petrol and (b) diesel vehicles indefinitely; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of such a deferment on the price of new cars.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government has provided crucial certainty to British industry by re-instating the 2030 phase-out date for new cars relying solely on internal combustion engines. We are committing £4.5 billion to support the public and our automakers on the journey to fully decarbonising new cars and vans by 2035, including £650 million specifically to reduce the prices of new EVs. The certainty these commitments provide industry unlocks investment and benefits British consumers.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Persons with Reduced Mobility National Technical Specification Notice, published in December 2017, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Appendix B.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We recently published the Accessibility National Technical Specification Notice (NTSN), replacing the Persons with Reduced Mobility NTSN. The Accessibility NTSN preserves many specifications inherited from EU law while updating ones that did not have a clear case for change. This update was published following an extensive review and public consultation facilitated by the Rail Safety and Standards Board.
During our review and public consultation, we did not receive any feedback on the adequacy of Annex B. However, we keep all NTSN content under regular review and will consider any further feedback as part of our continuing monitoring.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled New dawn for rail as South Western services return to public hands, published on 25 May 2025, what her plans are for operators who fail to meet the standard required to become part of Great British Railways.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great British Railways will set a clear quality standard for our railways, so a world class public service can be rebuilt. Ministers intend to recover performance to acceptable levels at all operators, ensuring their leadership has a relentless focus on performance and rigorous standards, held to account by Ministers. The focus is on supporting and challenging train operating companies to reach the tough standards that we will set.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what process her Department took to appoint Chiltern Railways as the operator of East-West Rail from Oxford-Milton Keynes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department conducted a review to assess train operating companies’ level of capability and the degree of integration with the first stage of East–West Rail.
Chiltern Railways was assessed as providing the best fit and following a negotiation of commercial terms, a Deed of Amendment was signed enacting this in and it is now working on delivering the new, twice-hourly rail service between Oxford and Milton Keynes as early as possible.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding her Department has allocated to reducing the number of rail replacement services required on Thameslink services in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department requires its train operators to use reasonable endeavours to provide alternative means of transport where they cannot provide their planned train service. Rail replacement bus services are typically provided when parts of the railway are closed for planned maintenance and upgrade work or unplanned maintenance and repair work. The Department does not specifically allocate funding for the purpose of reducing the number of rail replacement services.