Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the regulatory oversight of (a) private and (b) unlicensed airfields in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mike Kane
Airports and aerodromes in Northern Ireland are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. However, overarching aviation policy, most Civil Aviation issues, safety and security are reserved to the UK government. As the specialist UK aviation regulator, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) advises the UK Government on aviation policy and regulation and regularly reviews safety across the UK.
The CAA takes a proportionate and risk-based approach to regulation. Any aerodrome conducting scheduled public transport, or transporting fare-paying passengers must be licenced, as must aerodromes operating heavier aircraft. Aerodromes that do not meet these criteria can choose to be unlicenced. In addition, the storage of Aviation fuel is also regulated at all aerodromes, whether licenced or not.
The CAA provides guidance for safe operations at unlicenced aerodromes in the Civil Aviation Publication (CAP) 793, which outlines best practices for obstacle clearance, runway layout, and operational safety. Unlicenced aerodromes must also abide by general aviation safety standards and planning regulations.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote collaboration between the (a) Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, (b) Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee in Northern Ireland and (c) Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee in Northern Ireland, Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland and the Welsh Government meet twice a year as the Accessibility 4 Nations Group, to engage and collaborate on accessibility matters. These meetings are co-ordinated and chaired on a rotational basis by the respective secretariats, including the DPTAC secretariat within the Department for Transport. The latest meeting took place in April 2025 with the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland chairing.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with public transport bodies on (a) partnering with AccessAble and (b) providing equivalent information to improve accessibility for disabled passengers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Innovative approaches to providing accessible information has an important role to play in delivering transport networks which allows disabled people to be able to travel easily, confidently and with dignity. Improving accessibility is a collaborative effort, with operators, industry, and entrepreneurs all having key parts to play – alongside disabled passengers. Initiatives such as those developed by AccessAble provide an example of how this can be achieved. As detailed in the Department’s response to the Transport Committee inquiry into accessible travel, the Department for Transport is undertaking discovery work to capture bus and rail accessibility assets within the National Public Transport Access Nodes (NaPTAN) which is a national dataset of all public transport ‘stops’ in England, Scotland and Wales. This discovery work is the starting point for accessibility journey planning.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timetable is for the publication of the Motor Insurance Taskforce's final report; and whether it will include regional breakdowns of findings and recommendations.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce remains a priority, with active policy development underway. Further details, including the Taskforce’s conclusions, will be set out in due course.
The Taskforce is comprised of Ministers from relevant government departments, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. It is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sectors.
We continue to engage with interested parties, including consumer groups. A meeting of the stakeholder panel was held on 2 July.
We are also aware of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State met with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Minister for the Economy and officials from the Department for Infrastructure on 6 May, to hear their perspective on the market and relevant policy options. I met with the Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure on 8 July to discuss motor insurance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which (a) consumer representatives and (b) regional insurers in Northern Ireland have been consulted by the Motor Insurance Taskforce.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce remains a priority, with active policy development underway. Further details, including the Taskforce’s conclusions, will be set out in due course.
The Taskforce is comprised of Ministers from relevant government departments, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. It is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sectors.
We continue to engage with interested parties, including consumer groups. A meeting of the stakeholder panel was held on 2 July.
We are also aware of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State met with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Minister for the Economy and officials from the Department for Infrastructure on 6 May, to hear their perspective on the market and relevant policy options. I met with the Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure on 8 July to discuss motor insurance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Motor Insurance Taskforce has considered the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce remains a priority, with active policy development underway. Further details, including the Taskforce’s conclusions, will be set out in due course.
The Taskforce is comprised of Ministers from relevant government departments, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. It is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sectors.
We continue to engage with interested parties, including consumer groups. A meeting of the stakeholder panel was held on 2 July.
We are also aware of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State met with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Minister for the Economy and officials from the Department for Infrastructure on 6 May, to hear their perspective on the market and relevant policy options. I met with the Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure on 8 July to discuss motor insurance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that the recommendations of the Motor Insurance Taskforce are implemented equitably in all regions; and how she plans to monitor this.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce remains a priority, with active policy development underway. Further details, including the Taskforce’s conclusions, will be set out in due course.
The Taskforce is comprised of Ministers from relevant government departments, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. It is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sectors.
We continue to engage with interested parties, including consumer groups. A meeting of the stakeholder panel was held on 2 July.
We are also aware of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State met with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Minister for the Economy and officials from the Department for Infrastructure on 6 May, to hear their perspective on the market and relevant policy options. I met with the Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure on 8 July to discuss motor insurance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Motor Insurance Taskforce (a) has analysed and (b) will publish regional insurance pricing data.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce remains a priority, with active policy development underway. Further details, including the Taskforce’s conclusions, will be set out in due course.
The Taskforce is comprised of Ministers from relevant government departments, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. It is supported by a separate stakeholder panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sectors.
We continue to engage with interested parties, including consumer groups. A meeting of the stakeholder panel was held on 2 July.
We are also aware of the unique features of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State met with the Northern Ireland Executive’s Minister for the Economy and officials from the Department for Infrastructure on 6 May, to hear their perspective on the market and relevant policy options. I met with the Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure on 8 July to discuss motor insurance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support university-led research and development into hydrogen-powered transport technologies; and whether he plans to make further funding streams available to support academic–industry collaboration in this field.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport (DfT) considers that hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives could play an important role in decarbonising the transport sector, particularly in heavier transport such as aviation and maritime.
We are supporting the deployment of hydrogen-powered vehicles including through the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate and the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrators (ZEHID).
The Government is funding academic research and development for hydrogen-powered transport technologies, including through ZEHID’s Zero Emission National (ZEN) Freight project that is working with Imperial College London and the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme’s £3.7m funding to the Clean Maritime Research Hub - a consortium of 13 UK universities.
This is in addition to other research funding allocated under the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and support for the Civil Aviation Authority's Hydrogen in Aviation Regulatory Challenge.
The Government will continue to assess the need for further funding for academic research on hydrogen in transport as more evidence becomes available.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support the (a) research and development and (b)deployment of hydrogen-powered vehicles; and whether specific targets have been set for infrastructure rollout to support hydrogen car adoption.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport (DfT) considers that hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives could play an important role in decarbonising the transport sector, particularly in heavier transport such as aviation and maritime.
We are supporting the deployment of hydrogen-powered vehicles including through the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate and the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrators (ZEHID).
The Government is funding academic research and development for hydrogen-powered transport technologies, including through ZEHID’s Zero Emission National (ZEN) Freight project that is working with Imperial College London and the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme’s £3.7m funding to the Clean Maritime Research Hub - a consortium of 13 UK universities.
This is in addition to other research funding allocated under the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and support for the Civil Aviation Authority's Hydrogen in Aviation Regulatory Challenge.
The Government will continue to assess the need for further funding for academic research on hydrogen in transport as more evidence becomes available.