Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of new Highway Code rules.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Injuries and fatalities from road collisions caused by driving are unacceptable, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users.
That is why on 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all.
Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022, the department ran large-scale THINK! advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the changes.
Via the THINK! campaign, we are also running year-round radio filler adverts encouraging compliance with the guidance to improve safety for those walking, cycling and horse riding. We will also continue to promote the changes via THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels, as well as through partner organisations.
However, as set out in the strategy, more work is needed to continue embedding these changes and overall awareness of the Highway Code. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course.
As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety. As announced in the strategy to support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK,the government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve working conditions for HGV drivers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Match Funding Grant Scheme, the Government is investing jointly with industry up to £35.7 million to enhance truck stops across England. This significant investment is in addition to funding from National Highways and industry of a further £30 million to improve HGV parking facilities along the strategic road network.
This investment is supporting operators across 30 counties in England to improve welfare facilities, increase parking spaces, improve security and facilitate decarbonisation. The scheme is projected to help deliver up to 1,500 parking spaces.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on safety incidents involving lithium batteries on commercial flights.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport (DfT) officials work closely with and regularly meet the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to monitor and discuss the risk of lithium batteries incidents, alongside other safety risks. The Dangerous Goods Governance Board meets quarterly to manage the joint DfT/CAA Lithium Batteries project which aims to reduce the risk posed by the carriage of undeclared lithium batteries aboard commercial aircraft to a level as low as reasonably practicable. In addition to the reduction of risk, the project provides assurance to the State Safety Board, which meets every 6 months, that the UK’s exposure to this safety risk is monitored, prioritised, responded to and effectively mitigated. There are also multiple other forums where DfT officials and the CAA discuss safety risks formally and informally, including lithium batteries.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to take steps to ensure that new tramway schemes use domestically produced tramway rails.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The responsibility for light rail and tramways is devolved, where each local authority owns and is responsible for the development and delivery of their own system. Therefore, it would be for local authorities to specify criteria for any future tram scheme, or tram extension, ensuring to adhere to the relevant procurement regulations when running their procurement competitions.
In addition, under the Government’s Social Value policy, public contracting authorities, such as local authorities, can set rigorous environmental and social standards, and other criteria that play to the strengths of local supply chains who can meet those standards. This is also subject to the requirement not to discriminate directly or indirectly against tenderers on grounds of nationality.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees in each year since 2021.
Answered by Mike Kane
The table shows the total departmental spend on consultancy for financial years 2020/2021 to 2023/2024. The total includes the central department (DfTc), Executive Agencies and Arm Length Bodies (ALBs).
Departmental total spend (£)
2020/21 175,720,840
2021/22 198,001,723
2022/23 225,477,742
2023/24 165,372,920
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of delays to planned rail reforms.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Department has actively managed rail reform costs in response to delays to original plans. A recent National Audit Office report noted that the Department estimates it will spend £0.4bn on rail reform up to the end of March 2024, compared to initial planned spending of £1.2bn.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of seafarer (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the merchant shipping industry.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department for Transport does not hold data specifically on the number of seafarers recruited or the level of retention in the merchant shipping industry.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of bus service levels in England.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government is investing significant levels of funding to drive improvements to services and make them cheaper, including over £1 billion allocated in 2022 to help LTAs deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans, a further £1 billion redirected from HS2 to improve bus services in the North and the Midlands as part of Network North, and nearly £600 million to cap single bus fares at £2 from 1 January 2023 until the end of 2024.
Bus service provision in England outside London remained at over 85% of pre-COVID levels in 2022/23, despite patronage dropping to 10% of pre-pandemic levels during the height of the pandemic. This is due to the Government providing unprecedented levels of funding to protect vital bus routes following the pandemic, totalling £2 billion between March 2020 and June 2023. The Government is also currently providing over £300 million to local transport authorities (LTAs) and bus operators to support and improve bus services until April 2025, on top of the nearly £260 million the Department for Transport makes available every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant to help run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of local taxi licensing authorities.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government provides guidance to taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England to assist them in exercising their licensing function https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/licensing-of-taxis-and-phvs-for-local-authorities-in-england
The Department for Transport uses its annual statistical survey of licensing authorities to help monitor uptake of the guidance.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Avanti West Coast's performance against its contractual service obligations.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Like all operators currently on a National Rail Contract, Avanti West Coast’s operational performance is assessed against agreed Quantified Targets. This component is evaluated annually against set criteria and considers all elements within the operator’s control.