Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for local pedestrian safety of encouraging local authorities to prioritise the creation and connectivity of active travel routes in ways that could affect their eligibility for Active Travel funding.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Active Travel England (ATE) undertakes assurance of new or upgraded schemes in close collaboration with local authorities. Submitted scheme designs are put through a series of checks using the ATE scheme review tools, last published in February 2024.
These tools include an assessment of the critical safety issues for walking, wheeling and cycling to support local authorities over scheme quality. Additional guidance on how to work with the safety issues was published in November 2025.
Eleven of the sixteen critical safety issues relate to walking and cover examples such as conflict at junctions, trip hazards, the standard and positioning of crossings and the condition of the footway. Tool outputs for completed schemes are considered as part of authority active travel capability ratings, which in turn help to determine future funding impacts.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that accredited rail retailers offer standardised and automated Delay Repay compensation directly to passengers; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of doing so.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Passengers can currently claim delay repay by applying directly to the train operator they travelled with.
Through delivering Great British Railways (GBR), the Government is committed to improving the passenger experience. As set out in the recently introduced Railways Bill, GBR will retail both on line and in person once established, creating a more streamlined, unified offer for passengers by bringing together 14 existing train operator websites and apps. GBR will retail alongside independent retailers, in a fair and open market, and the Government recognises the important role they play in terms of innovating and driving up standards for passengers.
The Government will continue to keep Delay Repay policy under review, including in the context of the move to GBR.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to roll out noise detection cameras on roads.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport conducted roadside trials of noise camera technology between October 2022 and February 2023. Reports of these trials, including detailed assessment of the technology’s performance and potential merits, were published on 17 March 2024. Overall, the trials demonstrated that noise cameras currently have the potential to be used for enforcement, but only when accompanied by human review of the recorded evidence, which is likely to lower the cost effectiveness of deploying the technology in many circumstances.
It is ultimately for local authorities and the police to consider what the most appropriate enforcement routes may be for addressing issues with excessive vehicle noise within their area. The use of noise camera technology has already been taken forward by some local authorities.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to standardise the measure of vehicle sound testing in MOTs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Excessive exhaust noise is currently tested with a subjective assessment at the MOT in which the tester can fail the vehicle if they believe it is producing excessive noise for the vehicle model. The MOT standard for exhaust noise requires that the noise from the vehicle must not be unreasonably above the noise level a tester would expect from a similar vehicle with a standard silencer in average condition.
This standard is derived from the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (C&U) where regulation 54 states:
“Every exhaust system and silencer shall be maintained in good and efficient working order and shall not after the date of manufacture be altered so as to increase the noise made by the escape of exhaust gases.”
The MOT noise test also meets the requirements of the European Roadworthiness Directive, which all EU Member States are required to comply with.
For most vehicles, the MOT tester will be familiar with the level of exhaust noise to be expected and should have no difficulty in determining whether the noise complies with the standard or not.
Introducing a metered noise test with the use of a calibrated decibel meter to record noise levels more accurately would require approximately 23, 400 garages to purchase and maintain this equipment. In addition, the accuracy of such a test will be difficult to achieve due to localised noise pollution around testing centres, and within a noisy garage environment.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the safety risks of in-car devices that can distract drivers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All vehicles used on the road in Great Britain are subject to the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended (C&U). Regulation 109 of C&U only permits drivers to view information related to the state of the vehicle or its equipment, navigation information, or information that assists in viewing the road around the vehicle when driving.
The Department is also participating in drafting an international regulation onDriver Drowsiness and Distraction Warning Systems (DDADWS) at the UN
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). This regulation will set the technical requirements for how these systems detect when the driver is distracted and will warn them to focus their attention back to the driving task.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to remove the requirement to reapply for a Blue Badge for people over the age of 80.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Blue Badge holders generally must reapply for a Blue Badge every three years; this gives local authorities the opportunity to ensure that they continue to meet the criteria which make them eligible for a badge. It also helps ensure that the details local authorities hold about the badge holder remain correct and that the details displayed on the badge itself remain legible. Depending on the circumstances an authority may choose not to reassess.
In cases where a person's disability or condition is unlikely to change, local authorities will generally process applications as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once a person’s data is captured on the system it should become easier and less time-consuming for them to reapply for a new badge ahead of their current one expiring.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Road Traffic Act 1991 to include the mandated reporting of cats that are (a) struck and (b) killed by vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
There are no plans to amend section 170 of the Road Traffic Act to make it mandatory for drivers to report road collisions involving cats.
Although there is no obligation to report all collisions with animals on roads,Rule 286 of The Highway Code advises drivers to report any collisions involving an animal to the police, and if possible, they should make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals and advise them of the situation.
Since June 2024, all cats in England over 20 weeks of age must be microchipped and registered on a compliant database, unless exempt or free-living. This will make it easier for National Highways and local authorities to reunite cats with their keepers.