Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure ongoing liaison between the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and the General Lighthouse Authorities.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) maintain regular and well‑established liaison mechanisms. These include routine operational engagement, information‑sharing, and close coordination during incident response to ensure timely communication and effective delivery of respective statutory duties. The Department monitors this cooperation to ensure learning is embedded and that the highest standards of maritime safety are maintained.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects a decision from the Office of Road and Rail on the prospect of approving a Newcastle to Brighton rail link.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Grand Central submitted an application to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) on 19 December 2025 for rights to operate Open Access rail services between Newcastle and Brighton.
The application has not been agreed by the infrastructure manager, Network Rail, and ORR is currently carrying out the statutory consultation with Network Rail and Grand Central. Network Rail responded on 30 January 2026 and Grand Central now has until 20 February to respond to Network Rail’s views.
ORR aims to take decisions on access applications within six weeks of the date of receipt of all relevant information.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects to receive the 10-year bus procurement analysis from the UK Bus Manufacturing Panel.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department is planning to publish the ten-year pipeline of projected orders shortly.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will hold discussions with the her Indian counterparts on the need for the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau investigation into the crash of Air India flight 171 to be independent, including commercial considerations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has engaged with counterparts in India regarding the tragic accident of Air India Flight 171. The Indian Air Accident Investigation Bureau is the lead investigating authority, in line with standards set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization and must be given the time and space to undertake a thorough investigation. The UK welcomed the preliminary report which was published in July 2025. I want to reaffirm my deepest sympathies to those who lost their lives in this accident, as well as to their loved ones.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether consideration is being given to granting Critical National Priority status to ports across the United Kingdom.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ports play an essential role in the supply chain and in enabling energy developments. The advancement of Critical National Priority (CNP) projects will stimulate ports to meet demand. In practice CNP projects will bring about a demonstrable need for port capacity, and in conjunction with the strong weight attached to the need to service such demand in the National Policy Statement for Ports (NPSP), will provide sufficient priority for port development.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many jobs were created in the past twelve months through the Support for Maritime Training fund.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are strongly supportive of the Support for Maritime Training fund (SMarT). 680 new cadetships were supported by SMarT in the financial year 2023/24. There are approximately 1500 cadets currently in training.
Statistics for the 2024/25 financial year are expected to be published on 25th February. The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of jobs created through SMarT.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 1 December 2025 to WPQ 94153, what steps she is taking to help reduce insolvencies in Road Freight Transport companies.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport officials regularly meet representatives of the road haulage industry, including through the Freight Council and the Road Freight Industry Engagement Group. These discussions are wide ranging and include the market conditions for road freight and cost pressures.
Government measures that support the road freight sector include the extension of the 5 pence cut in fuel duty until the end of August 2026 and for Great Britain, discounts of up to £120,000 on new electric trucks are available thanks to an additional £18m to increase the Plug-in Truck Grant until the end of March 2026. Existing rates apply to Northern Ireland.
The Small Business Plan outlines how the Government will support small and medium sized businesses to grow and thrive across the UK through reforms to tackle late payments; finance to support start-ups and scale ups; removing unnecessary red tape and delivering growth boosting support for Digital and AI Adoption. The new Business Growth Service makes it easier for SMEs to access the right support for any stage of their growth journey.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expect to publish details of each implementation project arising from the publication of the cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cross-government taskforce’s final report highlights the wider range of areas in which government is taking action; including taking steps to address vehicle theft and the cost of repairs. The government will continue to deliver against the actions set out in this report. The departments leading on specific actions are responsible for providing updates on the work being undertaken.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of how much fuel lifecycle Greenhouse Gas emissions will be reduced within the next four years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not hold overall forecasts for lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of fuels. Projections for the lifecycle emissions impact of individual low carbon fuels policies are primarily set out in their associated cost-benefit analyses such as that published in 2024 before the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate was introduced or published in March 2025 for the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy.
The Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, published 29 October, included detail on policies in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuels used in surface transport and aviation, and estimates of the emission reductions they would achieve. These projections are on the basis of the carbon accounting protocol used to produce the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, rather than lifecycle GHG emissions savings. For surface transport, this analysis estimated an 18.0 MtCO2e reduction in emissions between 2025 and 2030 (17% reduction). For aviation, this analysis estimated a 3.3 MtCO2e reduction in emissions between 2025 and 2030 (9% reduction).
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she expects to publish the next National Road Traffic Projections in 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The National Road Traffic Projections were last published in December 2022. The Department regularly reviews evidence and data on the drivers of travel demand and does not expect to publish the next National Road Traffic Projections in 2026.