Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to access Training Driver Level 3 apprenticeships.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is confident in the steps being taken by the rail industry to enable 16 and 17 year olds to access Train Driving Level 3 Apprenticeships. New legislation to lower the minimum age to be a train driver from 20 to 18 will remove the main legal obstacle preventing train operators from recruiting 16- and 17 year olds into the profession, including via apprenticeships. The industry is working with Skills England to reduce the apprenticeship entry age from 18 to 17½, which will allow young people to begin classroom learning and supervised training before becoming eligible for a licence at 18. For 16 and 17 year olds, the industry is also developing preparatory routes, including a new rail foundation apprenticeship from age 16 and access courses to build the non-technical skills needed for driver selection.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average domestic electricity price per kWh was in each year since 2021.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The department publishes statistics on the cost of domestic electricity and gas.
Annual domestic energy bills - GOV.UK
This includes tables (2.2.4 for electricity and 2.3.4 for gas) outlining the average unit price in £/kWh and average fixed cost (standing charge) in £/year for the United Kingdom and by region.
This also includes tables (2.2.3 for electricity and 2.3.3 for gas) outlining the average unit cost in p/kWh inclusive of fixed costs for the United Kingdom and by region.
These are calculated using data supplied directly to the department by a sample of domestic energy suppliers.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2026 to WPQ 116586, whether her Department plans to publish details of the savings in fees otherwise payable to former private sector owners used to offset the increase in staff costs for DfT Operator Limited.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Once all services currently delivered under contract with the Department have transferred, public ownership is expected to save taxpayers up to an estimated £110-150 million every year on fees currently paid to privately-owned train operating companies.
This is several orders of magnitude less than the costs of scaling up DfTO staffing in anticipation of establishing GBR – as part of which we will be tackling waste and inefficiency across the fragmented railway we inherited.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of motorway service areas have at least six ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargepoints; and what target she has set for full coverage.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All motorway service areas in England now offer open-access rapid or ultra-rapid charge points and 75% (January 2026, industry data) have at least six or more ultra-rapid open-access charge points.
The Government continues to work closely with distribution network operators, motorway service area operators, charge point operators and other industry stakeholders to address barriers to rollout.
In November 2025, the Government opened applications for a £10 million innovation fund for cutting-edge technologies to support rollout of chargers along the Strategic Road Network (England’s motorways and major A-roads).
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, a) how much funding has been allocated to local authorities for pothole repairs in each year since 2023–24; b) what estimate her Department has made of the number of potholes expected to be repaired as a result of that funding; c) what assessment she has made of the cost per pothole repair, and d) how many additional potholes she expects will be repaired annually as a result of the £7.3 billion funding settlement.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The total funding provided to local authorities in each financial year since 2023/24 can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimated in its 2026 Survey that the average cost of repairing a pothole is £78.45. The funding increase for local highways maintenance that the Government has confirmed – doubling annual funding by 2029-30 compared to 2024-25 levels – will enable local highway authorities to repair millions of additional potholes in each year of this Parliament. At the same time, the Department is also expecting local highway authorities to adopt best practice in highways maintenance, which includes a greater focus on preventative maintenance so that fewer potholes form in the first place and a greater focus on permanent pothole repairs to reduce the need for repeated and more costly temporary repairs.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 116791, what representations were made by organisations representing disabled people during engagement relating to the guidance entitled Floating Bus Stops: Provision and Design; and what advice she received from officials on those representations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Three workshops were held on the floating bus stop guidance, facilitated by Transport for All (TfA). The participants included organisations representing disabled people and TfA members with lived experience of disability. The department also circulated the draft guidance for comment to a range of groups from 26 November to 2 December 2025. A list of those involved is included in the guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design
A range of comments and representations were received from seven organisations representing the needs of disabled people. For example these included the need for consistent design approaches; the need to prioritise accessibility; the role of behaviour change and enforcement alongside design; concerns about shared-use bus boarders; and many comments on detailed design points.
This information was used to inform the final version of the guidance which was cleared through my office in the usual way.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of the independence and (b) effectiveness of private parking appeals services.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware of concerns amongst some motorists that second stage appeals services are not independent of parking operators because these are facilitated by the trade associations who represent their members. Last summer, my department consulted on this issue to better understand concerns around the current model and consider if change is needed. The Department is considering the findings of the consultation very carefully and will set out further details as soon as possible.
The 2025 consultation document can be found on gov.uk here.