Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to include reminders about sight testing in driving licence renewal notices.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) already include clear messaging on the required eyesight standards for driving and the importance of regular eyesight tests on reminders, application forms, information leaflets and online guidance provided as part of the driving licence renewal process.

The published guidance also sets out the legal requirement to be able to read a number plate at 20 metres, to meet the minimum visual acuity and visual field standards for driving and the requirement to notify the DVLA of any relevant eye conditions.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the programme is for the delivery of the Liverpool Street Station redevelopment; and what steps the Department has taken to ensure this timetable is achievable.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Officials in my Department are engaged with Network Rail Property and Planning teams around the redevelopment proposals for Liverpool Street station. These plans are at an early stage and will be subject to planning consents. Both my Department and Network Rail will continue to review these plans as they develop.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of any compensation to be provided by Network Rail to Transport for London in respect of costs arising from disruption during the redevelopment of Liverpool Street Station.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Network Rail has carried out a detailed review of the proposals to keep the station open and operational, including Transport for London's infrastructure and services.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the ongoing technical fault affecting motorway enforcement cameras; and if she will state a) when she was first informed of the issue, b) which enforcement systems are affected, c) what estimate her Department has made of the number of cameras currently offline, and d) what timetable has been set with National Highways for restoring full functionality.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Transport Secretary was briefed in September, and as soon as Ministers were informed of the national scale in October, they acted immediately to prevent any further incorrect fines, points or prosecutions.

The technical anomaly impacts 154 Highways Agency Digital Enforcement and Compliance System cameras deployed on 10% of the strategic road network.

As set out in response to WPQ 103428 on 19 January, a Home Office approved solution to this issue has been agreed, and National Highways and the police are continuing to work together to implement this as a priority.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made and assessment of data from continental Europe and the United States on the potential benefits of mandating retread tyres in public procurement fleet contracts.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is working on a review of the Government Buying Standards which set out how Government procurement can take account of environmental and social impacts whilst ensuring value for money. This review considers the lifecycle impacts of fleet vehicles, including measures to reduce waste and raw material consumption associated with vehicles parts such as tyres.

As part of this work, Defra has made no specific assessment of data from continental Europe and the United States on the potential benefits of mandating retread tyres in public procurement fleet contracts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many motorcyclists have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured following a collision with a wire rope safety barrier in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The information requested is not held.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total expenditure has been to date by Network Rail, including Network Rail Property and any contractors engaged by it, on work related to the planning application for the redevelopment of London Liverpool Street Station; and what proportion of that expenditure has been incurred in each financial year since the project commenced.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Due to continuing commercial negotiations, I regret that it is not possible to share the requested information at this point.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of buses manufactured outside of the UK were procured using Government funding schemes in each of the last five years.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

My department does not hold that specific information as local authorities procure buses.

However, through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas programme, in phase 1, 491 zero emission buses out of 1194 (41.1%) were manufactured outside of the UK. For phase 2 of the programme, 567 zero emission buses out of 1269 (44.7%) were manufactured outside of the UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data her Department holds on the volumes of imported single-life budget tyres for heavy good vehicles from 1 August 2025 through to 31 December 2025.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK.

Heavy goods vehicle tyres for buses or lorries are classified under commodity code 401120. 401190 would be used for other tyres in this subheading for example motor cars, agricultural and forestry vehicles. However, we are not able to distinguish between single-life budget tyres, and other kinds of tyres within these commodity codes.

HMRC releases imports and exports information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).

If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of mandating a minimum of 30% retread tyres in the public procurement, both direct and indirect through commercial contractors, of tyres for Ministry of Defence vehicles and introducing a mandated minimum of retread tyres in procurement contracts.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

It is for bidders to submit compliant solutions to meet requirements. In accordance with the safety cases in place for our vehicles, the tyres in use are those approved by the design authority or original equipment manufacturer, which enables us to meet our obligations to ensure that the appropriate measures and controls are in place to make sure that our vehicles are safe to operate.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 10 February 2026 to Questions 108456 and 108457 and 11 February 2026 to Question 108458, whether the corporate initiative efficiency saving in 2028–29 assumes changes in (a) passenger revenue forecasts, (b) subsidy requirements for train operators and (c) service specification.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The £199 million efficiencies in the Support for Rail Passenger Services line are expected to be delivered mostly from more efficient workforce management, economies of scale as private sector operating companies move into public ownership, and ticketing and retail reform including the creation of a single Great British Railways online retail offer. These efficiencies contribute to the more than 50 per cent reduction in the rail passenger services subsidy from £2.4 billion in 2024-25.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2026 to Question 108456 on Great British Railways: Finance, whether (a) internal modelling, (b) business case documentation and (c) analytical assessment underpins the commitment to achieve net savings from corporate initiatives in 2028–29 financial.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Forecasts for the corporate initiatives which formed part of the Department’s Efficiency plan were informed by a mix of internal modelling and initial business case development.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has provided (a) funding and (b) advice to the European Federation for Transport and Environment since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department has not provided funding to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, but has met with them as part of routine official-level stakeholder engagement.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has conducted modelling since July 2024 on the potential revenue that could be raised from a weight-based system of Vehicle Excise Duty for cars.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. Different rates apply to cars, vans, motorcycles and heavy goods vehicles, and the rate for each vehicle is calculated according to a range of factors, such as its date of first registration, weight, or CO2 emissions.

The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs at fiscal events, and in doing so considers a wide range of factors including complexity, value for money, and administrative burdens for tax payers. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the introduction on Rule H1 on the behaviour of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists since January 2022; what assessment she has made in trends in the level of defensive behaviour among vulnerable road users; and what the evidential basis is for concluding that the hierarchy improves safety outcomes for all road users, including motorists.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The previous Government updated the Highway Code in 2022 to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses including the introduction of a hierarchy of road users.

New rule H1 set out that ‘those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to take care and reduce the danger they pose to others. This principle applies most strongly to drivers of large goods and passenger vehicles, vans/minibuses, cars/taxis and motorcycles. Cyclists, horse riders and drivers of horse drawn vehicles likewise have a responsibility to reduce danger to pedestrians. None of this detracts from the responsibility of ALL road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, to have regard for their own and other road users’ safety.’

The previous Government did not initiate any assessment of their introduction of Rule H1.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government will specify a minimum pass mark for any safeguarding test required for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake safeguarding training. Licensing authorities are responsible for deciding the content and format of such training, including whether it includes a test with a minimum pass mark.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, currently being considered by the House of Lords, seeks to provide a power for the Secretary of State to set in regulations requirements that must be met for any taxi or private hire vehicle licence to be issued and held.

Excise

Found: Leigh Ingham (Labour, Stafford) (added 28 Oct 2024; removed 17 Nov 2025) 16 of 31 (51.6%) Jerome Mayhew