Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the number of potholes filled by local authorities in England in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Department does not hold data on the time taken by local highway authorities to repair reported potholes, but national guidance recommends that defects and potholes which require urgent attention should be made safe at the time of inspection or as soon as possible.
This year, local highway authorities were required to publish transparency reports setting out progress on highway maintenance, including the number of potholes they estimate they have filled in recent years. This information can be found on the websites of relevant local highways authorities.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken by local authorities to repair a reported pothole was in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Department does not hold data on the time taken by local highway authorities to repair reported potholes, but national guidance recommends that defects and potholes which require urgent attention should be made safe at the time of inspection or as soon as possible.
This year, local highway authorities were required to publish transparency reports setting out progress on highway maintenance, including the number of potholes they estimate they have filled in recent years. This information can be found on the websites of relevant local highways authorities.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the revenues generated from the ending of free allowances under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation; and whether she plans to allocate those revenues to support the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK ETS Authority announced in July 2023 that free allocation would end for the Aviation sector in 2026, after considering stakeholder feedback which largely supported the finding that removing aviation free allocation did not pose a significant risk to carbon leakage.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility is responsible for forecasting receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and has published its methodology for forecasting ETS receipts on its website.
Receipts from the UK ETS accrue to the consolidated fund, and go to funding government priorities, which includes decarbonisation support for the aviation sector.
The UK Government is supporting the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry by building demand through the SAF Mandate, supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the Advanced Fuels Fund, and derisking SAF projects by introducing legislation for the Revenue Certainty Mechanism. In 2025, the government announced £400,000 to get new fuels to market quicker, delivering on the UK’s clean energy ambitions and powering up economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in spirit duty on trends in levels of pub closures.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade.
At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to maintain its current real-terms value.
Using HMRC’s published ready reckoner, freezing alcohol duty rates when inflation is 3.66% would cost the Exchequer around £400m a year. This ready reckoner can be found here:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes-bulletin-january-2025#change-in-various-duties.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations she has received from airport operators regarding the potential impact of business rates changes announced in the Budget on the competitiveness of UK airports.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to enabling investment so that airports can play their full role in the growth mission.
HM Treasury received budget submissions from several airports and AirportsUK. Both Ministers and officials have met with the sector and corresponded throughout the year on the impact of changes to rateable values as a result of the 2026 revaluation.
Properties seeing large bill increases as a result of the business rates revaluation - including airports - will benefit from a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion over the next 3 years.
At Budget 2025, the government also published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment. It will explore the concerns that airports and a small number of other ratepayers have raised around the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ valuation methodology and its impacts on long-term, high value investments. The government is seeking to address issues raised ahead of the 2029 revaluation, aiming to conclude this work in sufficient time before pre-list discussion commences.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Great British Railways has published (a) service performance standards, (b) routes for consolidation, and (c) a transition timetable in November 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Great British Railways does not yet exist.