Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to undertake a review of assisted-travel provision and associated cost increases at UK airports.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) already assesses airport compliance with accessibility requirements through its accessibility framework. It publishes an annual performance report which ranks airport performance and works with airports to improve accessibility services.
In November 2024, the Department also established the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group, which published its independent report in July 2025. It set out 19 recommendations, including a review of the CAA’s airport accessibility framework (CAP1228). The Group is now supporting implementation.
As the aviation industry operates primarily in the private sector, no assessment has been made of the costs associated with accessibility provisions at UK airports.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of recruitment and retention challenges in the driving instructor and driving examiner workforce; and what steps she plans to take to raise entry standards, including English proficiency, improve qualification outcomes, recognise driving instructors within safeguarding frameworks, and support alternative career pathways for trainees who do not qualify.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since July last year, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has recruited and trained 344 driving examiners who are now in post and delivering driving tests.
DVSA has had difficulty in retaining experienced driving examiners, some of whom retire or leave DVSA for other roles. To encourage existing driving examiners to stay, DVSA is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to driving examiners and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over the next 12 months. By keeping more experienced driving examiners and bringing in new ones, DVSA will lose less testing capacity from the system, making more tests available for learner drivers.
DVSA sets out the national standard for driver and rider training on GOV.UK. This is what people must be able to do, know, and understand, to provide training to drivers and riders.
Details on the steps to becoming an instructor can also be found on GOV.UK. As part of the process of becoming an ADI, candidates must take and pass theory, driving ability and instructional ability tests.
DVSA requires every prospective ADI in Great Britain to apply for an enhanced disclosure and barring (DBS) check before beginning the ADI qualification process. They are also required to repeat the disclosure process every four years when they renew their ADI registration.
The ADI Registrar also has the power to remove an ADI who falls below the standard of fit and proper person.
DVSA is not responsible for delivering training to those undertaking the ADI qualification process. The sponsor or training school of each trainee should ensure they include all elements of training. DVSA therefore cannot offer support in alternative career pathways for trainees who do not qualify to become an ADI.
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 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, 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.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of public electric vehicle charge points were out of service in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold this information.
The Government is committed to ensuring public charging is reliable, and it is vital that consumers can charge hassle-free. From November 2024, the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 have required operators to achieve an average reliability of 99% across their network of chargepoints of 50 kW and above.
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 processing time was for driving licence applications in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The tables below show the average number of working days taken to process driving licence applications made both online and not online for both group 1 (cars and motorcycle) and group 2 (lorry and bus) licences.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||
Date | Online applications | Non- online applications | Online applications | Non-online applications |
Jul 2024 | 1.16 | 5.34 | 1.00 | 2.91 |
Aug 2024 | 1.22 | 5.50 | 1.00 | 2.16 |
Sept 2024 | 1.22 | 5.45 | 1.01 | 1.88 |
Oct 2024 | 1.20 | 4.84 | 1.06 | 1.71 |
Nov 2024 | 1.19 | 4.11 | 1.00 | 1.69 |
Dec 2024 | 1.21 | 2.87 | 1.05 | 1.80 |
Jan 2025 | 1.21 | 3.51 | 1.00 | 2.39 |
Feb 2025 | 1.21 | 4.08 | 1.00 | 1.64 |
Mar 2025 | 1.20 | 4.18 | 1.00 | 1.56 |
Apr 2025 | 1.18 | 4.09 | 1.04 | 1.71 |
May 2025 | 1.20 | 4.75 | 1.00 | 2.67 |
Jun 2025 | 1.27 | 5.77 | 1.01 | 2.82 |
Jul 2025 | 1.23 | 5.26 | 1.00 | 2.30 |
Aug 2025 | 1.23 | 5.06 | 1.00 | 2.93 |
Sept 2025 | 1.23 | 4.78 | 1.00 | 3.37 |
Oct 2025 | 1.36 | 5.28 | 1.00 | 2.58 |
Nov 2025 | 1.34 | 4.24 | 1.00 | 2.26 |
Driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer as the DVLA is often reliant on information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.
The DVLA is currently rolling out a new casework system which is expected to deliver significant improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions. When fully implemented, this will provide improved turnaround times, increased capacity, increased automation, higher levels of digital functionality and increased digital communication. The DVLA is also planning to launch a new medical services platform which will enable more customers to transact online and will increase the use of email communication.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many local bus routes ceased operating in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold this information centrally.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many rail passenger journeys were made in Great Britain in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publish statistics on rail passenger journeys on a quarterly basis on their data portal: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/.
This information is not available monthly.
The latest available information on passenger journeys in Great Britain can be found in Table 1223: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/passenger-rail-usage/table-1223-passenger-journeys-by-operator/.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 27 October 2025, to Question 82997, on Restoring Your Railway Fund, how much central government money was written off as a consequence of the decision to cancel the fund.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Chancellor’s 29 July 2024 announcement confirmed that the Restoring Your Railway programme would be brought to a close, as one of the steps she was taking to address the pressures on the public finances created by unfunded policy announcements made by the previous government. No funding was "written off" as part of this process.