Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2026 to Question 123378, what are the job titles for the FTE staff.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Full-time equivalent (FTE) is a measure of the accumulated time recorded across the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) by staff who have allocated any of their time to the Sustainability Taskforce. The FTE figure does not represent an equivalent number of job titles or posts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total duration in hours was of (a) partial and (b) full closures as a result of the M6 Lune Gorge project.

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

Between 1 September 2025 and 14 April 2026, all recorded closures associated with preparatory works were partial closures only, affecting a single northbound or southbound carriageway, or lane closures. There were 18 overnight carriageway closures, each operating within a standard nine hour window (8pm – 5am), giving up to 162 hours of partial closures. In addition, lane closures from January 2026 total up to 270 hours. There were no full closures affecting both directions simultaneously during this period.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 122545 on the Vehicle Certification Agency, whether her Department has set a target date for the Vehicle Certification Agency to eliminate its deficit.

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

The VCA is currently analysing responses to its recent consultation on increasing certain fees, which would support deficit reduction. If taken forward, any fee changes require the consent of this House through a fee order. We are therefore unable to set out a specific timeframe for elimination of the deficit at this stage. As is the standard practice, I will update the House in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to help facilitate the installation of pavement gullies for at home EV charging.

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

The Department ran a consultation between November 2025 and January 2026, seeking views on changes to permitted development rights for cross-pavement charging solutions. The Department will publish its response shortly. This expands on the £25m grant funding for local authorities, supporting the installation of cross-pavement channels.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of social media, email alerts and in-centre advertising for driving examiner roles by conversion to (a) completed applications and (b) successful hires.

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

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer to Question 122595, 30 March 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional practical car driving tests were delivered by DVSA in each month since February 2026 compared with the same months in the previous year; of those additional tests, how many were delivered by (i) examiners working overtime, (ii) warrant card holders temporarily deployed from other DVSA roles and (iii) newly recruited examiners; and during which months warrant card holders from non-examiner roles were deployed to conduct practical driving tests.

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

www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/driving-test-and-theory-test-data-cars shows the number of car practical driving tests conducted up to March 2026.

The below table shows the number of overtime tests since February 2026. Further information is not available.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the flights listed to the Dominican Republic in WPQ 120039, what the purpose was of each such visit; which Ministers or senior officials approved each visit; how many officials travelled on each occasion and at what grade; what the total cost was of each visit; and what assessment was made of whether those engagements could be conducted remotely or combined with other travel.

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

On one occasion, a Grade 7 travelled to the Dominican Republic at a cost of £1,123.42, in line with departmental policy, to attend and present at a regional event on management of airspace over or nearby to conflict zones. The event covered North America, South America and Caribbean regions and was arranged by the UN aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), with key input from the UK, Canada and Spain. The event achieved its primary high-level goal of assisting delivery of an awareness session in each region globally, while also delivering a clear security benefit. Participation in this activity supports the strengthening of international airspace management standards, promotes the consistent application of agreed airspace and risk management best practice, and contributes directly to safer and more secure global aviation operations. UK expertise is significant in this area and is highly valued by international partners, strengthening international capability to mitigate risks, including those potentially faced by UK airlines or citizens.

On a separate occasion, the Department for Transport’s International Aviation Negotiations Team attended the International Civil Aviation Negotiation Event (ICAN) hosted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). ICAN 2025 was hosted in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Dominican Republic and therefore held in the Dominican Republic.

Officials met with foreign governments to update and further liberalise the UK’s portfolio of air service agreements - the treaties that underpin the legal basis for flights to and from the UK. ICAN provides a central forum to conduct bilateral air services negotiations and consultations with other ICAO member states over the course of a week. The event was attended by six officials, including a Grade 6, a Grade 7, three SEOs and an EO. Six officials allowed for multiple bilateral negotiations to happen concurrently, resulting in meetings with 30 countries. ICAN is a primarily in-person event, with delegations from over 80 ICAO member states in attendance.

The total cost of the flights was £6,277.10 and was approved by Ian Elston, Deputy Director in the Department for Transport, in line with departmental policy. An assessment was made that the benefits to the UK economy through this work outweighed the cost of the sending a delegation to the event. There is an additional entry in the spreadsheet from WPQ 120039, relating to one Grade 6’s travel. This has been mis-recorded and is a duplication of previously stated travel.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, a) what the failure-to-attend rate for practical car driving tests was in each month since January 2026 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.

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

The table below shows failure-to-attends (FTA) as a percentage of the total number of bookings for each month since January 2026.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency monitors failure to attend rates and consider potential causes of those rates changing, together with potential interventions to reduce such rates, on an ongoing basis.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2026 to Question 124238 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, how many applicants have successfully received funding under the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking; and what the total value is of funding awarded under that scheme.

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

As of 1 January 2026, the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking grant has funded 39 sockets with a grant value of £13,531. The grant funds the installation of charge points at residential properties with on-street parking if they are also installing a cross-pavement solution. This grant is in addition to the £25 million Electric Vehicle Pavement Channels Grant for local authorities.

The Government has consulted on measures to reduce planning permission requirements for cross-pavement solutions, further supporting households with on-street parking, and will be responding in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether EU Regulation 2023/1542 on batteries and waste batteries will come into force in Northern Ireland before equivalent requirements are introduced in Great Britain; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications of businesses operating across the UK internal market.

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

No UK Internal Market assessment has been made.

Article 5(4), in conjunction with Article 13(3) of the Windsor Framework, provides that the EU law listed in Annex 2 to the Windsor Framework, including that law as amended or replaced, will apply to and in the UK in respect of Northern Ireland. Consequently, the EU Batteries Regulation has applied in Northern Ireland from 18 February 2024.

Working alongside the Devolved Governments, we are reviewing the UK's producer responsibility legislation for batteries. As part of this review, we are considering aligning with the requirements of the EU Batteries Regulation in Great Britain. My officials held a series of workshops with industry earlier this year to explore this further.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 122891 on Driving Licences: Medical Records , what the timetable is for the (a) completion of updates to DVLA's online service (b) start of the operation of the new casework system.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 125013.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122116, whether the Government has plans to establish a targeted national relief scheme specifically for disruption arising from roadworks.

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

The Government has no plans to establish a targeted national relief scheme specifically for disruption arising from roadworks. Local authorities are responsible for managing and mitigating the impacts of roadworks in their areas.

The Government’s focus is on minimising disruption through stronger coordination, enforcement, and tools such as permit schemes and lane rental.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122317 on Railways: North of England, what the timetable is for (a) completing and (b) publishing a long-term strategy for the York area.

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

The decision was taken at the Spending Review to pause the project until a long-term strategy for the route can be developed further. The scheme will remain under review to ensure it can be delivered in the most effective way as part of a holistic strategy of investment.

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 each month since December 2025 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.

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

The table below shows the average number of working days taken to process driving licence applications made both online and not online

from January 2026 to date for both group 1 (cars and motorcycle) and group 2 (lorry and bus) applications.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving test centres are in operation; what their maximum testing capacity is; what the utilisation rate is of each centre; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to booking arrangements on (i) waiting times and (ii) test slot utilisation.

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

Answers to written questions 101471 of 6 January, 104860 of 22 January, 122532 of 25 March, and 124195 of 17 April 2026, respectively provide data on how many full-time equivalent (FTE) driving examiners (DE) employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) were (a) in post and (b) delivering practical car driving tests for each month from July 2024 to March 2026.

In March 2026, DVSA provided car practical driving tests from 318 driving test centres (DTC). The national average utilisation figure was 75.74% in that month. The attached spreadsheet (WPQ-00066952) provides the utilisation figures for all DTCs in the same period. The capacity of each DTC will vary depending on the services it provides and whether DEs work full or part-time.

DVSA takes a view of the number of DEs it needs, based on demand at a national level, then split down to test centre. The agency is working on a detailed view of DE requirements, based on demand forecast modelling at test centre level, rather than nationally. DVSA expects to have that view in summer 2026.

Utilisation of DE time measures how much of a DE’s available deployable working time is used to deliver driving tests, rather than individual effort or productivity.

The intention of the forthcoming changes to practical test booking arrangements will make the system fairer for genuine learners by reducing exploitation and churn. Other measures DVSA is deploying (such as recruiting more examiners and carrying out more overtime) are designed to improve waiting times and utilisation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restricting NHS staff from striking.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

An impact assessment was completed and published online by the Department for Business and Trade on the Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act 2023. The Government has repealed these restrictions on striking National Health Service staff via the Employment Rights Act, which has come into effect with royal assent in December 2025. The impact assessment is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67129a858a62ffa8df77b3de/Impact_assessment_repeal_strikes_minimum_service_levels_act_2023.pdf

The Government will continue to work constructively with all NHS unions to avoid disrupting services for patients.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) driving examiners were employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in each month since July 2024, (b) examiners were fully qualified and deployable in each of those months and (c) vacant driving examiner posts there were in each month for which data is available.

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

Answers to written questions 101471 of 6 January, 104860 of 22 January, 122532 of 25 March, and 124195 of 17 April 2026, respectively provide data on how many full-time equivalent (FTE) driving examiners (DE) employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) were (a) in post and (b) delivering practical car driving tests for each month from July 2024 to March 2026.

In March 2026, DVSA provided car practical driving tests from 318 driving test centres (DTC). The national average utilisation figure was 75.74% in that month. The attached spreadsheet (WPQ-00066952) provides the utilisation figures for all DTCs in the same period. The capacity of each DTC will vary depending on the services it provides and whether DEs work full or part-time.

DVSA takes a view of the number of DEs it needs, based on demand at a national level, then split down to test centre. The agency is working on a detailed view of DE requirements, based on demand forecast modelling at test centre level, rather than nationally. DVSA expects to have that view in summer 2026.

Utilisation of DE time measures how much of a DE’s available deployable working time is used to deliver driving tests, rather than individual effort or productivity.

The intention of the forthcoming changes to practical test booking arrangements will make the system fairer for genuine learners by reducing exploitation and churn. Other measures DVSA is deploying (such as recruiting more examiners and carrying out more overtime) are designed to improve waiting times and utilisation.