Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the safety of women and girls in taxis.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The primary purpose of the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime is public safety. Since coming into Government, we have been actively looking at ways to improve the existing licensing regime.
We have committed to legislate to address the issues raised in Baroness Casey’s national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We want to achieve two outcomes; the first is ensuring we have consistently high safeguarding standards and the second is that there is no unintended reduction in the availability of licensed taxi and private hire vehicle services, which could disproportionately impact women and girls and disabled people, who rely on these services the most. We are considering all options – including out-of-area working, national standards, enforcement and transferring licensing to local transport authorities - seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
We are currently reviewing licensing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance issued by the Department on actions they should take on licensing matters including safety. All licensing authorities have reported that they require the highest level of criminal background checks for taxi and private hire vehicle driver licence applicants – an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check with a check of the children’s and adults’ barred lists. Where safety recommendations from the guidance are not being followed, licensing authorities will be held to account.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of its delivery of the Transport AI Action Plan, the Department has established an internal AI programme to identify opportunities and roll out appropriate AI tools and processes to ensure the Department is delivering best value for the public. As well as ensuring access to Microsoft’s Co-Pilot tools to support everyday activities, targeted pilots are being run using AI for correspondence, consultation analysis, information retrieval and fraud detection, with plans for continuing expansion.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing mixed-mode integrated public transport ticketing across the UK.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government recognises the value of greater integration between public transport modes, including in relation to ticketing, and will continue to work with local transport authorities, operators and passengers to improve the fares and ticketing offer for passengers across England.
Programmes currently under development in England recognise the aspiration for smart, multi-modal ticketing. This includes the Department for Transport working with representatives from the bus industry, Transport for West Midlands and Midlands Connect to develop a national technology solution to facilitate multi-operator ticketing on buses and trams, focusing on contactless bank card payments and enabling fares capping outside of London. In addition, the Fares, Ticketing, and Retail Programme is delivering two new Pay As You Go schemes for the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, and expanding an existing one in the South East.
Transport is a devolved matter, and the UK government has policy responsibility for public transport ticketing in England only.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information they hold on the number of workdays that were completed remotely in their Department in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not record this data centrally. In the core department, a management tool is used to record the number of days a member of staff attends an official workplace. This figure excludes business travel, site visits and absences (e.g. special leave, flexible leave and TOIL), and it is not possible to state exactly how many of the days not spent in the workplace were due to remote working.
In the calendar year of 2024, 321,561 working days were recorded in DfT workplaces. From 1st January 2025 to 31st July 2025, 168,066 working days were recorded in DfT workplaces. This data is for the core department, excluding the executive agencies.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will consider the potential merits of extending the validity period for driving theory tests to three years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it. It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of traffic congestion on the economy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport publishes transport analysis guidance to help assess the economic cost of congestion associated with different policy interventions. It also regularly publishes statistics on speeds, delay and reliability on different types of roads. However, it does not routinely assess the economic cost of congestion on the road network as a whole.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58049 on Kirkby-in-Ashfield Station: Access, when she next plans to select stations for accessibility upgrades; and whether Kirkby-in-Ashfield station will be considered.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In May 2024, the previous government identified 50 stations for initial feasibility work to assess their potential for future upgrades under the Access for All programme. This did not include Kirkby-in-Ashfield station.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support regional airports.
Answered by Mike Kane
Regional airports are vital in addressing transport inequity by connecting all regions of the UK to national and international opportunities. They serve our local communities by supporting thousands of jobs while maintaining social and family ties and strengthening the bonds between the four nations.
Government supports connectivity across the union through our joint funding of three Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes into London from Newquay, Dundee and Derry/Londonderry.
The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector. Airports invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines are well placed to deliver services to their customers by responding to demand for different routes.
Ministers and officials at the Department meet regularly with regional airports to discuss issues such as regional air connectivity.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with local transport authorities on the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of bus drivers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport regularly meets with stakeholders, including local transport authorities, to discuss bus policy issues.
Bus services in England are predominantly run on a commercial basis by private operators who are ultimately responsible for effectively managing their workforce and the recruitment of bus drivers. However, the government will continue to work with the bus sector to support them in being able to meet both their current and future labour requirements.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has considered the potential merits of a direct train service between stations on the Robin Hood Line and London.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There has been no consideration to East Midlands Railway providing a direct service between London and stations on the Robin Hood Line. However, the Department is happy to work with operators as they develop demand-led timetables that can adapt to passengers’ evolving needs, whilst also making the running of the railways financially sustainable, to ensure that taxpayers’ money is used in the most efficient way amid the current financial constraints.