Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to parliamentary question 78887 answered on 20 October, whether freight traction decarbonisation is within the scope of its long-term infrastructure and rolling stock strategy.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The main focus of the strategy will be on the future needs for passenger rolling stock, and for associated changes to the railway infrastructure.
However, within the strategy, the approach to decarbonisation will also need to take account of the needs of freight users.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to Bikeability cycle training for children.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport announced in February an additional £30 million to support the delivery of Bikeability cycle training to children across England in 2025/26.
This includes funding to ensure sessions are accessible to people with additional needs, such as households without cycles or basic cycle training to prepare children for Bikeability training. In 2024/25 the Bikeability programme provided access to over 4,700 new cycles, supporting the delivery of 500,000 training places, which equated to almost 3 million hours of cycling for children.
In 2024/25, approximately 10% of children trained were children with special educational needs and disabilities, which has increased from 8% in 2023/24.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Tactile Installation Programme on rail accessibility for people with sight loss.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The development of the business and safety cases for the installation of platform edge tactiles showed there should be a significant reduction in the risk of accidents and injuries to visually impaired passengers, particularly at low footfall and unstaffed stations. The programme completed earlier this year and the rail industry will continue to monitor its impact.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new driving examiners have (a) been recruited and (b) completed training since the reforms to driving test availability announced in April 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
On 23 April 2025, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. As part of this DVSA reintroduced the additional testing allowance (ATA) incentive scheme for driving examiners (DEs).
Since DVSA introduced the ATA initiative on 1 June 2025, it has conducted over 10,000 additional overtime tests each month in comparison with the number conducted in the equivalent overtime scheme in 2024.
Between June and September 2025, DVSA has conducted 41,931 more car practical driving tests in total, compared to the same period last year. In September 2025 alone, the Agency conducted 20,500 more tests compared to September 2024.
DVSA continues to run recruitment campaigns for new DEs. Since April 2025, DVSA has recruited 225 new entrant DEs (onboarded and started a training course) and, of those, 174 successfully completed training and were placed in a driving test centre.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department has made in reaching its target to reduce average driving test waiting times to seven weeks by summer 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
On 23 April 2025, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. As part of this DVSA reintroduced the additional testing allowance (ATA) incentive scheme for driving examiners (DEs).
Since DVSA introduced the ATA initiative on 1 June 2025, it has conducted over 10,000 additional overtime tests each month in comparison with the number conducted in the equivalent overtime scheme in 2024.
Between June and September 2025, DVSA has conducted 41,931 more car practical driving tests in total, compared to the same period last year. In September 2025 alone, the Agency conducted 20,500 more tests compared to September 2024.
DVSA continues to run recruitment campaigns for new DEs. Since April 2025, DVSA has recruited 225 new entrant DEs (onboarded and started a training course) and, of those, 174 successfully completed training and were placed in a driving test centre.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of (a) recent trends in levels of prevalence of assaults against railway staff and (b) the effectiveness of body-worn video cameras in helping to deter those assaults.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that railway workers feel safe and are safe at work. There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker and so the recent reports of a rise in attacks on rail staff is of concern.
The policing of the railway is the responsibility of the British Transport Police (BTP) who work closely with the rail industry and Department for Transport to monitor trends and intervene to ensure the railway remains a safe environment for rail staff and passengers.
My department and BTP encourage rail operators to consider the personal safety of their rail staff, including encouraging greater use of Body Worn Video (BWV), which was academically proven in a 2019 trial to reduce violence against BWV wearing staff at railway stations by 47%.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken to deploy partial electrification on the rail network.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Historically, full overhead electrification has been the main way to electrify the railway and 74 per cent of passenger kilometres travelled are already electric. Although a specific assessment of the deployment of partial electrification has not been made, the Government intends to focus on being more efficient with where we deliver electrification by leveraging the recent progress in battery technology on the railway, including the use of partial electrification. Battery trains are already being deployed by both Transport for Wales and Merseyrail. We are working closely with colleagues in Network Rail to identify lines which could have battery trains on them in the future, developing a clear picture of where infrastructure will be needed to decarbonise the railway.
We are working on a long-term rolling stock and infrastructure strategy, which will be the first for over thirty years, to give certainty to the manufacturing and assembly market, and to pursue modern standards of carbon-friendly traction, passenger comfort and accessibility.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help support the decarbonisation of the cruise industry.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, published in March this year, sets out key UK policies to reach zero emissions by 2050. These policies will work alongside measures to reduce emissions from global shipping, which were agreed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in April. UK Government funding is also available, through the UK SHORE programme, for research & development of the technologies required for maritime decarbonisation. Together, this creates a clear framework and package of support for the decarbonisation of all parts of the maritime sector, including the cruise industry.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of low noise vehicles on (a) visually impaired people and (b) guide dogs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Electric vehicles play a key role in contributing to a quieter and cleaner environment, but the Department recognises the potential risks posed by quiet electric vehicles to pedestrians, other vulnerable road users and animals.
Vehicle approval requirements have been introduced to mandate sound generators, known as Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS), on new types of quiet electric and hybrid vehicles. This has applied to new vehicles being registered since 1 July 2021. The requirements ensure that electric and hybrid vehicles will always produce a minimum level of noise below twelve miles per hour and during reversing.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has she made of potential impact of the public spaces protection orders process on taxi and professional drivers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Home Office lead on Public Spaces Protection Orders policy. Public Spaces Protection Orders can be issued by local authorities to stop people committing anti-social behaviour in a public place. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances. They are best placed to understand what is driving the behaviour in question, the impact that it is having, and to determine the most appropriate response.