Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which specific sections of the Highway Code are under review to improve safety for (a) pedestrians, (b) cyclists, (c) motorcyclists and (d) other vulnerable road users.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In January 2022, the Department updated The Highway Code to improve the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, including the introduction of a hierarchy of road users.
On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As set out in the strategy, more work is needed to continue embedding these changes and overall awareness of the Highway Code. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is planning to take to ensure that any changes to the Highway Code are (a) effectively communicated to road users and (b) enforced.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Alongside the strategy, 5 consultations were launched.
Following the consultations, the Department will review the Highway Code and consider what amendments may be appropriate.
Enforcement of the law is a matter for the police who will decide on the evidence of each individual case, whether an offence has been committed and the appropriate action to take.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to update the Highway Code to reflect the new road safety strategy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Alongside the strategy, 5 consultations were launched.
Following the consultations, the Department will review the Highway Code and consider what amendments may be appropriate.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Bus Service Recovery Grant will be extended beyond March 2022.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We have provided unprecedented support for local transport during the pandemic. For bus, operators and local authorities have received funding through the £1.5bn Coronavirus Bus Service Support Grant, and the ongoing £226.5m Bus Recovery Grant.
The Government is committed to seeing the bus sector return to financial self- sufficiency. Discussions are ongoing regarding the costs and benefits of measures to support the sector beyond April, and we are working closely with stakeholders to understand the potential challenges and possible mitigations once recovery funding ends. Recognising the need for further support, an additional £29m uplift will be provided to recipients of the Bus Recovery Grant this financial year.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce the costs of Day 2 and Day 8 covid-19 tests for people entering the UK.
Answered by Robert Courts
The government continues to work with the travel industry and private testing providers to further reduce testing costs, while ensuring travel is as safe as possible. The cost of PCR tests has fallen since the introduction of post-arrival lateral flow testing for eligible vaccinated passengers. Testing requirements for unvaccinated passengers are also regularly reviewed.
Testing costs are minimal for fully vaccinated passengers and under 18s. Eligible fully vaccinated passengers and under 18s arriving into the UK now just need to take a lateral flow test post arrival, with a free confirmatory PCR test if they receive a positive result. The rule changes make testing on arrival simpler and cheaper for people across the country.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle illegal pavement parking.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department carried out a public consultation on possible solutions to the complex pavement parking problem, which ran from 31 August 2020 to 22 November 2020. The consultation received over 15,000 responses. The Department has been carefully analysing the consultation responses and the consultation results will inform our policy decision. We will publish the outcomes as soon as possible.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when further vouchers will be released under the Fix your Bike Voucher Scheme; and how many vouchers have been allocated under that scheme to people in Bradford West constituency to date.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department plans to release a further batch of vouchers very shortly. The release of vouchers has been staggered in order to prevent repairers from being overwhelmed. The first release was a small pilot to allow the Department to monitor the scheme’s impact and adapt it as necessary. There were 65 vouchers issued to addresses in the Bradford West constituency, out of the 62,101 total vouchers originally allocated.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The information has been provided for the Department and its Executive Agencies.
Information provided is self-reported and only includes those members of staff who have voluntarily provided information on their religion and ethnicity, which is not mandatory.
Where staff numbers are reporting less than 10, we have not released the exact figures in order to maintain anonymity.
Total No. Staff with reported religion as Muslim | 210 |
|
|
Total No. Staff with reported religion as Muslim within each of the following ethnic groups: |
|
Bangladeshi | 62 |
Indian | 16 |
Pakistani | 78 |
Any Other Asian Group | 13 |
African |
|
Caribbean |
|
Any Other Black/African/Caribbean/Black British |
|
Chinese |
|
White and Asian |
|
Any Other White Group |
|
Any Other Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Group |
|
Any Arab Group |
|
Other - Any Other Ethnic Group |
|
White-English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British |
|
Prefer Not To Say | 12 |
Total No. Staff with reported religion as Muslim within each of the following grades: |
|
AA |
|
AO | 41 |
EO | 52 |
HEO | 47 |
SEO | 42 |
G7 | 19 |
G6 |
|
SCS | 0 |
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the affordability of motor vehicle insurance in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Autumn Statement 2015 announced the government will bring forward measures to reduce the excessive costs arising from unnecessary whiplash claims. As the industry is competitive we expect average savings of £40 to £50 per motor insurance policy to be passed onto customers. Some insurers have already committed to pass on all savings to consumers as a result of the proposed changes.
The Department for Transport has also held a number of recent meetings with the motor insurance industry, for example to discuss young driver safety and technology measures which can reduce the cost of insurance
The pricing of individual insurance products is a commercial matter for insurers.