Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2026, to Question 17041, Parking Offences: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, what were the conclusions from the review, what is the Government's response to the review, and if she will publish the review.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department noted Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s conclusions following its 2025 trial. BCP then requested a further trial, which was granted. There are no plans to publish reviews of these trials, which have been held by BCP, and where the publication of any conclusions is for them.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2026 to Question 18773 on Biodiversity, whether it remains her Department's policy that biodiversity net gain applies to most development.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Most planning applications have always been exempt from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) because they have little or no impact on nature. BNG continues to apply to many new housing and commercial developments and will be mandatory for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects from November 2026. Government expects BNG to continue to play an important role in recovering nature in England while supporting the homes and infrastructure we need.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with (a) Transport for London and (b) the Greater London Authority on the publication of guidance on applications for fully autonomous taxi passenger services; and what her policy is on the adoption of driverless taxis in London.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department engages regularly with Transport for London (TfL) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) on the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting framework established under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.

This engagement has included discussions on the operation of the pilot permitting scheme, the roles of local licensing authorities and franchising bodies in their consent function, and the non-statutory guidance issued by the Department to support these processes.

Under the framework, where an automated passenger service resembles a taxi or private hire vehicle, the relevant licensing authority must provide its consent before a permit can be granted. There is no requirement for TfL, the GLA or any other consent authority to issue guidance on the role automated passenger services may play within their local areas.

Decisions on individual permit applications will be taken in accordance with the statutory framework, including the requirement for appropriate local consent. The Government considers that automated passenger services have the potential to improve transport options and support innovation, while maintaining public safety as the overriding priority.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is the current amount of facility time given to the trade unions by DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) (a) in cash and (b) as percentage of paybill terms; and whether DFTO plans to increase this further as a consequence of the new Civil Service facility time framework.

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

The DfT Operator Limited is in the process of finalising a recognition agreement with the public sector unions whose members transferred from the Department and as such, there is no facility time in DfT Operator Limited.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2026 to Question 18159 on Employees' Contributions and paragraph 1.27 of the Office for Budget Responsibility's document entitled Supplementary forecast information release: Costing of charging NICs on salary-sacrificed pension, published on 5 February 2026, if he will publish the calculation and assumptions used by HMRC to estimate that the mean average additional employee National Insurance contributions liability will be £84 in the first year.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The £84 average additional employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) liability in the first year of impact (2029–30) is equivalent to the pre-behavioural salary sacrifice employee NICs yield divided by the number of affected employees.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2026, to Question 16283, on National Highways: Public Relations, if she will place in the Library a copy of the (a) contract, (b) Scope of Work document and (c) project specification for the external public affairs contract; and whether the stakeholders include (i) MPs and (ii) Government departments.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In response to Questions 30028 and 30022, I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 9 July 2026 to PQ UIN 16283 and 8 September 2026 to PQ UIN 21982.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 28 August 2026 to Question 17510 on Department for Transport: Public Relations, if she will publish the (a) Scope of Work document and (b) project specification for the National Highways public affairs contract.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In response to Questions 30028 and 30022, I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 9 July 2026 to PQ UIN 16283 and 8 September 2026 to PQ UIN 21982.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 14930 on Railways: Standards, what information her Department holds on which state-owned Train Operating Companies record management information on service cancellations attributable to (a) short-notice staff sickness and (b) crew unavailability.

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

The Department does not hold information on which train operating companies record management information specifically on service cancellations attributable to short-notice staff sickness or crew unavailability.

Train operating companies monitor a range of management information locally in support of operational decision-making in addition to industry-standard cancellation attribution data. The Department does not maintain a record of whether individual operators record such information.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, Schedule 14, Part 1, Paragraph 18 for zebra crossings at floating bus stops.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government considers that the requirements set out in Schedule 14, Part 1, Paragraph 18 of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 provide an appropriate framework for zebra crossings, including those associated with floating bus stop designs.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the No10 press release entitled Prime Minister supports West Midlands to take public control of local bus network, published on 18 August 2026, from which budget and department is the £11.5m of new government funding coming from; whether this is (a) additional spending or (b) from an existing budget; and whether it will be part of integrated settlement funding.

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

Funding will be provided from within existing Department for Transport allocations over a 3-year period, with precise allocations depending on where potential efficiencies and savings are identified. A final decision has not yet been taken on whether this funding will be incorporated into the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Integrated Settlement.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the written statement of 1 September 2026, HCWS297, on bus fares, whether (a) devolved administrations and (b) London will receive any consequential funding as a consequence of the £400 million of government funding from the DESNZ budget.

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

This action to ease the cost of living is fully funded through an extra £454m (including funding for devolved governments) which comes from a reprioritisation of DESNZ’s budget.

For the devolved governments the Barnett formula applies when departmental budgets change, not when spending is announced. Barnett consequentials will be confirmed in the normal way at the next fiscal event. London will not receive any consequential funding under existing devolved arrangements in the capital.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the No10 press release, "Free bus travel 24/7 for disabled people as Prime Minister takes further action to ease cost of living", of 17 August 2026, over what financial years is the £60 million being provided; and whether this is additional DfT spending, spending from unallocated budgets, or from reductions to other budgets.

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

The £60 million funding is being provided for financial year 2027-28. This will be met through reprioritisation within existing Department for Transport and Department for Work and Pensions budgets and will not require additional funding from taxpayers.

This is a permanent policy change and funding for future years will be confirmed at the next Spending Review.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2026 to Question 15270, on Speed Limits: Cameras, which body holds information on the revenue directed from motoring fines into the Consolidated Fund.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Receipts from fixed penalty notices (FPNs) including those issued for speeding offences and penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) are issued by the Police and collected by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and accounted for in the annual HMCTS Trust Statement. By statute, these receipts are due to the Consolidated Fund; however, HM Treasury has agreed that annually £30 million of the receipts from paid FPNs plus an additional £10 per paid PND should be ring fenced for use by victim services. The remaining receipts, under the latest HM Treasury spending review, are to be retained by the Ministry of Justice and form part of their overall funding settlement.

In 2025-26, HMCTS collected £144.4 million from paid FPNs and PNDs of which £30.017 million was ring fenced to victim services and the remaining £114 million was retained by the Ministry of Justice.

The link to the latest published HMCTS Trust Statement is here: Trust Report 2025-26.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 21974, have there been any instances where an uncle/niece or aunt/nephew marriage which falls within the prohibited degrees of relationship under the Marriage Act 1949 have been recognised.

Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the recognition of particular types of marriage.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 21974 on Social Security Benefits: Polygamy, if he will publish the required conditions under which an an overseas polygamous marriage is recognised under the law of England and Wales.

Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The law on the recognition of overseas marriage in matters for which the Lord Chancellor has policy responsibility is principally found in the common law.

Under the common law, an overseas marriage is normally recognised if it complied with the requirements for the form of the ceremony where it took place (meaning by whom, where, when and how it was conducted) and if both parties had capacity to marry according to the law of their domicile (home country).

If a party to the marriage was domiciled in England and Wales and had a spouse or civil partner at the time of the marriage, the marriage will be void under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The court may also consider additional matters in deciding on recognition.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 21974 on Social Security Benefits: Polygamy, whether there is a statute law basis for recognising a polygamous marriage in England and Wales.

Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

In areas for which the Lord Chancellor has policy responsibility, the court will normally apply common law rules to determine whether an overseas marriage (including a polygamous marriage) is recognised in England and Wales.

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 reinforces the common law rules on capacity to enter into an overseas marriage.

Senior Courts of England and Wales

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