Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 7 September 2026 to WPQ 26656, if her Department will make such an assessment.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has no plans to make such an assessment.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Ministers in her Department attended the Farnborough International Airshow 2026; on which dates each Minister attended; and what meetings each Minister held during the event.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No Ministers from the Department attended the Farnborough International Airshow in 2026. A Minister had been scheduled to attend but because of the Government reshuffle the same week this was no longer possible because Ministerial portfolios and responsibilities had not been confirmed.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 15009 on Roads: Construction, whether the cancellation of the National Highways contract with Skanska for the A46 Newark Bypass was taken into account when preparing that Answer.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Yes.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2026 to Question 16605 on Parking Offences: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, when the trial of higher-level Penalty Charge Notices in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is expected to conclude; and whether her Department plans to publish an assessment of the outcome of that trial.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) concluded its trial of higher-level penalty charge notices at the end of August 2026. The publication, or otherwise, of its assessment will be a matter for BCP.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of rail journeys used fully digital tickets in each month since May 2026.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The approximate proportion of tickets fulfilled as Digital Tickets since May 2026 are:
| May-26 | Jun-26 | Jul-26 | Aug-26 |
Digital | 86% | 84% | 86% | 85% |
Non Digital | 14% | 16% | 14% | 15% |
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2026 to Question 17043 on Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Correspondence, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the DVSA to respond to 100% of simple enquiry emails within five working days.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) aims to respond to customer correspondence as quickly as possible and prioritises enquiries to ensure urgent or complex matters are handled appropriately. While simple enquiries are generally expected to be resolved more quickly, setting a 100% target could risk diverting resources from more complex or time-sensitive cases and may not take account of periods of exceptionally high demand.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) internal target to respond to 90% of simple enquiry emails within five working days was met in 2025/26.
DVSA continues to monitor correspondence performance and keeps its customer service standards under review to ensure they remain effective, proportionate and deliverable.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether the Government considers maintaining domestic cement manufacturing capability to be of strategic national importance.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the importance of the UK’s cement manufacturing industry, particularly to the Government’s goals of reindustrialisation and significant infrastructure projects. The cement sector receives support under the British Industry Supercharger (Supercharger) which exempts eligible businesses from certain electricity policy costs and provides 90% compensation for electricity network charges. Eligible cement manufacturing businesses benefitted from the uplift to the Network Charging Compensation Scheme, part of the Supercharger, and now save approximately £65 – 87/MWh on their electricity bills improving their competitiveness and mitigating the risk of carbon leakage and the offshoring of production to overseas competitors with less stringent climate change policies.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 14998 on British Overseas Territories, what was the total cost to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of each of the 10 monitoring visits to British Overseas Territories since 4 July 2024, broken down by (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenses.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the Right Hon Member to Question 17595 answered on 2 September 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2026 to Question 15008 on Train Operating Companies: Finance, what assessment she has made of the reasons for passenger revenue being lower than forecast in 2025-2026 financial year.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the Rt Hon member to the Answer of 10 July 2026 to Question 15008.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2026 to Question 15461 on Air Routes, when the UK Airspace Design Service is expected to become fully operational; and for how long it is expected to take to get to around 40 staff.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) provided by NATS En Route Ltd (NERL) is operational and has begun work to design airspace for the complex London region. The final process to establish the UKADS was the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision on modifications to the NERL licence, which was published in March 2026, and took effect on 6 May 2026. Staffing arrangements are a matter for NATS En Route Ltd.