Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 120045 on British Business Bank, what the total monetary value is of support provided to funds, schemes and portfolio companies described as relating to (a) net zero, (b) decarbonisation, (c) sustainability, (d) climate transition and (e) the green economy in (i) 2024–25 and (ii) 2025–26 financial years; and if he will provide a breakdown by (A) programme and scheme, including but not limited to the Growth Guarantee Scheme, Start Up Loans, and the Green Growth Guarantee Scheme the (B) type of support, including direct investment, guarantees and co-investment and (C) the number of recipient businesses and funds supported under each category.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank does not centrally classify funds, schemes or portfolio companies under the categories of net zero, decarbonisation, sustainability, climate transition or the green economy in the form requested.
The Bank’s approach is to embed support for the transition to net zero and sustainable growth across its full range of programmes, rather than through standalone business lines. As such, these objectives are reflected across its activities, including through direct co-investment, investment in venture and growth capital funds, and lending delivered through programmes such as Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
As set out in the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 120045, the Bank has in both 2024-25 and 2025-26 invested in, capitalised, and supported through guarantees or co-investment a number of funds, schemes and portfolio companies with these characteristics.
As these activities are embedded across programmes, a comprehensive breakdown of total monetary value by category, programme or scheme, type of support, and number of recipient businesses and funds is not held in a single reportable format.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy not to recognise overseas marriages that would be illegal under UK law.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There are no plans to change the law that an overseas marriage is normally recognised in England and Wales 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.
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 18 March 2026 to Question 117905 on Driving Tests: Vacancies, which DVSA driving test centres have had live Driving Examiner vacancies; what dates those vacancies were first listed; and how many Driving Examiner vacancies there were across all DVSA test centres in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As stated in the answer to Question 117906 the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold centrally a snapshot of the total number of driving examiner vacancies by calendar month but continually reviews its workforce requirements in response to customer demand and operational need. Recruitment is managed through ongoing and periodic national and regional campaigns rather than fixed monthly vacancy totals.
All driving examiner vacancies are publicly advertised on Civil Service Jobs on the GOV.UK website and DVSA also publishes information about available career opportunities through its “Working for DVSA” pages on GOV.UK.
As part of this approach, DVSA has continued to run national recruitment campaigns for driving examiners, including a campaign launched in February 2026 advertising multiple driving examiner posts across the country. These campaigns are intended to address recruitment pressures and improve driving test capacity, particularly in areas with the greatest demand.
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 11 March 2026 to Question 117438 on Great British Railways: Finance, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing details of the modelling, business case development or analytical assessments underpinning the forecast £199 million net savings from corporate initiatives in 2028–29.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has considered this and has no plans to publish the details of internal modelling or initial business case development which informed the savings from corporate initiatives in the Department’s Efficiency Plan.
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 March 2026 to Question 118273 on Railways: Government Assistance, if she will provide the annual estimated level of support per rail passenger journey for each financial year between 2024-25 and 2028-29.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not intend to publish further details on the estimates on level of support per rail passenger journey. Data on the previous levels of support per rail passenger kilometre are available here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/ptafpcco/uk-rail-industry-finance-2425.pdf.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected savings from the removal of management and performance fees payable to private sector train operating companies are estimated to be; and over what time period those savings will be realised.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Public ownership is estimated to save taxpayers up to £110-150 million every year on fees currently paid to privately-owned train operating companies, once all services currently delivered under contract with the Department have transferred.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 16 March 2026 to Question 119491, if she will break down the £478 million whole-life cost of the NO2 Programme by (a) funding stream, including the Implementation Fund, Clean Air Fund and administrative costs, (b) local authority scheme and (c) individual project; and how much has been (i) allocated, (ii) committed and (iii) spent.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Transport provides all capital funding and a small amount of resource funding.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered amending section 30 of the Countryside Act 1968 to permit equestrians to use rights of way currently designated as footpaths; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of such an amendment on access for horse riders to the countryside; and what assessment she has made of the level of the administrative workload associated with upgrading footpaths to bridleways through the existing rights of way modification process.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to amend section 30 of the Countryside Act 1968 to permit equestrian use of footpaths and as such, has not assessed the potential im-pact of this change.
Defra has not made a specific assessment of the administrative workload associated with upgrading footpaths to bridleways through the definitive map modification order process. Applications are considered by local authorities in the first instance. Where orders are made and objections are received, they may be referred to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for determination, which can extend the time taken to reach a de-cision. Timescales vary depending on factors such as complexity and the presence of objections, and local authorities and PINS may also have a backlog of applications.
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 16 October 2025 to Question 74236, if she will set out (a) the decision-making process used by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency when assessing applications to renew driving licences for drivers aged over 70; (b) what evidence is considered when determining whether a driver meets the eyesight requirements for licensing; and (c) what weight is given to recent eyesight tests conducted by qualified opticians when assessing whether an applicant aged over 70 meets the required visual standards.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The driver licensing framework in Great Britain is designed to be balanced and proportionate. Drivers of all ages are legally required to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if they develop a medical condition, or if an existing condition worsens, that may affect their ability to drive.
Driving licences expire at the age of 70 and must be renewed every three years thereafter. This renewal process provides a regular opportunity for older drivers to consider their health and fitness to drive, recognising that health and vision may deteriorate with age.
All drivers are responsible for ensuring that they meet the statutory eyesight standards, including the use of corrective lenses where required. Where a driver declares a medical condition that may affect vision, the DVLA may require a vision assessment, which can be accessed for free at Specsavers. These examinations are conducted in accordance with DVLA specifications to determine whether the legal visual standards are met. Drivers can submit the results of an eyesight test done by another optician as long as it includes an ‘Esterman visual test’.
Depending on the outcome of the assessment and the information provided, a driver may retain their licence, be issued with a time-limited licence subject to ongoing review, or where an individual does not meet the required standards, their driving licence will be revoked or their application refused.
Further information on the eyesight standards for driving is available on the GOV.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/driving-eyesight-rules. The Department for Transport is currently consulting on proposals to introduce mandatory eyesight testing for drivers aged 70 and over. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-safety-strategy and https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/introducing-mandatory-eyesight-testing-for-older-drivers.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 111863, what activities the Intellectual Property Office undertakes in relation to net zero, sustainability or green innovation objectives.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our sustainability initiatives are focused on meeting our obligations under the Greening Government Commitments, which aim to reduce the environmental impact of our estate and operations. We also ensure that we continue to meet the requirements of ISO 14001, which we hold for our environmental management system.
While we review the future accommodation requirements of our headquarters, we are not planning any significant investment in the estate. Current activity is therefore limited to essential maintenance and smaller improvements to maintain efficiency. Recent initiatives include the installation of new energy efficient boilers in our warehouse facility; a reduction in the number of fleet vans and the journeys that they undertake; and replacement of air conditioning units with more efficient units. We’re also reviewing our waste processes to reduce overall waste and improve the amount we recycle.
Further detail on our sustainability activity for the previous financial year is set out in the sustainability chapter of our Annual Report and Accounts.