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 120007, whether any elements of the HS2 programme’s scope, specification or associated works are expected to change in order to align the programme with the Spending Review settlement for FY2025-26 to FY2029-30.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review settlement profiles reflects the scope, specification and associated works that the HS2 programme plans to deliver over the period. The HS2 programme reset work that Mark Wild is currently undertaking is underpinned by the Spending Review settlement.
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 120007, whether any elements of the HS2 programme’s scope, specification or associated works are expected to change in order to align the programme with the Spending Review settlement for FY2025-26 to FY2029-30.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review settlement profiles reflects the scope, specification and associated works that the HS2 programme plans to deliver over the period. The HS2 programme reset work that Mark Wild is currently undertaking is underpinned by the Spending Review settlement.
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 March 2026 to Question 119492, if she will publish details of the (a) month and (b) year she expects the reset of the High Speed Two programme to be completed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The HS2 programme reset is underway and we are committed to updating parliament on progress on the reset in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of current electricity costs on the rate of electric vehicle uptake; and what assessment he has made of the effect of electricity pricing mechanisms on those costs.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On electric vehicle uptake, the Department for Transport has not assessed the potential impact of current electricity costs on the rate of uptake, and it is too early to determine how changes in fuel and electricity prices may influence electric vehicle adoption. The Department for Transport will monitor closely and remains fully committed to the ZEV transition.
On energy pricing, Ofgem are reviewing how we could recover energy system costs from consumers (including consumers who own electric vehicles) in ways that are fairer and more efficient through their Cost Allocation and Recovery Review. DESNZ are working closely with the regulator on this.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK ETS compliance costs on ferry fares for passengers and businesses, particularly those in the hospitality sector using the Isle of Wight route.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Impact Assessment does not identify significant consumer price impacts and finds that compliance costs for domestic maritime operators are modest relative to their overall operating costs, with fuel and carbon costs forming only one part of total running costs. These findings are consistent with international evidence showing changes to ferry ticket prices in the low single digit range under equivalent carbon pricing.
The Government will review the maritime element of the United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme in 2028 to ensure that its impacts remain accurate, proportionate and fully assessed as the sector continues to decarbonise.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current processes for handling incidents involving harassment, alarm or distress motivated by homophobia where relevant evidence cannot be admitted or relied upon in court; and what steps she is taking to ensure that such cases are still appropriately investigated and that victims receive adequate protection and support.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On the 14th February, the government tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to extend existing aggravated offences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to ensure equal protection across the protected characteristics of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, transgender identity and sex.
The police are operationally independent and responsible for investigating alleged offences, working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to build cases that meet the evidential and public interest tests. A range of offences may apply depending on the circumstances, including under the Public Order Act 1986 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and where hostility based on sexual orientation is proven, courts may apply statutory sentencing uplifts.
Where particular evidence cannot be admitted or relied upon in court, the police are expected to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry using admissible material, and to seek early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service where appropriate. Where the evidential threshold for a charge is not met, the police can still take steps to protect victims, including the use of bail conditions and other protective measures where the relevant legal tests are satisfied.
Victims of hate crime are entitled to support under the Victims’ Code, including being kept informed of progress and signposted to appropriate services. The Government continues to fund local and national victim support services and works closely with policing partners, the Crown Prosecution Service and the College of Policing to promote consistent, evidence-led responses to hate-motivated incidents so that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice wherever possible.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2026 to Question 112231, whether his Department holds data on (a) the number of fires involving road vehicles of all types attended by Fire and Rescue Services in England each year and (b) fires involving electric vehicles as a distinct category.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England through the Fire and Rescue Data Analysis Platform (FaRDaP), and previously through the Incident Recording System (IRS). This includes information on primary fires, fire-related fatalities, and non-fatal casualties in road vehicles.
Data on the number of fires involving road vehicles of all types attended by FRSs in England is published in the Department’s fire statistics data tables, available on gov.uk here. In particular, table FIRE 0302 ‘Primary fires, fatalities and non-fatal casualties in road vehicles by motive and vehicle type, England’ presents the number of primary fires for each recorded type of road vehicle per year.
However, the data currently collected by FRSs does not identify whether a vehicle involved in a fire was an electric vehicle. The Department is therefore not able to provide data on fires involving electric vehicles as a distinct category.
Work is ongoing to update the data FaRDAP will collect covering both the questions and answer categories to capture lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, and more.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to introduce nationally consistent guidance on the interpretation of regulations governing abnormal load movements and police escort requirements.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no current plans by government to introduce national guidance governing the movement of abnormal loads.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 116788, if she will make an assessment of the annual cost to police forces of (a) administering roadside drug-impairment tests and (b) drug-driving testing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not made an assessment on the costs to police forces for administering roadside drug-impartment tests under section 4 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and drug driving testing under section 5A of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what oversight the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency exercises over the International Parking Community (IPC) as an accredited trade association whose members access DVLA vehicle keeper data; whether the DVLA requires accredited trade associations to maintain publicly available contact details, including an office address; whether the DVLA has made an assessment of the governance and ownership arrangements of the IPC, including any transfer of ownership or control; and what criteria the DVLA applies when determining whether an accredited trade association remains eligible to access DVLA vehicle keeper data on behalf of its members.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The law permits the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to disclose the contact details of registered keepers of UK vehicles for a number of lawful purposes. Information needed to manage parking on private land is provided only to private parking operators that are members of an appropriate Accredited Trade Association (ATA). The two ATAs for the private parking sector set and enforce their own codes of practice and private parking companies must meet these requirements to retain their membership. This helps ensure motorists are treated fairly.
The DVLA meets regularly with both ATAs to discuss their effectiveness and relevant issues. Contact details for each ATA are available on their respective websites and there is no requirement for an office address. The Department for Transport does not regulate the private parking sector and is not responsible for determining the governance or ownership arrangements of the ATAs. The ATAs do not themselves request or receive vehicle keeper details from the DVLA.