Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92671 on Congenital Abnormalities, if he will publish the guidance issued by NHS England on submitting consanguinity and pregnancy data to the Maternity Services Dataset.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has published guidance on how to submit data about consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset (MSDS). The guidance is publicly available on NHS Digital’s website under “MSDS Consanguinity Data Quality Guidance”.
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 8 September 2025 to Question 71238 on Buses and Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing, whether her Department has now concluded its consideration of next steps following the consultation entitled Amendments to licensing restrictions: bus, coach and heavy goods vehicles; and whether she has plans to publish a timetable for the Government’s response.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is reviewing responses to the consultation conducted under the previous government. We are considering next steps and will provide an update once this work has concluded.
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 November 2025 to Question 86957 on Bus Services: Concessions, whether the Government has made an assessment of the financial sustainability of expanding the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme to include eligibility for passes for the companions of disabled people.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the cost of expanding the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) to include companion passes. However, since my response to Question 86957 on Bus Services: Concessions, newly released figures show that the ENCTS cost around £795 million in the year ending March 2025, an increase of 8% on the previous year.
The Government has confirmed over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers over the remainder of the spending review period. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities totalling nearly £700 million per year. Essex County Council will be allocated £59.3 million from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £17.8 million they are already receiving this year.
Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services for passengers can be used in whichever way they wish, including funding companion passes locally. In the year ending March 2025, 66% of local authorities offered companion passes to disabled people as a discretionary concession.
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 23 June 2025 to Question 60138 on Road Traffic Control: Finance, whether she is providing central support for congestion improvement measures.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department provides a range of funding mechanisms to local authorities to enable them to deliver their objectives. It is for them to determine how best to use this to manage their roads to fulfil their Network Management Duty.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many a) neurologists with specialist training in Parkinson’s, b) geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s, and c) specialist Parkinson’s nurses are currently practising in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department does not hold data specifically on the number of Parkinson’s specialist staff in England, we do hold data on the number of doctors working in the wider specialities of neurology and geriatric medicine. As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.
These figures are based on NHS Digital’s workforce data and reflect staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. They do not include doctors working in private practice or outside NHS organisations.
The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards as part of neurology and movement disorder services.
NHS England has published a service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which includes Parkinson’s disease as part of its scope. This specification sets out requirements for multidisciplinary care, including access to Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, consultant neurologists, and allied health professionals.
NHS England is also implementing initiatives such as the Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aim to improve access to specialist care, reduce variation, and develop integrated models of service delivery for conditions including Parkinson’s disease. These programmes align with the National Institute for Care Excellence guidance on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, which recommends that people with Parkinson’s have regular access to specialist staff with expertise in the condition.
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 5 November 2025 to Question 86754 on Railways: Industrial Disputes and 2 December 2025 to Question 93782 on British Transport Police: Industrial Disputes, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Section 280 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 when applied to the British Transport Police.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Section 280 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 is applicable to the British Transport Police as it is for a Home Office force. The effect of section 280(1) is to remove police officers from the statutory protections set out in legislation for those who take industrial action. Therefore, if BTP constables were to strike they would have no access to the legal protections provided in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 that other workers have when they strike. The definition of “police service” is set out in section 280(2) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and would include the constables of the British Transport Police.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of a) the structural condition of the A180 between the M180 and Immingham Port, b) the adequacy of current life-extending works to support projected increases in HGV traffic, c) the number of delays to freight movements arising from ongoing National Highways works on the A180 and adjacent links, and d) the expected timetable for completing those works.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current Life Extension Works (LEW) underway on the A180. A LEW scheme was completed in 2024/25 on this section to provide an operational life extension of 5+ years and intended to ensure the section remained safe and operational, until a planned reconstruction scheme in Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3), planned to be undertaken in 2030/31. As part of the design activity related to the planned RIS3 reconstruction scheme, traffic management options and journey time impact studies will be undertaken to ensure impacts to road users are minimised.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which driving test centres were at 24 weeks wait times in i.) July 2024 ii.) July 2025 and iii.) the latest month for which figures are available.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The attached Excel document shows which driving test centres had a waiting time of 24 weeks in i) July 2024, ii) July 2025 and iii) November 2025.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the proposed advisory role of the Office of Rail and Road under the Railways Bill in providing independent scrutiny of Great British Railways’ annual and five-year business plans; and whether she will introduce statutory requirements for the ORR to publish (a) efficiency assessments, (b) value-for-money analysis, and (c) compliance with the Long-Term Rail Strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government considers the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) proposed advisory role under the Railways Bill provides effective independent scrutiny of Great British Railway’s (GBR) business plans. We would expect the ORR to assess efficiency, value for money, and compliance with strategic objectives and the ORR could publish this as part of its independent advisory function. There is no intention to put statutory constraints on the form or content of ORR advice.
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 28 November 2025 to Question 93219 on Roads: Biodiversity, whether those schemes undertaking biodiversity net gain requirements are on a voluntary basis.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects which are already delivering biodiversity net gain (BNG) are doing so on a voluntary basis. This will remain the case until the legal requirement applies to schemes that submit development consent applications after May 2026. National Highways is already committed to delivering BNG for those Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects starting construction in the third Road Period (2026/27 to 2030/31).