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 potential impact on a) drivers of extending the electric car grant; and b) motorcyclists of the planned cessation of the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The £2 billion Electric Car Grant has been extended to 2030 to support drivers to purchase electric vehicles by reducing upfront costs. More than 90,000 people have already benefited from grants of up to £3,750 across 45 models.
In February 2025, we announced the decision to close the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant, which closed at the end of the 2025/26 financial year. Ending the £500 Plug-in Motorcycle Grant is not expected to have a significant impact on uptake of zero emission motorcycles or on riders. The Government, working with industry, will continue to monitor the development of the zero emission motorcycle market and the need for any further interventions on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his Ukrainian counterparts regarding the fit of a) uniform and b) body armour for female soldiers in combat operations, and whether his Department has discussed lessons learnt from the Government of Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence remains firmly committed to ensuring that all service personnel are equipped with appropriate and effective protective equipment. As part of this commitment, we are delivering an update to body armour for UK personnel through the Tactical Ballistic Plates project.
Procurement experts within the National Armaments Director group work closely with the Ministry of Defence's Op INTERFLEX Handling and Processing team, which collates feedback from Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel. This includes lessons from operational experience and female user feedback, which help to inform UK capability development.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many social and affordable homes are planned as part of the redevelopment of land at and around Euston associated with the HS2 programme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are working at pace with our Master Development Partner, Lendlease, on a Masterplan for Euston, with an emphasis on growth and delivering much needed housing, and will set out a clear plan in due course.
Further, the government has appointed Bek Seeley as the Chair to the Euston Housing Delivery Group, to understand the opportunities for thousands of new homes in the wider Euston area.
The Euston Housing Delivery Group is not pre-supposing the number of homes achievable but will robustly assess the scale of opportunity for housing around Euston.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times has the Drone Task Force met since 4 July 2024, which Ministers in Government Departments and private sector companies constitute it, and which a) countries and b) companies are they engaged with in seeking guidance on best practice from regarding the use of drones.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Department does not recognise any body titled the “Drone Task Force”.
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 potential implications for her policies of (a) Australia’s National Freight Data Hub, (b) the United States’ Commodity Flow Survey and (c) the Republic of Korea’s Transport Database on (i) monitoring driver welfare, (ii) rest provision and working conditions and (iii) fatigue-related risk across the freight and logistics system.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As noted in the answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120682, the Department for Transport recognises the value of international comparisons for its work, including (a) Australia’s National Freight Data Hub, (b) the United States’ Commodity Flow Survey and (c) the Republic of Korea’s Transport Database.
No formal assessments of the type described have been made for the comparators listed, but they are important parts of the Department's broad evidence base for policy making that supports freight and logistics and the wider transport system.
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 25 March 2026 to WPQ 121808, what proportion of the Customer and Communities Designated Fund within the Road Investment Strategy 3 is allocated to (a) HGV parking capacity and (b) driver welfare facilities; and what targets have been set for delivery of additional HGV parking spaces over the RIS3 period.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Further detail on RIS3 funding allocations will be set out by National Highways in its Delivery 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 25 March 2026 to Question 122525, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of click-throughs from (a) social media advertising and (b) DVSA job alert emails that resulted in (i) started and (ii) completed applications for driving examiner roles in the last 12 months.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All driving examiner (DE) applications are made through Civil Service Jobs on GOV.UK. At the point of submitting an application on Civil Service Jobs no applicant source information is recorded.
Answer to Question 122526, 20 March 2026, provides details of subsequent surveys that might be completed by applicants.
Answer to Question 122526, 20 March 2026, also provided information on click through rates, but notes that it is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed 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 25 March 2026 to Question 122543 on Driving Tests: Recruitment, what data the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency collects on the source of applications for driving examiner roles at the point of application submission.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All driving examiner (DE) applications are made through Civil Service Jobs on GOV.UK. At the point of submitting an application on Civil Service Jobs no applicant source information is recorded.
Answer to Question 122526, 20 March 2026, provides details of subsequent surveys that might be completed by applicants.
Answer to Question 122526, 20 March 2026, also provided information on click through rates, but notes that it is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed 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 25 March 2026 to Question 121310 on Roads: Closures, what plans her Department to make a formal national assessment of the potential impact of long-term road and bridge closures on small businesses; and what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on this issue.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The impacts of long‑term road or bridge closures on small businesses vary significantly depending on local circumstances and the mitigation measures put in place. Responsibility for managing and mitigating these impacts sits with local highway authorities, which are best placed to understand local conditions.
The Department for Transport’s Structures Fund will inject cash into repairing run down bridges, decaying flyovers and worn out tunnels across England, mitigating the need for road and bridge closures in the future.
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 25 March 2026 to Question 122545 on the Vehicle Certification Agency: Fees and Charges, whether her Department has produced internal estimates of the additional annual revenue expected from the proposed fee increases.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) recently consulted on changes to certain fees. As part of the fee setting process the government considers all the evidence provided as well as long standing principles included in Managing Public Money. Any fee changes require the consent of this House through a fee order. As is the standard practice, I will update the House in due course