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 of the closure of the Official Register of Driving Instructor Training on the (a) quality assurance of registered driving instructor trainers and (b) ability of prospective trainer providers to establish accredited training provision.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Official Register of Driving Instructor Training (ORDIT) scheme was suspended by the previous Government in November 2023. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency recognises the importance of ORBIT and will engage with the industry and discuss how and when the scheme should resume.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2026 to Question 112225, whether he has made an estimate of the level of passthrough to consumers as a (a) cost increase per passenger ticket and (b) percentage increase in fares.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Impact Assessment, any passthrough to consumers is expected to be modest. International evidence, including from the EU ETS, shows fare changes have generally been in the low single digit range.
The Government has not undertaken route level ferry fare or passenger ticket modelling for the UK ETS domestic maritime expansion, as operators’ commercial decisions, vessel utilisation and fare structures vary widely.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether DVSA has considered using the GOV.UK instructor page as a recruitment channel.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As stated in the answer to Question 113159 the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) keeps its recruitment activity under regular review to ensure it attracts applications from as wide a pool as possible, and not just from those who may have a driving instructor background.
The use of the GOV.UK instructor page is primarily intended to provide information and services for approved driving instructors, however, 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.
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.
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, how many driving examiner vacancies existed in (a) January 2026 and (b) February 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As stated in the answer to Question 113159 the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) keeps its recruitment activity under regular review to ensure it attracts applications from as wide a pool as possible, and not just from those who may have a driving instructor background.
The use of the GOV.UK instructor page is primarily intended to provide information and services for approved driving instructors, however, 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.
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.
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 13 February 2026 to Question 110885 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if she will make an estimate of the average amount of public funding provided per chargepoint under schemes administered by her Department.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Most public charge points have not received any public subsidy. The average amount of public funding per charge point under the closed On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), is currently approximately £3,500 for completed projects. This is subject to change as some projects have not yet completed. The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Capital Fund allocated £343m to local authorities in England and is expected to deliver at least 100,000 charge points by leveraging significant private investment alongside public funds.
Information on the amount of public funding and number of charge points supported is published quarterly and available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69245447ba812a67cb6a5673/electric-vehicle-charging-device-grant-scheme-statistics-october-2025.ods
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what methodology she uses to assess the effectiveness of pothole funding.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport published local road maintenance ratings on 11 January, measuring how well each local highway authority is maintaining its local roads and making use of its increased government funding. The methodology used to calculate the ratings is available online, at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/methodology-used-to-calculate-ratings-for-local-road-maintenance
The Department will also be evaluating the effectiveness of its local highways maintenance funding in line with the methodologies set out in its Transport Analysis Guidance and the Treasury's Magenta Book.
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 tickets sold on services operated by London North Eastern Railway in July 2024 excluding railcard discounts were at a) the fully flexible fare price, b) between 90 per cent and 100 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, c) between 80 per cent and 89.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, d) between 70 per cent and 79.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, e) between 60 per cent and 69.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, f) between 50 per cent and 59.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price, g) between 40 per cent and 49.99 per cent of the fully flexible fare price and h) below 40 per cent of the fully flexible fare price.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the National Cyber Security Centre has made of the potential impact of kill switches in Chinese-made (a) cars and (b) buses on cyber security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Modern vehicles – including cars and buses – are increasingly using software to support safer driving, to improve diagnostics and to provide a host of other services such as navigation and entertainment.
The Government takes national security extremely seriously and recognises the systemic challenges of increased connectivity and the cyber security implications for almost every area of government policy, including vehicles. The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance to help organisations understand and manage the associated risks, ensuring that system connectivity is approached in a way that balances security with the significant benefits it provides.
The Department for Transport introduced two new regulations: one to strengthen vehicle cybersecurity and one on software updates (UN Reg 155 and UN Reg 156). The cybersecurity regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber-attacks.
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 2 March 2026 to Question 114110, what information his Department holds on tyre procurement by its arm’s-length bodies, including NHS trusts and other agencies; and whether he plans to collect centrally data on the proportion of retread and single-use imported tyres procured for heavy vehicle fleets operated by those bodies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold any information on tyre procurement by its arm’s length bodies and does not intend to collect data on the proportion of retread and single-use imported tyres by those bodies.
NHS England reports that that emergency ambulances and rapid response vehicles used by National Health Service trusts, which are based on light commercial vehicle and car platforms, do not routinely utilise retread tyres. This reflects the demanding operational duty cycles associated with frontline emergency response, where vehicle reliability, performance, and safety are critical. As a result, these vehicles typically operate with new tyres in line with manufacturer guidance and operational requirements.
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 2 March 2026 to Question 115052, whether permitting (a) contractors to issue fixed penalty notices under bus byelaws for profit and (b) payment structures linked to the number of fines issued are being considered for the guidance for local transport authorities under the Bus Services Act 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The guidance for local transport authorities on the byelaws provisions in the Bus Services Act 2025 is still being developed and will be published in due course.