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 29 January 2026 to Question 105751, how each of the measures cited as enabling the reduction in the rail passenger services subsidy has performed from the date each Train Operating Company entered public ownership to the most recent date for which data is available, including a) what quantified administrative efficiencies have been realised to date, expressed in cash terms and as a percentage of operating costs, b) what changes in operational performance have been recorded, including Public Performance Measure, cancellations, short-notice cancellations, and customer satisfaction scores; c) what passenger revenue growth has been achieved in cash and real terms; and d) what the net change in subsidy requirement has been for each publicly owned operator over that period.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Public ownership is not a silver bullet but a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. Due to seasonal variations, it will take time for the impact of public ownership to be fully reflected in performance trend data. Public ownership has, however, already contributed to a reduction in fees that would otherwise have been paid to private operators, and these reductions will continue as more operators are brought into public ownership. According to the ORR, in the period from July to September 2025, journey numbers were 8% higher and passenger revenue 6% more than in the same quarter in the previous year (when adjusted for inflation). The Department currently expects the rail passenger services subsidy in 2025/26 to be c£0.3bn lower than the £2.4bn in 2024/25.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects the roadworks on the M1 (Northbound) between junctions 12 and 13 to be completed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways currently anticipate completion of works on the M1 (Northbound) between junctions 12 and 13 by the end of March 2026, subject to the findings of National Highways' own investigation into whether the drainage issues identified extend beyond the current locations.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated to railways in Wales for Welsh Rail Enhancements for (a) UK Government Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) - or equivalent and (b) Core Valley Lines enhancement funding paid to the Welsh Government, in each of the past 5 years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Rail enhancement investment in Wales is detailed below. UKG Enhancements comprise funding from the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline and the Levelling Up Fund.
Year | UKG Enhancements | CVL Enhancement Funding paid to Welsh Goverment |
2020/21 | £16 million | £141 million |
2021/22 | £10 million | nil |
2022/23 | £12 million | nil |
2023/24 | £21 million | nil |
2024/25 | £32 million | nil |
The Funding and Outputs Agreement (2018), between the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers, committed the UK Government to contribute £125m in 2014 prices to the costs of the Core Valley Lines infrastructure enhancement scheme. An agreed inflated figure of £141.25 million was implemented as a budget transfer to the Welsh Government in financial year 2020/21.
UKG Enhancement spend for 2023/24 comprised £19 million from RNEP and £2 million from LUF.
UKG Enhancement spend for 2024/25 comprised £30.5 million from RNEP and £1.5 million from LUF.
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, 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 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, 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 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.