Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 17 of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Department for Transport overview 2024-25, published in November 2025, what the £478 million whole-life cost of the NO2 Programme comprises, by project, programme and local authority scheme; and how much of that cost has been spent to date.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Transport (DfT) spend on the NO2 Programme up to the end of financial year 2024/25 was £450m.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question
To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 116224, whether the Electoral Commission plans to undertake research on the relationship between biradari networks, first cousin marriage and electoral fraud.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Electoral Commission does not plan to research the relationship between biradari networks, first cousin marriage and electoral fraud.
Despite very low levels of proven electoral fraud in the UK, it is a matter the Commission takes seriously. It publishes annual data from police services on allegations of electoral fraud, and runs a fraud prevention and awareness campaign each year. It works closely with the electoral community and the Police to prevent, detect and take action against electoral fraud.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many full-time equivalent staff were assigned to the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce in (a) 2024–25, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The number of full-time equivalent (“FTE”) staff assigned to the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce was 3.9 FTE in 2024-25 and 3.5 FTE in 2025-26. Data is not yet available for financial year 2026-27.
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 does not hold information on the proportion of tickets sold at these price points.
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, 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, 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, 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, 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.