Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicle drivers that have (i) an overseas criminal conviction and (ii) been granted a licence in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Licensing authorities may hold this information. As at 1 April 2024, all authorities in England reported that they required an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) security check for all drivers. The statutory guidance issued by the Department for Transport in 2020 to taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities recommends that when an individual has spent an extended period (3 or more continuous months) outside the UK, licensing authorities should seek or require applicants to provide where possible criminal records information or a certificate of good character from overseas to properly assess risk and support its decision-making process. This enables licensing authorities to make an informed decision when considering if a person is ‘fit and proper’ to hold a taxi or private hire vehicle driver licence.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) taxi and (b) private hire drivers who have had their licences revoked due to a criminal conviction in the last 10 years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All licensing authorities in England have a duty to ensure that any person to whom they grant a taxi or private hire vehicle driver’s licence is a fit and proper person to be a licensee and that they remain so throughout the duration of the licence. Licensing authorities make decisions based on “the balance of probability”, so when determining whether a driver remains fit and proper to hold a licence, a driver should not be given the benefit of doubt. If a licensing authority is only fifty percent certain as to whether a licensee is fit and proper, they should not hold a licence. The threshold used here is lower than for a criminal conviction (that being beyond reasonable doubt). This means that driver licences may be revoked even if any safety concerns do not result in a criminal conviction.
Since 27 April 2023, all licensing authorities in England have been required to use a national database to record instances where a taxi or private hire vehicle driver’s licence is refused, revoked or suspended because of safeguarding, road safety or equality concerns. The Department has published data about licensing authorities’ use of the database. Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, 3117 revocations were recorded on the database.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Over the last 12 months, the Department for Transport has spent £830,731.27 on social media advertising and £1,488,420.01 on online advertising through the THINK! Road safety campaign.
This has been done to reach and influence the behaviours of our target audience of 17-24 males, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over. Campaigns have tackled priority issues such as drink driving and speeding to reduce casualties and fatalities. All budgets have been scrutinised to ensure value for money, with behaviour change communications often a cost-effective way to support policy interventions, as well as being a core part of the safe-systems approach to road safety.
As part of the THINK! campaign to reduce speeding among young men, the department ran a media partnership with youth platform LadBible which involved working with two content creators as part of a wider partnership. However, we are unable to provide a cost breakdown on influencers specifically due to commercial sensitivities which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation or guidance to centralise data collection on licensed drivers' (a) immigration status and (b) criminal history.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Immigration Act 2016 prevents illegal working in the taxi and private hire vehicle sector, as either a driver or an operator. Licensing authorities are prohibited from issuing a licence to anyone who is disqualified by reason of their immigration status, and they discharge their duty by conducting immigration checks.
Being disqualified from holding a licence by reason of their immigration status means that the person is in the UK illegally, is not permitted to work, or is permitted to work, but is subject to a condition that prohibits them from holding a licence in this sector.
The requirement to check the immigration status of licence applicants is in addition to the ‘fit and proper’ test.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides access to criminal record information through its disclosure service. As at 1 April 2024, all authorities in England required an enhanced DBS security check for all drivers as part of their ‘fit and proper’ test. The statutory guidance issued by the Department for Transport to licensing authorities in 2020 recommends that when an individual has spent an extended period (3 or more continuous months) outside the UK, licensing authorities should seek or require applicants to provide where possible criminal records information or a certificate of good character from overseas to properly assess risk and support its decision-making process. This enables licensing authorities to make an informed decision when considering if a person is ‘fit and proper’ to hold a taxi or private hire vehicle driver.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much their Department has spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for languages other than (i) British Sign Language and (ii) languages native to the UK for people contacting (A) their Department and (B) its agencies in 2025.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department and its agencies have spent £298,446.92 on translation and interpretation costs in 2025 (this covers the period from 1st January 2025 to 31st May 2025). The table below outlines the split of costs between the Department and each Agency. It should be noted that information is not held at the level requested.
Area | Translation and Interpretation costs |
DfTc | £196,794.16 |
DVSA | £86,581 |
DVLA | £12,218.31 |
MCA | £2,853.45 |
VCA | £0 |
ATE | £0 |
Total | £298,446.92 |
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time was to obtain a UK driving test in each region in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and what percentage of applicants were foreign nationals.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the average waiting time for a car practical driving test by driving test centre regions, for the financial year 2024/25. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not collect any data regarding the customer's nationality when they book, or attend, their car practical driving test.
Region | Average Waiting Time In Weeks |
Zone A (Scotland and North-East England) | 17.1 |
Zone B (Wales and North-West England) | 17.5 |
Zone C (Midlands and South-West England) | 21.6 |
Zone D (London and South-East England) | 22.4 |
National | 19.5 |
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if they will make it their policy to not provide (a) translation and (b) interpretation for speakers of non-UK languages for services provided by their Department.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of population changes due to immigration on public transport (a) capacity and (b) congestion levels in urban centres.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department models future demand for transport based on the Common Analytical Scenarios (CAS), which are a wide range of plausible scenarios related to population, the economy, behavioural change and decarbonisation. DfT publish the National Road Traffic Projections (NRTP) which are a set of estimates of road traffic using the CAS, these include estimates of urban congestion. Rail analysis also accounts for population and demographic change when estimating future capacity impacts. The population forecasts used at the DfT are published by the Office of National Statistics and include changes in population arising from births, deaths and immigration and other demographic changes.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether their Department plans to amend its policies on access to (a) toilets, (b) changing facilities and (c) other single-sex spaces in (i) Departmental buildings and (ii) other buildings within their Department’s remit following the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the provision of single-sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex. Providers should note and follow the ruling.
It is important that we ensure dignity and respect for all. Trans people should have access to services they need but in keeping with the ruling.
The Equality & Human Rights Commission, as Britain’s Equalities watchdog, is developing updated guidance to support service providers. Ministers will consider the EHRC’s updated draft once they have submitted it following further work in light of this ruling.
The Government is considering the implications of the Court’s judgment, including what this means for Government buildings.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) religious and (b) cultural holidays are observed by their Department.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Civil Service only formally observes the government-set bank holidays.