Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that areas without a strategic transport authority receive long-term transport funding planning comparable to that available in devolved mayoral areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to supporting local leaders across the country to deliver transport that works for their communities, regardless of governance arrangements.
We are providing local leaders in England with £21bn of local transport funding until 2029/30, through consolidated, multi-year settlements, including £9.6bn in non-mayoral areas, which they can use to deliver their local transport priorities. The majority of local transport funding is allocated by formula to give a fair share of funding for all areas.
This approach ends the previous short-term funding model and ensures that areas without a strategic transport authority benefit from stable, multi-year settlements, enabling them to take a longer-term view of transport planning alongside mayoral areas.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of differential per capita funding levels between devolved and non-devolved regions on small and medium-sized enterprises considering business location decisions.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to support growth across the UK. Delivering the Industrial Strategy, regulatory reform and other steps will help to ensure the UK remains competitive, delivers long-term sustainable growth and that its economic fundamentals remain strong.
To assist all Growth Hubs in long-term planning, we will establish indicative multi- year core funding budgets for 2026-29 and provide flexibility to accommodate local government reorganisation. This funding will form part of the Integrated Settlement in Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, per our commitment in the English Devolution White Paper.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what transport funding was allocated per head of population to (a) Leicester and Leicestershire, (b) the East Midlands Combined County Authority area, (c) the West Midlands Combined Authority area, and (d) Greater Manchester Combined Authority area in 2025-26.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the core transport funding allocated to Local Transport Authorities in 2025-26.
The funding has been allocated on a range of factors beyond population, including deprivation and road mileage.
| Leicester City Council | Leicestershire County Council | East Midlands Combined County Authority | West Midlands Combined Authority | Greater Manchester Combined Authority |
Local Transport Grant | £9,520,000 | £12,305,000
| Not eligible | Not eligible | Not eligible |
Integrated Transport Block | £2,576,000 | £2,750,000 | £12,860,000 | Not eligible | Not eligible |
Highways Maintenance Block | £5,365,790 | £28,790,790 | £75,742,160 | £8,620,740* | £14,823,900* |
Local Authority Bus Grant | £9,453,592 | £8,154,155 | £40,580,499 | £49,983,869 | £66,393,752 |
Consolidated Active Travel Fund | £2,002,773 | £1,446,914 | £5,574,643 | £15,956,459 | £15,695,209 |
The electric vehicle (EV) pavement channels grant (EVPCG) Funding | Did not apply | £153,000 | £945,000 | £1,531,000 | £1,839,000 |
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure capital funding | £3,380,000
| N/A | N/A | N/A
| N/A
|
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure capability funding | £184,090 | £217,300
| £862,640 | £493,640 | £590,400 |
City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements | Not eligible | Not eligible | £66,000,000 (Note 1) | £261,477,000 | £226,576,000 |
*This figure includes only incentive elements of Highways Maintenance funding. CRSTS consolidates the baseline allocation of highways maintenance funding for eligible authorities.
Note 1 - EMCCA was allocated £11million in resource funding for 2025-26 for capacity and capability building, and to support planning and delivery as EMCCA prepared to move into the CRSTS programme. EMCCA was also allocated £55 million in capital funding for 2025-26, as early CRSTS2 funding. This was in addition to existing capital funding allocated to the area for 2025-26, as shown in the table.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to introduce a specific category within STATS19 road casualty data collection for collisions involving non-EAPC electric bikes.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The STATS19 collection is overseen by the Standing Committee on Road Injury Collision Statistics (SCRICS) and changes are made via periodic reviews, the last of which was in 2018.
There are currently no plans to introduce a specific category for non-EAPC electric bikes; this will be considered as part of the next review of STATS19.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that per capita funding for skills, transport and infrastructure in areas that have not yet established a combined authority is comparable to that received by devolved mayoral areas.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Given the differing roles and funding models, per capita comparisons for skills, transport and infrastructure between Mayoral Strategic Authorities and Local Authorities are not directly comparable. No direct assessment has been made on the potential effect of funding disparities on business location decisions, however through the Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government delivered fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most. All funding information is published online through the “Local authority capital expenditure and receipts” and “Local authority revenue expenditure and financing” collection.
The Government has outlined intentions through the English Devolution White Paper to delivering ongoing process and impact evaluations of devolution as evidence becomes available, looking at delivery and implementation, future trends, and impact in place, including of infrastructure investment. In addition, all programme and project funding has monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements to assess outcomes with exact requirements depending on the funding stream.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of funding disparities between areas with and without mayoral combined authorities on business location decisions in those areas.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Given the differing roles and funding models, per capita comparisons for skills, transport and infrastructure between Mayoral Strategic Authorities and Local Authorities are not directly comparable. No direct assessment has been made on the potential effect of funding disparities on business location decisions, however through the Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government delivered fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most. All funding information is published online through the “Local authority capital expenditure and receipts” and “Local authority revenue expenditure and financing” collection.
The Government has outlined intentions through the English Devolution White Paper to delivering ongoing process and impact evaluations of devolution as evidence becomes available, looking at delivery and implementation, future trends, and impact in place, including of infrastructure investment. In addition, all programme and project funding has monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements to assess outcomes with exact requirements depending on the funding stream.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason no official minute or departmental read-out was produced following the 2025 meeting between the Defra Minister and the Minister responsible for fire at which proposed burning regulations were discussed.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The relevant Defra Minister did not meet any minister responsible for fire in 2025 to discuss the proposed burning regulations.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the expenditure by Network Rail has been on (a) transitioning 25 per cent of its car fleet to ultra-low emissions vehicles and (b) installing electric vehicle charging facilities across 10 per cent of passenger parking bays since 2020; and what estimate her Department has made of the projected capital cost required to transition 100 per cent of Network Rail’s car and van fleet to zero-emissions vehicles.
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: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has the Department made of the adequacy of the operational readiness of the maritime sector for inclusion in the UK ETS, in the context of July 2026 implementation timelines.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK ETS Authority first signalled intent to include maritime in the UK ETS in March 2022. This was followed by two consultations including bespoke engagement sessions for each. Operators of ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above are already equipped to undertake monitoring, reporting and verification, with years of experience under existing regimes.
The Government has built a digital-first system for onboarding, with free-of-charge voluntary onboarding open since November 2025. More than 96% of expected participants can voluntarily onboard now to set up accounts and become familiar with requirements.
We encourage any operator to get in touch with their regulator now in preparation for the expansion on 1 July 2026.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria an area must meet to be eligible for a multi-year growth fund allocation; and whether areas that have submitted an expression of interest in devolution but have not yet established a combined authority are eligible to apply.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Growth Fund targets 11 Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the North and Midlands with the highest productivity catchup and agglomeration potential. There were two eligibility criteria: 1) places must have had an existing Mayoral Strategic Authority at the point when the fund was announced, 2) their GDP per head was below the UK average. Further information on the place selection methodology is available here. The totality of the Local Growth Fund has now been allocated and any future funding will be subject to fiscal events.