Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to transition from short-term innovation grant funding to longer-term commercial and procurement support for suppliers; and what strategy she has implemented to apply the Procurement Act 2023 to transport supply chains bound by legacy, long-term contracts.

A recent report published by NAO noted that the department has developed guidance to help officials consider the full range of levers available to drive innovation into adoption, rather than defaulting to grant funding alone.

The department continues to encourage the publication of commercial pipelines with the aim of shaping and facilitating future market engagement and stimulating innovation within the supply chain ahead of forthcoming opportunities.