Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has assessed the adequacy of public transport accessibility for assistance dog users in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.

The Government recognises the importance of accessible public transport to enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all, including assistance dog users in Surrey.

Our Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local bus services. Among others, we are requiring local authorities to publish a Bus Network Accessibility Plan, assessing the existing accessibility levels of local bus services in their area and specifying any planned improvements to it.

Assistance dogs can travel on all UK trains for free and are permitted to be on the train with their handler at all times. There is also an Assistance Dog Travel Scheme, which provides a personal, highly visible and reusable Assistance Dog Under Seat card, that creates a ‘protected space’ for assistance dogs and lets other customers know the seat and the space under it should be kept free. As these are national policies, they also apply to the Surrey Heath constituency and Surrey.

We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will aim to set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys and what to do when standards are not met, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.