Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings, roundtables or other formal engagements she, Ministers in her Department and officials in her Department have had with representatives of vehicle manufacturers and automotive industry bodies in the last three months on electric vehicles or the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government maintains ongoing engagement across a wide range of stakeholders including the automotive and electric vehicle charging sectors, industry bodies, environmental organisations, consumer groups, and NGOs regarding electric vehicles and the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help ensure passenger travel times from Yeovil constituency are not negatively impacted by any changes to the West of England Line timetable.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department recognises that reliability and punctuality affect passenger benefits, journey times and wider economic outcomes, and these factors are considered when assessing any timetable changes.
Soil moisture deficit (SMD) caused significant and prolonged disruption to Southwestern Railway's West of England Line in 2025. Exceptionally dry conditions led to substantial shrinkage of clay embankments between Salisbury and Exeter, resulting in track movement and the imposition of multiple 40mph speed restrictions across long single-track sections.
Whilst other parts of the UK Rail Network also suffer from these issues, the unique nature of the West of England Line with long single-track sections and limited passing points means that the base timetable is unable to accommodate delays resulting from speed restrictions. Despite mitigation work, further record-breaking dry weather means SMD is again highly likely to affect the route this year.
During Autumn, seasonal conditions prevent trains on the predominantly single line track between Salisbury and Exeter from passing each other at their planned times. The single line track means that even small delays can make the timetable unworkable and lead to wider disruption. Removing some station stops with lower demand reduces the time spent in the single lines sections and reduces delays.
Where timetable changes are necessary, operators are expected to consider the effect on passenger travel times and seek to reduce disruption while ensuring services continue to operate safely and reliably.
The Department works with Network Rail and train operators to consider the impacts of timetable changes on passengers and local communities, including when temporary service alterations are required to maintain a safe and reliable railway.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to produce noise assessments to reflect the best and worst case scenarios that may be created by expansion at Heathrow in terms of a) numbers of people exposed to noise b) number of people currently overflown who will experience an increase in noise and c) the number of people who will be newly exposed to aircraft noise pollution.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of the department’s review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) it commissioned the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to model expected impacts of aircraft noise for an expanded Heathrow. Outputs of this work are set out in an annex to the Appraisal of Sustainability published on 18 June as part of the public consultation on the draft revised ANPS, renamed the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS). This sets out estimates of the numbers of people exposed to different levels of aircraft noise before and after expansion.
The CAA modelling focused on the estimated total number of people impacted rather than distinguishing between individuals currently overflown who may experience increased noise exposure and those who may become newly affected. Results disaggregated to this level of detail are not currently available. As part of the consultation process, the department will keep under review if any further aircraft noise modelling is necessary.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Department is taking with the devolved administrations and local authorities to support consistent safety and accessibility standards for electric-vehicle charging stations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government engages regularly with devolved governments and local authorities (LAs) on electric vehicle charging.
The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund supports local authorities to scale up EV charging provision across England. Through LEVI, LAs are expected to consider charge point accessibility. Support for LAs is available through one-to-one guidance, masterclasses and an online knowledge repository.
OZEV engaged the devolved administrations throughout the development and the review of charge point accessibility standard (PAS 1899). They will also be closely involved in the ongoing revision of PAS 1899.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, why the Appraisal of Sustainability of the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement only modelled one set of indicative flight paths that seek to minimise the number of newly impacted people.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The analysis has used an indicative flight path design produced for the Airports Commission, which was considered the most relevant and reasonable by Department for Transport policy officials given information available at this time, in discussion with the CAA, NATS and Heathrow Airport Limited (as current airport operator). Work is currently underway to design modernised airspace for the whole London region in line with the CAA’s airspace change processes.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimates her Department has made of the monetised costs of aircraft noise pollution for communities under Heathrow flight paths exposed to noise above 43 decibels, with reference to the recent Aviation Night Noise Effects and Aviation Noise Attitudes Survey noise studies.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not routinely monetise the costs of noise from existing noise sources and has not made an estimate of such costs for communities under Heathrow flight paths exposed to noise above 43dB.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2026, to Question 13237, on Department for Transport: Public Relations, how much spending has there been on these contracts since July 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The value of all contracts referred to in the answer to 13237 are published on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search (contracts above £12,000 - including VAT and £25,000 in the wider public sector) and/or Find a Tender - Find a Tender.
ORR currently holds contracts with Field Consulting, the spend on these contracts since July 2024 would be £9000.
From July 2024 to 31 May 2026, National Highways spent £280,921 on its technical professional services’ public affairs contract.
Transport Focus have a Public Affairs monitoring contract with Randall’s Monitoring Ltd. They have spent £6,210 excluding VAT on this.
Network Rail holds a contract for stakeholder engagement services with Lexington Communications. The contract was awarded in September 2021. Spend on this contract amounts to £423,439.93 since July 2024. Network Rail also spent a total of £143,480 with Yonder. . A total of £33,660 has been spent on the Future Governance Forum project since July 2024.
HS2 Ltd identified 2 live contracts which fall into the scope of Public Affairs spending. From July 2024 to 30 April 2026, HS2 Ltd has spent £71,100 on live contracts.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether guidance is issued to schools on assessing the eligibility of pupils to wear kirpans on school premises.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Headteachers have my full support in ensuring schools are safe. Schools are advised by the department that decisions on uniform need to consider their individual circumstances, taking into account both religious freedom and pupil safety.
It should be possible for most religious requirements to be met within a uniform policy and many schools have arrangements in place to allow the wearing of kirpans alongside sensible safeguards, for example limiting their size and requiring them to be sheathed and further enclosed in a securely fastened cushioned pouch.
The department’s advice for schools on developing school uniform policies is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms. The government keeps all its guidance under regular review.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department's guidance permits schools to make participation in school events, trips, and extracurricular activities conditional on achieving a minimum attendance rate.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s guidance does not prescribe how school attendance rewards and incentives are applied. Decisions about their operation are generally matters for individual schools, reflecting their circumstances and the needs of their pupils.
Where schools choose to link attendance to access to particular activities, we would expect them to do so carefully, proportionately and without discrimination. They should consider reward systems that are inclusive and appropriate for all pupils including those with disabilities or long-term health conditions.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many MP surgeries Ministers in her Department have had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Ministers of the department held 28 MP surgeries in the period July 2024 to January 2025, and 229 MP surgeries since January 2025.