Written questions by Pinkerton.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing funding for new railway stations that offer a direct route to London in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government believes that local leaders are best placed to prioritise and take forward regeneration projects which are most appropriate for the areas they serve, particularly where they will support economic growth, job creation, more and better housing. I would encourage you to engage further with local planning teams and local stakeholders to make the case for funding new railway stations in the Surrey Heath constituency.

What steps she is taking to improve road safety near schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

My Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course. Active Travel England and my Department published joint School Streets Guidance in November 2024. School Streets schemes restrict motor traffic outside schools during pick-up and drop-off times; reducing congestion, improving safety and enabling more pupils to walk, wheel or cycle.

If Ministers in her Department will meet with the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss national infrastructure improvements where the A322 meets the M3 Junction 3.

I would be happy to meet to discuss potential improvements to this junction and surrounding roads as the Minister responsible for this matter.

What steps her Department has taken to reduce congestion at the meeting of the A322 with the M3 Junction 3 in Surrey Heath constituency.

National Highways undertook an early-stage study of the M3 junction 3 in 2023. As well as a long-term large-scale enhancement to address both congestion and incidents, it is considering smaller, tactical solutions that can be delivered in the short-term. It is commencing a feasibility study on small-scale improvements, working closely with Surrey County Council who are responsible for the A322. This work will form the evidence base for potential future enhancements to be delivered during RIS3, beyond 2026.

What assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) cost-efficiency of pothole repair strategies in Surrey Heath Constituency.

Surrey County Council is the local highway authority for the Surrey Heath constituency. The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to helping local highway authorities such as Surrey County Council maintain and renew their local highway networks. At Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced an extra £500 million for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year, with funding allocations to individual English local highway authorities announced on 20 December 2024. Surrey County Council will receive up to £32.4 million for local highway maintenance in 2025/26, an increase of around 38% compared to the current financial year. The effectiveness and cost-efficiency of Surrey’s highway maintenance programmes, including strategies concerning potholes and other road defects, is a matter for the Council.

What steps her Department is taking to prevent sinkhole formation in Surrey Heath constituency.

Tackling problems such as sinkholes on local roads is a matter for local highway authorities. Surrey County Council is the local highway authority for Surrey Heath constituency. For the 2025/26 financial year, the Government is providing Surrey County Council with £32.4 million for local highway maintenance, which is an extra £8.5 million compared to 2024/25. It is up to local highway authorities to determine how best to spend this funding to maintain all parts of their networks, including tackling issues of this sort.

What steps her Department is taking to mitigate travel disruptions caused by flooding in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government recognises that flooding can have a devastating impact on people, businesses and communities, as well as causing disruption to all road users. The Government is working at pace to accelerate the building of flood defences through a new Floods Resilience Taskforce and is investing £2.4 billion to better protect people and communities across the country. Surrey County Council is the local highway authority for Surrey Heath. For the 2025/26 financial year, the Government is providing Surrey County Council with £32.4 million for local highway maintenance, which is an extra £8.5 million compared to 2024/25. Funding allocations can be found on gov.uk. In addition, the Department is working with the UK Roads Leadership Group’s (UKRLG) Adaptation, Biodiversity & Climate Board to provide guidance to local highway authorities on how to reduce the mitigate the impacts of flooding on local roads. A recently published UKRLG-commissioned report, Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery, considers the lessons learned from extreme weather events, such as flooding, and makes recommendations for Government and local highway authorities on improving resilience.

What assessment her Department has made of the impact of London-licensed Uber drivers operating in non-metropolitan areas on the viability of independent taxi businesses.

Taxis and private hire vehicles have always been permitted to carry pre-booked fares outside the area in which they are licensed. This allows the sector to work more flexibly to meet the needs of their passengers. The Government however recognises concerns around out-of-area working and is considering options to strengthen the regulation of the sector.

What steps her Department has taken to (a) promote and (b) develop green transport infrastructure such as (i) cycle paths, (ii) electric vehicle charging points and (iii) electric bus routes.

The Department has recently announced nearly £300 million of funding to help local authorities and Sustrans to introduce and improve walking and cycling paths, and to fund promote walking, wheeling and cycling. As of 1 February 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 74,234 publicly available charging devices (including 14,687 rapid charging devices). Since 2021, the Department has awarded over £460m of dedicated funding for zero emission buses and infrastructure in England (outside London). Future funding to support the continued decarbonisation of the bus sector, as well as to support local authorities to deliver important air quality improvements, will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Farnborough Airport’s expansion on (a) noise pollution and (b) air pollution in the South-East.

Assessment of the potential impact of Farnborough Airport’s expansion is a matter for Rushmoor Borough Council as local planning authority responsible for considering the airport’s planning application.

What steps she is taking to support Surrey residents affected by the delayed roadworks at Junction 10 on the M25 motorway.

The Department understands the concerns residents may have due to the delays of the M25 Junction 10. National Highways is focused on completing these works as soon as possible and will do everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum. The A245 is a key east-west route in Surrey, carrying heavy traffic between the A3/M25, Cobham, and key locations such as Feltonfleet school. Any work on this route is inherently disruptive, but efforts have been made to reduce the impact. National Highways has reduced the number of weekend closures, cutting the original 16 full weekend closures for the M25 and A3 down to five for the M25 and four for the A3, avoiding seven closures in total. This approach helps to minimise overall network disruption. Additionally, overnight working and close traffic monitoring are in place to reduce congestion and swiftly address any incidents. Where traffic management is necessary, National Highways uses extensive CCTV monitoring to swiftly address incidents. National Highways remains committed to ongoing engagement with key stakeholders and will continue to share plans for the remaining works.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the expansion of Heathrow Airport on levels of air pollution in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow. The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) recruiting new driving instructors and (b) opening new test centres in the Surrey Heath constituency.

On the 18 December, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners (DEs). Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK. As part of driving test centres (DTC) that serve the Surrey Heath constituency, Guildford DTC and Farnborough DTC form a recruitment cluster that newer driving examiners (DE) move between. As part of recent recruitment, two new DEs were recruited last year at Guildford DTC. DVSA has also made offers to two more potential new entrants from its most recent recruitment campaign and is currently planning for the next campaign beginning later this year. The DVSA is committed to providing its customers with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient. It currently has no plans for any additional driving test centres.

What steps she is taking to enhance strategic road networks before the development of new housing projects in the South East.

National Highways play a key role in the planning process to determine the necessary strategic road requirements of new major housing projects, and new major developments are a key consideration in future network investment planning as part of the Road Investment Strategy. Alongside this, the Department continues to work with colleagues in the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government and other partners to deliver a well-designed, integrated, and affordable transport network that unlocks homes and supports new developments. This is key to realising wider growth benefits, including reducing congestion and emissions, and ensuring communities can access jobs and services.

If she will take steps to (a) tackle the use of (i) bots and (ii) third-party resellers on the DVSA booking system and (b) ensure equitable access to driving tests.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, very often at significant profit. DVSA deploys enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors. In January 2023, DVSA changed its booking service terms and conditions to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since then, the DVSA has issued 327 warnings, 779 suspensions, and closed 727 business accounts for misuse of its booking service.

What steps she is taking to ensure that medically unfit drivers are (a) identified and (b) reported effectively.

The law requires all driving licence holders to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any medical condition that could affect their fitness to drive and failure to do so is an offence. When a driver declares a medical condition to the DVLA, or a third party (for example a doctor, police officer, family, friends or neighbours) raises concerns, the DVLA will carry out an investigation and a driving licence will only be issued or retained if the individual can meet the appropriate health standards. These medical investigations can range from the consideration of information provided by the driver or applicant to a more detailed investigation. This can include information provided by medical professionals, reports, examinations, eyesight tests or driving assessments. All drivers are encouraged to discuss any concerns about their fitness to drive with their own healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals, doctors and opticians play an important role in the driver licensing process. They advise their patients of the implications of their condition on driving and the effect of any treatment or medication and they advise when a patient should notify the DVLA. If a patient is unwilling or unable to notify the DVLA, the General Medical Council offers clear guidance of when doctors should report any concerns and the DVLA treats such notifications as a high priority. Similar guidance is available to opticians.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of measures to (a) educate drivers on sharing roads with cyclists and (b) foster a safe environment for all road users.

In January 2022, The Highway Code was updated to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses. The changes aim to initiate a positive shift in road user behaviour by making road users aware of their responsibility to use roads safely and reduce the danger they may pose to others. The changes included the introduction of a “Hierarchy of Road Users”, which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy. Communications to raise awareness of the changes were launched via a factual awareness raising campaign in 2022, alerting road users to the changes as they came into effect. This was followed by broader behaviour change campaigns in the summers of 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance. Over £2.4million has been spent on media across the campaign, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising. Campaign outcomes include 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023, and 81% of drivers claiming to leave a gap of 1.5m when passing a cyclist all or most of the time. We will continue to promote The Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations.