Written questions by Stephenson.

Whether upgrading Junction 13 of the M1 remains in the pipeline of potential schemes for the Road Investment Strategy, in the context of cuts to roads funding in the Defence Investment Plan.

Awaiting answer.

Whether new stations on the Marston Vale Line will be built prior to services between Oxford and Bedford beginning.

Awaiting answer.

What consideration she has given to the potential impact of payloads regulations for drone technology for British food security.

Awaiting answer.

What consideration she has given to the impact of Beyond Visual Line of Sight restrictions on drone technology for British food security.

Awaiting answer.

Whether a new station at Stewartby will be built prior to 2031.

Awaiting answer.

If she will provide capital funding to deliver Access for All schemes at a) Flitwick and b) Harlington.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to help tackle the Croydon bottleneck on Thameslink and Southern services.

Awaiting answer.

If she will direct National Highways to upgrade Junction 13 of the M1 in the context of the Milton Keynes New Town.

The Department recognises the importance of this junction as a key connection between the M1, the A421 corridor, and the wider Milton Keynes and Bedford area. National Highways is considering options for major improvements to it as part of future investment planning to inform future Road Investment Strategies. The work is at an early stage and is focused on options for improving the operation of the three roundabouts that form the junction to increase capacity and strengthen safety, whilst supporting regional growth.

What guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on prioritising a) reactive and b) proactive road maintenance interventions.

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. There are occasions where potholes need to be repaired quickly for safety reasons, but the Department encourages local authorities to also focus on long-term preventative maintenance to ensure that roads are fixed properly and potholes prevented from forming in the first place. This is also more cost-effective than the repeated and reactive patching of potholes. This year, the Government made available an additional £500 million for local highway authorities to maintain their highway network. A portion of the additional funding is contingent upon local highway authorities complying with criteria aimed at driving best practice and continual improvement in highways maintenance. This includes local highway authorities having to demonstrate to Government how much they are spending on highways maintenance, including the balance of spend between preventative and reactive maintenance. In this context, the department has written to all local highway authorities to emphasise that when determining the balance between preventative and reactive maintenance, authorities should adopt the principle that prevention is better than cure, as also set out in the Code of Practice for well-managed highway infrastructure, available online, at: https://www.ciht.org.uk/ukrlg-home/code-of-practice/

If she will make a comparative assessment of trends in the level of delay and cancellations by rail companies nationalised in 2025 a) before and b) after nationalisation.

Public ownership is not a silver bullet, but it is a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. Due to seasonal variations and the impact of things like service level changes and introduction of new rolling stock, it will take time for the impact of public ownership to be fully reflected in performance trend data. The Department expects all operators, both public and private, to deliver good performance for passengers. However, recent data published by the Office of Rail and Road shows that overall reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership than for private sector operators contracted by the Department. Data on rail performance and other industry statistics is available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/.

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the performance of Thameslink in the context of its nationalisation.

We recognise that performance on Thameslink services has not consistently met the levels that passengers expect and deserve over recent years, though we are seeing improvements. As part of the mobilisation process for transferring Govia Thameslink Railway’s services, including Thameslink services, into public ownership on 31 May 2026, the Department is conducting detailed due diligence on current operations. This, alongside the operator’s own plans to drive improvements, will inform measures to enhance services following transfer.

Pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2025 to written question 89804, if she will publish that assessment.

The Department has no current plans to publish the internal value for money assessment for the Electric Car Grant.

When she plans to publish the Road Safety Strategy.

On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. This target will focus the efforts of road safety partners across Britain, with measures to protect vulnerable road users, update vehicle safety technologies and review motoring offences. All of this will be supported and monitored by a new Road Safety Board chaired by the Minister for Local Transport.Road safety is a shared responsibility, and this strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.

Whether stations on the Marston Vale Line will have step free access and boarding when EWR services between Oxford and Bedford begin.

All new and fully refurbished stations delivered as part of East West Rail will be designed to meet modern accessibility standards including step free access and new trains commissioned as part of the East West Rail project will offer step-free boarding. An update on timing for the delivery of infrastructure and services for East West Rail will be provided in due course.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of capacity on the East Coast Mainline in the context of the Tempsford New Town.

The Government has committed to bring forward the delivery of a new station at Tempsford to introduce services on the East Coast Main line (ECML) to the area as part of the East West Rail (EWR) project and ahead of the full EWR scheme opening. Network Rail will consider the impact of any new station at Tempsford as part of business case development for any future ECML infrastructure investment, including journey time and capacity implications for ECML services.

Whether her Department is providing funding towards new fare arrangements in Greater Manchester.

The simplified fares system that the Department worked with Transport for Greater Manchester to deliver in December is revenue neutral, reducing passenger fares at no cost to the public purse.

Whether she plans to publish a Thameslink improvement plan in the context of its nationalisation.

We recognise that performance on Thameslink services has not consistently met the levels that passengers expect and deserve. As part of the mobilisation process for transferring Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) services, including Thameslink services, into public ownership on 31 May 2026, the Department is undertaking thorough due diligence of Thameslink operations. This, alongside the operator’s own plans to drive improvements, will inform measures to enhance services post-transfer. Like every public operator, GTR will have to publish performance against Service Level Agreements after being brought into public ownership, and forthcoming customer improvements will also be set out.

How many visas a) her Department, b) the Vehicle Certification Agency, c) East-West Rail, d) National Highways, e) Network Rail, f) Trinity House, g) the Civil Aviation Authority and h) Crossrail International have sponsored since 4 July 2024.

Visa systems, outside of those specific to sponsored employment routes, do not capture the occupation or employer of an applicant and therefore it is not possible to give a comprehensive answer to this question. In addition, the department does not hold information sponsored employment routes for other employers.

Whether she plans to freeze travelcard fares in 2026.

The Government froze national regulated rail fares at the Budget, delivering savings on over a billion journeys, and passengers not paying a penny more on season tickets, peak returns for commuters and off-peak returns between major cities. There are a range of different travelcard products available to passengers - where they are managed by national rail operators, fares will be frozen, in line with the announcement. Decisions on TfL specific fares are a devolved matter for the Mayor of London.

If she will make it her policy to provide more resources to Bedfordshire Police for increased enforcement against illegal usage of e-scooters.

The Government will continue to support the police to ensure they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation, including those relating to offences involving e-scooters. The police are operationally independent and decide how resources are deployed across a range of road policing priorities.