Every parliamentary written question tabled by Damien Egan this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–8 of 8 · Department for Transport
What steps she is taking to ensure that local governments, including in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, have the resources available for road maintenance and improvements.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that local authorities have the resources needed to maintain and improve their road networks. The Government has therefore confirmed a record £7.3 billion investment into local highways maintenance over...
What steps her Department is taking to help ensure access for those with mobility issues at train stations, including reliable access to lifts, ramps, and waiting rooms.
We are continuing to deliver the Access for All programme that has made more than 270 stations accessible including 36 in the last two years. In January 2026 we confirmed that 8 Access for All projects will be progressing directly to delivery and 23 proje...
What estimate her Department has made of driving test waiting times at test centres serving Kingswood.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to reduce waiting times for car practical tests whilst upholding road safety standards. DVSA wants all customers to be able to access a driving test when they are ready to pass, to enable people to get to places of study or work and break down barriers to opportunity. The table below shows the average waiting time in weeks for February 2026, and number of tests booked and available at the nearest four driving test centres (DTC) to Kingswood of 23 March 2026.Driving test centre (DTC)Average car practical driving test waiting time (February 2026)Booked tests (as of 23 March 2026)Tests available in 24 week booking window (as of 23 March 2026)Bristol (Kingswood)24 weeks4,442127Bristol (Avonmouth)24 weeks4,404124Chippenham24 weeks3,053182Trowbridge*24 weeks4601*Trowbridge is a taking the test to the customer site so may not be open every day.Between June 2025 – February 2026, at the four DTCs above, DVSA conducted 2,372 additional car practical driving tests in overtime, when compared to the equivalent overtime scheme between June 2024 – February 2025. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme the agency introduced in June 2025.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of affordable and accessible public transport on supporting older people to (a) remain in and (b) return to employment.
While employment policy sits primarily with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Transport considers the impacts of transport affordability and accessibility through its policy development and funding decisions. This includes supporting lower fares, service provision and improvements to the accessibility of the transport network. The Government is supporting affordability by extending the £3 bus fare cap in England to March 2027, freezing regulated rail fares until March 2027, and providing over £700 million to local authorities in 2025/26 through the Local Authority Bus Grant to help maintain and improve bus services.Alongside this, the Department is investing in accessibility through programmes such as Access for All and is developing an Accessible Travel Charter to help improve the end‑to‑end journey experience. These measures support older people and others with accessibility needs to travel with greater confidence, helping them to access and sustain employment where they choose to do so.
What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of pavement parking on levelks of (a) wellbeing, (b) social isolation and (c) economic opportunities of disabled people.
The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and disabled people with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. To inform next steps, the Department has considered the potential options, assessing the costs and benefits to households and businesses, which includes well-being, social isolation and economic opportunities. This assessment drew on existing evidence, including the 2020 pavement parking consultation. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.
What steps she is taking to reduce the cost of creating new walking, wheeling and cycling routes on disused railways.
Local authorities are empowered to decide where investment is made in their areas. As such, it is for local authorities to consider whether disused railway lines would be suitable for active travel routes and to work with National Highways, in their role as custodians of the historic rail estate, to assess the viability of any particular routes. In the Spending Review we announced that we are allocating £616 million for Active Travel England from 2026-27 to 2029-30 to support local authorities to build and maintain walking and cycling infrastructure. This is in addition to the almost £300 million funding for active travel in 2024/25 and 2025/26 which we announced in February.
What assessment her Department has made of the likely readiness of hydrogen-powered aircrafts for commercial use at the planned completion of the expansion of Heathrow Airport; and what steps her Department is taking to align aviation decarbonisation initiatives with future airport infrastructure developments.
The government recognises the potential decarbonisation and growth benefits that new forms of zero-emission aircraft using hydrogen could provide. However, construction and operational timelines of any Heathrow Airport expansion remain a matter for the scheme promoter. The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals must be delivered in line with the UK’s legal, climate and environmental obligations. The government will set out detail on plans for meeting legislated carbon budgets later this year, including for aviation.Also, the Jet Zero Taskforce, convening representatives from government, industry, and academia, has established a dedicated Task and Finish Group to review barriers to the commercial operation of zero-carbon hydrogen aircraft.
What steps her Department is taking to remove barriers to cycling for disabled people.
Requirements set out in ‘Local transport note 1/20: cycle infrastructure design’ and Inclusive Mobility guidance seek to ensure cycling schemes are accessible for all. This includes advice on designing for different types of cycle, including adapted cycle...