Written questions by Chambers.

How much financial support she has provided to Hampshire County Council specifically for pothole repairs in the last 12 months.

During financial year 2025/26, the Government provided approximately £1.6 billion to support local highways authorities across England, a £500 million uplift compared to the previous year. As part of this, Hampshire County Council received a total of over £52.9 million from the government to support their highways maintenance activities. This represents an uplift of over £15.2 million compared to the previous financial year. Local highways maintenance funding is provided by the government to local authorities to maintain all parts of the highway network, including carriageways, bridges, cycleways, lighting columns and footways. Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 place a statutory duty on local highway authorities to maintain public highways, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances, including the repair of potholes.

What assessment she has made for the adequacy of waiting times for driving licence renewal where there are no limiting factors.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. There are no delays in applications for a driving licence where there is no medical condition involved.The DVLA’s target for driving licence applications is to dispatch 95 per cent within three working days for straightforward online applications and 90 per cent within ten working days for straightforward paper applications.In the current financial year, the DVLA has achieved 100 per cent for online applications and 99.9 per cent for paper applications.

Whether her Department plans to (a) increase the (i) frequency of trains and (ii) number of carriages per train on all South Western Railway services operating between Winchester and London, (b) reduce the high cost of fares on this route, (c) tackle (A) delays and (B) cancellations affecting these services, (d) improve the compensation scheme for passengers experiencing journey disruptions and (e) ensure that ensure that concerns of South Western Railway passengers are (1) listened to and (2) acted upon.

Department officials are in regular conversation with South Western Railway regarding their service provision in response to demand. When reviewing train services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations. The Department’s aim is to keep the price of rail travel at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers, where possible. We are also committed to simplifying the fares and ticketing system and driving innovation across the network. The Rail Minister recently met with South Western Railway regarding their operational performance, as he has done and continues to do with all Operators, as this is a key priority of the Department. On 25th May 2025, SWR will be the first operator to be nationalised following the introduction of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024. This will lead to the introduction of Great British Railways which will bring track and train together under one directing mind, with a relentless focus on improving services for passengers and customers.

Whether she plans to change the level of train fares on South Western Railways when it is taken into public ownership.

Whilst it is our ambition through public ownership to deliver a more affordable railway, any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway. Through future legislation, we will set out the role Great British Railways will have in fares, ticketing, and other operational aspects of the railway.