Speeches by Alexander.

“There is a lot in there, Chair. You are right that additional overtime payments, and the use of what are known as warrant card holders—DVSA staff qualified to do examinations but currently doing other work—were initiatives that the previous Government had in place for a period of time. There is a balance to be struck, …”

“The waiting times that people experience at the moment are totally unacceptable. Despite the action that the Minister for the Future of Roads announced in December last year, we have seen waiting times for access to driving tests hit new highs. Of course, DVSA delivered a record number of driving tests last year—1.95 m…”

“Certainly that was the motto that my predecessor, Louise Haigh, gave the Department when she arrived after the general election last year. It is a good motto, because wherever you look there are problems on our transport network. I have been determined, since taking office, to crack on and fix the problems that people …”

“Thank you very much, Chair. My name is Heidi Alexander and I am the Secretary of State for Transport.”

“There is a case for bringing the consumer enforcement powers that the CAA has in line with what other regulators have, such as the CMA.”

“I hope that trains turn up on time and that the experience of people stood on a platform waiting for a train that never arrives will be a thing of the past. I hope that buses in our local communities will be enjoying a renaissance and that we are able to run bus services that are suitable for the diversity of different…”

“DESNZ announced last week the queue for grid capacity and the ability to unlock some priority projects and remove dormant projects in that queue. I am hopeful that that will have an impact on grid connections to ports. I need to check whether it was an issue on the agenda for the meeting this week. I will come back to …”

“I am very aware of the issue as well. One of the newly elected MPs, Richard Quigley, has raised it with me on a number of occasions. I have already met him. The maritime Minister, Mike Kane, is hosting a roundtable this week to discuss this very issue with the various ferry operators and local elected representatives. …”

“A lot of work is happening at the moment. We have published the maritime decarbonisation strategy, and we have introduced the Seafarers Wages Act and those improvements are coming through, as well as the Employment Rights Bill about the experience of people working at sea. We think those are the right actions to be tak…”

“We are not currently considering a graduated driving licence that would restrict new drivers from driving with additional passengers in the car, but, more broadly, your question about things like night driving, rural collisions and the experience of rural driving is part of the work under way at the moment to consider …”

“Yes, we are looking at that.”

“I would have some sympathy for that. When I was deputy mayor of London for transport I published London’s first vision zero strategy. Part of that was focused on a safe systems approach where we looked at not only how to drive safer behaviours among all different types of road users but how to design and deliver safer …”

“Part of the interim settlement of £4.8 billion that we gave to National Highways this year is set aside to be focused on further investments to improve safety. We have been clear with National Highways that it must deliver a series of safety improvements. It has set that out in its safety action plan for 2025‑26. Wheth…”

“This is something I am open to considering. I recently received the prevention of future deaths report from the senior coroner in Lancashire. I know that reading that report will be very distressing for the families of the victims who were killed. That of course was a situation where an optician had suggested to three …”

“We want to get it right. I have been in post for five months. It has been a source of discussion with me and the junior ministerial team. I said that my Future of Roads Minister was very passionate about pavement parking. The second issue she talked to me about was the road safety strategy. In any other sphere of activ…”

“Later this year we hope to publish the first new road safety strategy in 10 years.”

“This is an issue that we will be working through as part of the spending review. The £3 cap costs us over £100 million a year. At the moment, we give nearly £800 million in other forms of support through the bus services improvement plan and the grants we give to operators. As Jo said, some local transport authorities …”

“The announcement about the £3 cap was made and it is due to expire at the end of December.”

“It was about providing some certainty to bus passengers about what their outgoings would be in order to manage the transition from the £2 cap.”

“The previous Government had in place a £2 bus fare cap to try to stimulate bus ridership again after the pandemic. When we came into government I think it was the right decision to provide that £3 cap in the short term. We know how difficult unforeseen price hikes are for people. They are often the hardest thing to dea…”