Written questions by McMurdock.

What discussions she has had with (a) Essex County Council and (b) Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in (i) Basildon and (ii) Thurrock.

Local highway authorities, such as Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, 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. In line with this, no direct discussions have been had with Essex County Council or Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in Basildon or Thurrock. Although the Government does not monitor drainage infrastructure for classified and unclassified local roads, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance. For example, guidance on asset management for local highways authorities can be found in the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highways Infrastructure. This states that “drainage assets should be maintained in good working order to reduce the threat and scale of flooding. Particular attention should be paid to locations known to be prone to problems, so that drainage systems operate close to their designed efficiency.”

What guidance she has issued to local highway authorities on minimum drainage standards on roads.

Local highway authorities, such as Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, 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. In line with this, no direct discussions have been had with Essex County Council or Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in Basildon or Thurrock. Although the Government does not monitor drainage infrastructure for classified and unclassified local roads, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance. For example, guidance on asset management for local highways authorities can be found in the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highways Infrastructure. This states that “drainage assets should be maintained in good working order to reduce the threat and scale of flooding. Particular attention should be paid to locations known to be prone to problems, so that drainage systems operate close to their designed efficiency.”

How many what proportion of (a) classified and (b) unclassified local roads are recorded as having no formal drainage infrastructure.

Local highway authorities, such as Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, 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. In line with this, no direct discussions have been had with Essex County Council or Thurrock Council on the adequacy of surface water drainage infrastructure on local roads in Basildon or Thurrock. Although the Government does not monitor drainage infrastructure for classified and unclassified local roads, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance. For example, guidance on asset management for local highways authorities can be found in the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highways Infrastructure. This states that “drainage assets should be maintained in good working order to reduce the threat and scale of flooding. Particular attention should be paid to locations known to be prone to problems, so that drainage systems operate close to their designed efficiency.”

With reference to her Department's press release entitled Grant boost to cover almost half the cost of installing EV chargers for households and businesses, published on 25 February 2026, whether the increased funding for home EV charge point installation is part of the £25 million scheme announced last year.

The grant boost announced on the 25 February is not part of the £25 million EV Pavement Channel Grant announced in 2025.The EV Pavement Channel Grant is providing funding to local authorities in England for the installation of pavement channels during 2025/26.

With reference to her Department's press release entitled Grant boost to cover almost half the cost of installing EV chargers for households and businesses, published on 25 February 2026, how many grants were given in 2025 for home EV charging point installations; and what estimate she has made of the number of additional applications for the grant following that announcement.

Between January and October 2025, the Government’s Electric Vehicle Charge Point Grant (EVCG) supported the installation of 7,981 residential charge point sockets across the UK. This figure includes installations delivered across all eligible residential categories under the scheme, based on the latest data published up to 1 October 2025 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electric-vehicle-charging-device-grant-scheme-statistics-october-2025.The total grant expenditure associated with these installations over the same period was £3,706,049, according to the published administrative records. As with all EV grant statistics, the figures remain provisional due to processing times and potential undercounting of the most recent months.We expect the uplift in amounts for applicable residential properties and the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road to increase applications to the grant.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of secure parking spaces for HGV drivers.

The Department for Transport published the National Survey of Lorry Parking on 29th September 2022 which highlighted what improvements to lorry parking facilities were most needed. The survey showed an average shortage of around 4,500 HGV parking spaces for the month of March 2022 and identified driver concerns with the quality of welfare facilities and security of lorry parks. In response to these findings, the Department launched the HGV Parking Matched Funding Grant Scheme (MFGS) in 2022 to improve driver welfare facilities, increase secure lorry parking provision, and enhance site security. Through this scheme, up to £35.7 million of joint investment is being delivered to upgrade truck stops across England. This is in addition to up to £30 million of joint investment by National Highways and industry partners to improve lorry parking facilities along the strategic road network.

What estimate she has made of the proportion of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline funding that will be provided to (a) Essex and (b) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline funding is not allocated based on local authorities or constituencies. Rather, investments are made on schemes which deliver the greatest value for money for the national network and are most aligned to the Government’s priorities.

Pursuant to Answer of 12th January 2026 to Question 102595 on Logistics: Young People, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Freight Workforce Group for increasing employment in the logistics industry.

The Freight Workforce Group brings together government and industry representatives to monitor workforce trends across the freight and logistics sector and provides a structured forum for employers of all sizes, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to share evidence on skills gaps, barriers to employment and emerging labour market pressures. The Group has been effective in establishing a shared understanding of current employment levels and where action is required across government and industry to support the sector. The Group has identified the need to support more young people into the sector and to build resilience in its workforce and improve employment levels generally by recruiting from under-represented groups. As a result, industry members of the Group have taken the lead in developing guidance aimed at providing the necessary tools and advice to employers to take steps to make this happen. This will be published by the Department in due course.

What recent steps she has taken to support the wellbeing of seafarers.

My Department works domestically and internationally to improve seafarer welfare. The UK takes a leading role at the IMO to secure greater protections for seafarers, including at recent meetings on seafarer fatigue and working hours. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency enforces seafarer welfare, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 which requires seafarers working on international services calling frequently at UK ports to be paid at least the equivalent to UK National Minimum Wage. The Government has also legislated through the Employment Rights Act 2025 to provide for a mandatory seafarers’ charter to protect those working aboard international services frequently calling at UK ports.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that HGV drivers can take rest breaks with appropriate facilities.

Through the HGV parking and driver welfare match funding grant scheme the Department for Transport and industry partners are projected to deliver up to £35.7m of joint investment to enhance truck stops across England. This significant investment is in addition to joint investment by National Highways and industry of up to a further £30 million, aimed at improving lorry parking facilities along the strategic road network. The scheme is supporting operators across 30 counties in England to improve driver facilities such as security measures, toilets, showers, refreshment facilities and increasing lorry parking spaces.

Pursuant to Answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 102593 on Logistics: Infrastructure, what estimate she has made of the number of additional lorry parking spaces that will be required to meet projected demand in the next five years.

The Department has not made a specific estimate of the number of additional lorry parking spaces that will be required over the next five years. However, the Department will shortly launch a new National Lorry Parking Survey. This will provide a comprehensive picture of current capacity, demand and driver welfare facilities across England. The findings will inform future policy on HGV parking and welfare and will support planning applications for new or expanded sites.

What proportion of staff in her Department have (a) office-based, (b) hybrid and (c) remote-working contracts.

In the Department for Transport the majority of employees are assigned to an office or a specific workplace location within their contract. Hybrid working is not a contractual form of working and as it is agreed within individual teams based on business needs, is not centrally recorded.The only employees who could be classed as having ‘remote-working contracts’ would be those who are contractual homeworkers. Only 0.67% of employees within the core department have a recorded homeworking contract as of January 2026.

What assessment she has made of the environmental impact of a) soil excavation and b) disposal generated by the Lower Thames Crossing.

On 25 March 2025, the Transport Secretary gave approval for the application from National Highways for a Development Consent Order for the Lower Thames Crossing. The Transport Secretary’s consideration of the application for the development including the environmental impacts are set out in her decision letter of 25 March 2025 which is available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

What proportion of soil excavated as part of the Lower Thames Crossing construction will be a) re-used on site, b) recycled or c) disposed of off-site.

The Lower Thames Crossing project aims to reuse between 90% and 95% of the soil it excavates on site. This material will be used to create new public parks, embankments and earth bunds, helping to screen the route from the local community. The remaining material will be disposed of off-site. Details of how this material will be treated have not yet been determined; however, this information will be set out in the project’s Delivery Partners’ Site Waste and Materials Handling Plans, which, once completed and approved by the Secretary of State, will be published on the Lower Thames Crossing website.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that roads categorised as requiring maintenance are repaired promptly by local authorities.

The Government recognises that historic underinvestment has made it difficult for authorities to maintain their roads in the way that they would want to. The Government has therefore confirmed a record £7.3 billion investment into local highways maintenance over the next four years. This new, four-year funding settlement is in addition to the Government's investment of £1.6 billion this financial year, a £500 million increase compared to last year. By confirming funding allocations for the next four-year period, authorities have certainty to plan ahead and shift away from short-term fixes to proactive and preventative maintenance to stop potholes from forming in the first place. The Department has recently released new road condition statistics, which show that in 2025 the percentage of roads receiving maintenance treatment increased, following gradual decreases in the years before then. In addition, the Department recently announced a new traffic light rating system for local highway authorities. Under this system, all local highway authorities in England received a red, amber or green rating based on the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads, and whether they do so using best practice. The ratings will be updated annually and provide an incentive to highway authorities to further adopt best practice. They enable the department to identify where councils need to improve and to support them. As part of this, the Department is providing £300,000 worth of development support to help councils adopt best practice and to improve their rating and the condition of their roads.

What plans she has to collect data on the frequency of (a) potholes and (b) defects on local roads.

DfT collects and collates information on the condition of roads from local authorities in England annually. This information is published as official statistics. The latest release of these statistics was in January 2026, which covered data for the financial year ending March 2025. The statistics are published online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/road-conditions-in-england-to-march-2025 In addition, in June 2025 local highway authorities had to publish transparency reports about their maintenance activities to unlock their full share of the Government’s £500 million uplift for local highways maintenance this financial year. These reports included estimates of the number of potholes they have filled in each of the last five years and from now, must be published annually on local highway authorities’ websites. The reports also require local highway authorities to publish data on the condition of their roads and to demonstrate how they comply with best practice in highways maintenance, for example the extent to which they adopt preventative maintenance approaches which keep roads in good condition for longer and prevent potholes from forming in the first place.

What steps she is taking to prioritise road maintenance issues that contribute to (a) serious injuries and (b) fatalities.

This government takes road safety very seriously, and reducing the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads is a key priority. On 7 January 2026 we published our Road Safety Strategy. The strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65%, and 70% for children by 2035. We are also providing £7.3 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain local roads across the country. The Government has also announced that a total of just under £25 billion, comprising both capital and revenue funding, will be invested in the Strategic Road Network over the five-year period 2026/27 to 2030/31. Further details, including annual funding profiles and the split between capital and revenue funding, will be set out in the Third Road Investment Strategy, to be published in March 2026. Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highway network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards for 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 temporary quick fixes should be avoided wherever possible in favour of a proper risk-based asset management approach. This is a core aspect of the Code of Practice for Well-managed highways infrastructure, which states that “when determining the balance between preventative and reactive maintenance, authorities should adopt the principle that prevention is better than cure”. This is available online, at: https://www.ciht.org.uk/ukrlg-home/code-of-practice/.

How many driving examiner vacancies currently exist in the East of England.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. DVSA acknowledges car practical driving test waiting times remain high and understands the impact this continues to have on learner drivers, including those living in rural and semi-rural communities. The government remains committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, particularly in rural areas where a driving licence is vital for accessing jobs and training, as part of our Plan for Change. It is not possible to confirm how many people are waiting to book a practical driving test. DVSA only holds data on the number of tests booked.DVSA continually reviews its recruitment needs to ensure the agency maintains the right level of resource to meet customer demand. The Agency’s latest national recruitment campaign closed in December 2025. As a result, it has a number of candidates progressing through the final recruitment stages. In the East of England. This includes:11 potential driving examiners (DE) booked onto training courses.14 potential DEs currently undergoing pre-employment checks.72 applicants currently working their way through recruitment processes.DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible at all test centres and regularly conducts tests outside of normal hours, including evenings, weekends and on public holidays. Between June - December 2025, DVSA conducted 1,158,458 car practical driving tests. This is an increase of 102,290 more car practical driving tests when compared to the same period in 2024. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme introduced in June 2025. DVSA publishes data on car practical test cancellation reasons by month and driving test centre (DTC) on GOV.UK. This data, in report DRT122B, is updated annually and currently shows data to March 2025. The next update is due to be published in June 2026.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of a) extended working hours and b) weekend testing in reducing driving test waiting times.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. DVSA acknowledges car practical driving test waiting times remain high and understands the impact this continues to have on learner drivers, including those living in rural and semi-rural communities. The government remains committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, particularly in rural areas where a driving licence is vital for accessing jobs and training, as part of our Plan for Change. It is not possible to confirm how many people are waiting to book a practical driving test. DVSA only holds data on the number of tests booked.DVSA continually reviews its recruitment needs to ensure the agency maintains the right level of resource to meet customer demand. The Agency’s latest national recruitment campaign closed in December 2025. As a result, it has a number of candidates progressing through the final recruitment stages. In the East of England. This includes:11 potential driving examiners (DE) booked onto training courses.14 potential DEs currently undergoing pre-employment checks.72 applicants currently working their way through recruitment processes.DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible at all test centres and regularly conducts tests outside of normal hours, including evenings, weekends and on public holidays. Between June - December 2025, DVSA conducted 1,158,458 car practical driving tests. This is an increase of 102,290 more car practical driving tests when compared to the same period in 2024. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme introduced in June 2025. DVSA publishes data on car practical test cancellation reasons by month and driving test centre (DTC) on GOV.UK. This data, in report DRT122B, is updated annually and currently shows data to March 2025. The next update is due to be published in June 2026.

How many learner drivers are on waiting lists for practical driving tests in the East of England.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. DVSA acknowledges car practical driving test waiting times remain high and understands the impact this continues to have on learner drivers, including those living in rural and semi-rural communities. The government remains committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, particularly in rural areas where a driving licence is vital for accessing jobs and training, as part of our Plan for Change. It is not possible to confirm how many people are waiting to book a practical driving test. DVSA only holds data on the number of tests booked.DVSA continually reviews its recruitment needs to ensure the agency maintains the right level of resource to meet customer demand. The Agency’s latest national recruitment campaign closed in December 2025. As a result, it has a number of candidates progressing through the final recruitment stages. In the East of England. This includes:11 potential driving examiners (DE) booked onto training courses.14 potential DEs currently undergoing pre-employment checks.72 applicants currently working their way through recruitment processes.DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible at all test centres and regularly conducts tests outside of normal hours, including evenings, weekends and on public holidays. Between June - December 2025, DVSA conducted 1,158,458 car practical driving tests. This is an increase of 102,290 more car practical driving tests when compared to the same period in 2024. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme introduced in June 2025. DVSA publishes data on car practical test cancellation reasons by month and driving test centre (DTC) on GOV.UK. This data, in report DRT122B, is updated annually and currently shows data to March 2025. The next update is due to be published in June 2026.