Written questions by Mayhew.

How much of the funding allocated to reform the train ticketing system has been spent.

The department is committed to reforming the train ticketing system and improving passenger experience. There has been substantial progress in extending Pay As You Go (PAYG) ticketing in the South East and progressing PAYG trials in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. We will establish Great British Railways, ensuring fares and ticketing are managed in the interests of passengers and taxpayers.

Whether the new Great British Railways ticketing system will automatically identify the cheapest combination of fares for each journey.

Once Great British Railways is established, it will retail online by consolidating individual train operators’ ticket websites. It will work alongside a thriving private sector retail market, which will continue to play a key role in driving innovation and investment and encouraging more people to choose rail. The Railways Bill consultation, which launched on 18 February, will help us develop more detailed plans for GBR’s retail offer. We are consulting closely with industry, the private sector, and wider stakeholders.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of conclusion one of the Public Account Committee's report entitled HS2: Update following the Northern leg cancellation, HC 357, published 28 February 2025 on the governance of HS2.

In light of the Public Account Committee’s recent report on High Speed Two (HS2), this government’s priority is to deliver HS2 Phase 1 safely and to the lowest reasonable cost. We have set out urgent measures to get the programme back on track and have tasked Mark Wild, the new CEO of HS2 Ltd, with conducting a reset of the HS2 programme to provide a realistic budget and schedule and to deliver the remaining works. As part of this reset, the government reinstated ministerial oversight of the project to ensure greater accountability and commissioned an independent review of the oversight of major transport infrastructure projects, which is investigating the effectiveness of forecasting and reporting of cost, schedule and benefits, as well as actions to deliver cost efficiencies. The Department will update Parliament on the programme reset as it progresses.

What steps she is taking to plant trees alongside roads.

The Department is not currently taking any specific steps with regards to tree planting as this a matter for National Highways and local highway authorities (for the strategic road network and local roads respectively). The Department does, however, encourage local highway authorities to recognise the contribution that trees make to the economic, social and environmental well-being of communities, while National Highways is, as part of its efforts to deliver on environmental goals and achieve Net Zero Targets, aiming to plant at least 3 million trees by 2030 (in addition to the trees planted as ‘essential mitigation’ for projects) to provide landscape and biodiversity benefits and help lock up carbon.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending the Highways Act 1980 to increase roadside trees planting.

The Department does not have plans to amend the Highways Act 1980 on this particular topic. The Department does, however, encourage local highway authorities to recognise the contribution that trees make to the economic, social and environmental well-being of communities, while National Highways is, as part of its efforts to deliver on environmental goals and achieve Net Zero Targets, aiming to plant at least 3 million trees by 2030 (in addition to the trees planted as ‘essential mitigation’ for projects), to provide landscape and biodiversity benefits and help lock up carbon.

What steps she is taking to prevent cost overruns during the transition to Great British Railways.

The Rail Sector Transformation Programme, which includes the establishment of Great British Railways, is part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with Departmental governance overseeing delivery.

Whether she has conducted a study of the (a) financial and (b) operational impact of rail nationalisation in Scotland.

Decisions regarding ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services are a devolved matter for the Scottish Government. My officials engage closely with devolved counterparts on their experiences of nationalisation.

What steps she is taking to ensure that the work of Great British Rail is held to account.

Great British Railways’ new passenger-focused culture will ensure passengers are at the heart of everything it does. It will be operationally independent of, but accountable to, the Secretary of State, as well as to the UK and devolved Parliaments, supported by the Office for Rail and Road and a new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority. We will be consulting on our proposals for the legislation that will establish GBR as an arm’s length body, in due course.

How many full-time equivalent staff are working on the transfer of South Western Railways into a directly operated railway.

A new Public Ownership Programme Directorate has been established in the Department to deliver the programme to transition passenger services into public ownership over the next three years. The Directorate currently has 34 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees who work across the entire public ownership programme, not just South Western Railway. Other capabilities from across the Department, as well as external expertise, will be drawn upon as required to support the transfer of all ten operators transferring to public ownership, starting with South Western Railway in May 2025.

If her Department will make an assessment of the value for money of (a) the Rail Delivery Group, (b) Network Rail and (c) other publicly funded railway bodies engaging public affairs agencies for lobbying purposes.

We do not hold this information; the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG’s) structure reflects the role the organisation has played as a means of facilitating collaboration and delivering whole-system outcomes within a multi-operator sector. As a Non-Departmental Public Body, Network Rail strictly adheres to Cabinet Office rules which prohibit attendance at party conferences and the use of consultancies for lobbying activity. The Secretary of State has not put any restrictions on RDG from attending party political conferences, international railway meetings overseas and other lobbying activities. Furthermore, we have not carried out a value for money assessment in relation to RDG and Network Rail engaging public affairs agencies for lobbying purposes. RDG undertakes and provides a wide range of critical functions across the rail industry which deliver high value for money for the industry. Network Rail has a profitable international consultancy arm which involves international travel and conferences; and also necessarily participates in international activities as railway standards and the railway supply chain are both international. The Rail Delivery Group will be overtaken by GBR in due course which will be an arms-length body of the Department for Transport and therefore subject to Cabinet Office rules.

What restrictions she has placed on the Rail Delivery Group on attending (a) party political conferences, (b) international railway meetings overseas and (c) other lobbying activities.

We do not hold this information; the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG’s) structure reflects the role the organisation has played as a means of facilitating collaboration and delivering whole-system outcomes within a multi-operator sector. As a Non-Departmental Public Body, Network Rail strictly adheres to Cabinet Office rules which prohibit attendance at party conferences and the use of consultancies for lobbying activity. The Secretary of State has not put any restrictions on RDG from attending party political conferences, international railway meetings overseas and other lobbying activities. Furthermore, we have not carried out a value for money assessment in relation to RDG and Network Rail engaging public affairs agencies for lobbying purposes. RDG undertakes and provides a wide range of critical functions across the rail industry which deliver high value for money for the industry. Network Rail has a profitable international consultancy arm which involves international travel and conferences; and also necessarily participates in international activities as railway standards and the railway supply chain are both international. The Rail Delivery Group will be overtaken by GBR in due course which will be an arms-length body of the Department for Transport and therefore subject to Cabinet Office rules.

How much (a) Network Rail and (b) the Rail Delivery Group spent on lobbying activities, including expenses related to attending party conferences and engaging public affairs consultancies, for financial years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

We do not hold this information; the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG’s) structure reflects the role the organisation has played as a means of facilitating collaboration and delivering whole-system outcomes within a multi-operator sector. As a Non-Departmental Public Body, Network Rail strictly adheres to Cabinet Office rules which prohibit attendance at party conferences and the use of consultancies for lobbying activity. The Secretary of State has not put any restrictions on RDG from attending party political conferences, international railway meetings overseas and other lobbying activities. Furthermore, we have not carried out a value for money assessment in relation to RDG and Network Rail engaging public affairs agencies for lobbying purposes. RDG undertakes and provides a wide range of critical functions across the rail industry which deliver high value for money for the industry. Network Rail has a profitable international consultancy arm which involves international travel and conferences; and also necessarily participates in international activities as railway standards and the railway supply chain are both international. The Rail Delivery Group will be overtaken by GBR in due course which will be an arms-length body of the Department for Transport and therefore subject to Cabinet Office rules.

What estimate her Department has made of the completion date of the A5 Dodwells to Longshoot RP2 project.

The A5 Dodwells to Longshoot scheme was cancelled in July 2021 due to the scheme being poor value for money. The M42 Junction 6 scheme is in construction and is forecast to complete in the year 2026/27.

What estimate her Department has made of the completion date of the M42 Junction 6 RP2 project.

The A5 Dodwells to Longshoot scheme was cancelled in July 2021 due to the scheme being poor value for money. The M42 Junction 6 scheme is in construction and is forecast to complete in the year 2026/27.

If she will take steps to change how her Department assesses proposals for funding local authority road improvement projects.

The Department’s transport business case guidance forms the basis of our assessment of transport investment projects. It follows HM Treasury’s Green Book five case model which is the government’s best practice model for spending and investment decisions. The guidance is kept under review and is used alongside the well-established Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG). TAG is kept under constant review in line with good practice, the latest evidence, and method enhancements.

What estimate her Department has made of the completion date of the A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool RP2 project.

The schemes in question are in different stages as follows: Four schemes have been completed and are open to traffic.Scheme NameCompletion DateM621 Junction 1-7 EnhancementsCompleted September 2024A585 Windy Harbour to SkippoolCompleted March 2024A19 Down Hill LaneCompleted March 2022A61 Westwood RoundaboutCompleted February 2021 The following three schemes are in construction and expected completion dates as follows: Scheme Name Expected Completion DateA63 Castle Street ImprovementMarch 2026A1 Birtley to Coal HouseMarch 2025Mottram Moor Link Road and A57 Link Road2028 As the Chancellor informed Parliament on 29 July, an internal review of the Department’s capital spend portfolio has been commissioned. The primary aim of the review is to provide strategic advice to the Secretary of State, which may in turn inform decisions on specific projects as part of the multiyear Spending Review. Schemes below are subject to this review and therefore we cannot give any assurances around delivery of these schemes until the Spending Review concludes. Scheme NameA66 Northern Trans-PennineM60/M62/M66 Simister Island InterchangeA46 Newark BypassA38 Derby JunctionsM54-M6 Link Road Finally, the A5036 Princess Way scheme was cancelled in the Autumn Budget 2024.

Whether her Department has made changes to the membership of the Aviation, Maritime and Security Group since 4 July 2024.

The Department for Transport is made up of seven groups led by a Director General or Permanent Secretary, which are subdivided into directorates and divisions. Organisational structures are always kept under review to best deliver the Department’s responsibilities. As of 10 December 2024, there have been no major organisational restructures which have resulted in substantive changes to the membership, scope or responsibilities of any of the groups since 4 July 2024.

Whether her Department has made changes to the membership of the Public Transport and Local Group since 4 July 2024.

The Department for Transport is made up of seven groups led by a Director General or Permanent Secretary, which are subdivided into directorates and divisions. Organisational structures are always kept under review to best deliver the Department’s responsibilities. As of 10 December 2024, there have been no major organisational restructures which have resulted in substantive changes to the membership, scope or responsibilities of any of the groups since 4 July 2024.

What estimate her Department has made of the completion date of the Mottram Moor Link Road and A57 Link Road RP2 project.

The schemes in question are in different stages as follows: Four schemes have been completed and are open to traffic.Scheme NameCompletion DateM621 Junction 1-7 EnhancementsCompleted September 2024A585 Windy Harbour to SkippoolCompleted March 2024A19 Down Hill LaneCompleted March 2022A61 Westwood RoundaboutCompleted February 2021 The following three schemes are in construction and expected completion dates as follows: Scheme Name Expected Completion DateA63 Castle Street ImprovementMarch 2026A1 Birtley to Coal HouseMarch 2025Mottram Moor Link Road and A57 Link Road2028 As the Chancellor informed Parliament on 29 July, an internal review of the Department’s capital spend portfolio has been commissioned. The primary aim of the review is to provide strategic advice to the Secretary of State, which may in turn inform decisions on specific projects as part of the multiyear Spending Review. Schemes below are subject to this review and therefore we cannot give any assurances around delivery of these schemes until the Spending Review concludes. Scheme NameA66 Northern Trans-PennineM60/M62/M66 Simister Island InterchangeA46 Newark BypassA38 Derby JunctionsM54-M6 Link Road Finally, the A5036 Princess Way scheme was cancelled in the Autumn Budget 2024.

Whether her Department has made changes to the membership of the Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group since 4 July 2024.

The Department for Transport is made up of seven groups led by a Director General or Permanent Secretary, which are subdivided into directorates and divisions. Organisational structures are always kept under review to best deliver the Department’s responsibilities. As of 10 December 2024, there have been no major organisational restructures which have resulted in substantive changes to the membership, scope or responsibilities of any of the groups since 4 July 2024.