Written questions by Mayhew.

What proportion of motorway service areas have at least six ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargepoints; and what target she has set for full coverage.

All motorway service areas in England now offer open-access rapid or ultra-rapid charge points and 75% (January 2026, industry data) have at least six or more ultra-rapid open-access charge points.The Government continues to work closely with distribution network operators, motorway service area operators, charge point operators and other industry stakeholders to address barriers to rollout.In November 2025, the Government opened applications for a £10 million innovation fund for cutting-edge technologies to support rollout of chargers along the Strategic Road Network (England’s motorways and major A-roads).

What estimate he has made of current and projected gigafactory battery production capacity in Europe; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that capacity for UK automotive demand.

The Advanced Propulsion Centre UK collaborates with Government, automotive industry, and academia to produce quarterly forecasts. The latest insights show, based on nameplate capacity, European cell production is projected to surpass demand in 2027.While EU trade remains vital to the sector, it is critical for UK economic resilience and competitiveness that we build domestic battery production capacity and diverse supply chains.This Government is supporting our domestic battery ecosystem through Industrial Strategy commitments, where we announced the UK's largest single commitment to battery R&D in the Battery Innovation Programme, and significant capital support through DRIVE35 funding.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2026 to Question 119491 on Transport: Nitrogen Dioxide, how the £478 million whole-life cost of the NO2 Programme referenced by the National Audit Office relates to the total programme budget of approximately £880 million; and what proportion of the total programme cost this represents.

The Department for Transport provides all capital funding and a small amount of resource funding.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 116791, what representations were made by organisations representing disabled people during engagement relating to the guidance entitled Floating Bus Stops: Provision and Design; and what advice she received from officials on those representations.

Three workshops were held on the floating bus stop guidance, facilitated by Transport for All (TfA). The participants included organisations representing disabled people and TfA members with lived experience of disability. The department also circulated the draft guidance for comment to a range of groups from 26 November to 2 December 2025. A list of those involved is included in the guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design A range of comments and representations were received from seven organisations representing the needs of disabled people. For example these included the need for consistent design approaches; the need to prioritise accessibility; the role of behaviour change and enforcement alongside design; concerns about shared-use bus boarders; and many comments on detailed design points. This information was used to inform the final version of the guidance which was cleared through my office in the usual way.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2026 to Question 118863, what the annual estimated cost of the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce is in (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28 and (d) 2028-29.

The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) is not able to provide an estimated annual cost for the Sustainability Taskforce for 2025/26 before its accounts for the financial year are finalised. Its Annual Report and Accounts for 2025/26 will be laid before Parliament in the normal way.The CMA does not allocate specific multi-year funding to individual workstreams such as the Sustainability Taskforce, which remain subject to wider prioritisation decisions. Budgets for 2026/27 and 2027/28 have not yet been formally delegated by HM Treasury or approved through the Main Estimate process. Estimated costs for these future years are therefore not available.

Whether 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to access Training Driver Level 3 apprenticeships.

The Government is confident in the steps being taken by the rail industry to enable 16 and 17 year olds to access Train Driving Level 3 Apprenticeships. New legislation to lower the minimum age to be a train driver from 20 to 18 will remove the main legal obstacle preventing train operators from recruiting 16- and 17 year olds into the profession, including via apprenticeships. The industry is working with Skills England to reduce the apprenticeship entry age from 18 to 17½, which will allow young people to begin classroom learning and supervised training before becoming eligible for a licence at 18. For 16 and 17 year olds, the industry is also developing preparatory routes, including a new rail foundation apprenticeship from age 16 and access courses to build the non-technical skills needed for driver selection.

Pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2026 to WPQ 116586, whether her Department plans to publish details of the savings in fees otherwise payable to former private sector owners used to offset the increase in staff costs for DfT Operator Limited.

Once all services currently delivered under contract with the Department have transferred, public ownership is expected to save taxpayers up to an estimated £110-150 million every year on fees currently paid to privately-owned train operating companies. This is several orders of magnitude less than the costs of scaling up DfTO staffing in anticipation of establishing GBR – as part of which we will be tackling waste and inefficiency across the fragmented railway we inherited.

Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on implementing the statutory Private Parking Code of Practice provided for under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.

The Department is considering the findings of the Private Parking Code of Practice consultation very carefully and will set out further details on the private parking code of practice as soon as possible.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy of the independence and (b) effectiveness of private parking appeals services.

The government is aware of concerns amongst some motorists that second stage appeals services are not independent of parking operators because these are facilitated by the trade associations who represent their members. Last summer, my department consulted on this issue to better understand concerns around the current model and consider if change is needed. The Department is considering the findings of the consultation very carefully and will set out further details as soon as possible. The 2025 consultation document can be found on gov.uk here.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of passenger demand and peak-time capacity on the effectiveness of Northern services operating on the Clitheroe–Manchester line.

The Rail North Partnership (which is a collaboration between Transport for the North and the Department for Transport to manage the Northern and TransPennine Express rail contracts) has regular discussions with Northern about the levels of service and passenger demand and its capacity to meet these across its network.Every effort is taken to ensure the planned formation of trains is provided. However unfortunately there may be occasions when this is not possible due to more trains than usual requiring repair.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118263 on East West Rail Line, in which month will the first services operate from the new station at Winslow.

Chiltern is continuing to work closely with its partners and the Department to conclude the remaining train, infrastructure and staff issues. The start date for the first East West Rail (EWR) services at Winslow station will be announced as soon as it is possible to do so.

With reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Department for Transport 2024-25, published in November 2025, whether capital spending on the High Speed Two programme is on track to fall by 7.9% in real terms between 2025-26 and 2029-30.

The figures within the National Audit Office’s report reflect table 5.18 within the 2025 Spending Review document. The HS2 programme will be required to align with the Spending Review settlement which, based on the annual capital Departmental Expenditure Limits between the period FY 25/26 - FY 29/30, reflects an average annual real growth rate of -7.9%.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2026 to Question 112226 on Airports: Fees and Charges, whether her Department plans to collect information from airports on the level of kerbside drop-off charges paid by passengers.

Kerbside drop‑off charges are commercial matters for airports to set and justify to their customers, and information on charge levels is already freely available on airports’ respective public websites. The Department collects a range of information on airports’ surface access strategies through our regular engagement with airport operators, and drop‑off charges form part of these wider discussions.

What estimate the Department for Transport has made of the lease costs written off by East West Rail following delays to testing of the route.

The Department for Transport is not proposing to write-off any contracted lease costs following delays to testing of the route. Driver training, testing, and rolling stock modifications are continuing in preparation for entry into service. The Department continues to meet and budget for the contracted rolling stock lease costs for East West Rail.

What the current level of rail industry productivity is as a percentage of pre-pandemic levels.

The Office of Rail and Road published its report on rail industry productivity in March 2025. The report can be found at: https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-03/2025-rail-industry-productivity-report.pdf.

What progress has been made on the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor since January 2025.

The Oxford–Cambridge Corridor is a national priority for the Government. We believe that growth here will boost the whole UK economy, creating jobs, enhancing connectivity and opportunities across the UK. On East West Rail (EWR), major construction work has completed for Connection Stage 1 and in June 2025 the line opened to freight trains. In March 2025 the Department announced Chiltern as the line operator and is working with partners to confirm a start date for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes. On future stages of the project, East West Rail Company completed its third non-statutory consultation in January 2025 and set out an update on proposals for the railway in November 2025. Work is currently progressing on a Spring consultation on East West Rail to take place shortly. The new Cambridge South station is expected to open in June 2026, providing vital connectivity to the Cambridge biomedical campus and the wider region and enhancing travel options for both local residents and visitors. The station is expected to serve up to 1.8 million passengers each year, improving access to economic opportunities and housing development in the region. The station will also have built in-capacity to support future East West rail services. In October 2025, the Government announced a £120 million funding contribution to reopen the Cowley Branch Line to passenger services. This will see regular services from Oxford starting in 2029/2030 and serving new stations at Littlemore and Cowley to support growth, housing and innovation in the city and across the region. Turning to strategic roads, construction of the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvement has continued and we expect it to open in 2027. When complete, the scheme will provide quicker, safer and more reliable journeys for thousands of road users every day and help give more access to jobs in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and everywhere in between.

When the long-term climate resilience strategy being developed by Network Rail is expected to be published.

Network Rail have already undertaken significant adaptation planning and action. They have produced Weather and Resilience Climate Change Adaptation (WRCCA) plans for each of the five regions for CP7 (2024-29); they have reported on their activity under the Adaptation Reporting Powers, with the most recent response submitted in late 2024; and in 2025, they published their Greener Railway Strategy which included adaptation objectives. Network Rail (NR) is planning to publish its long-term climate change adaptation pathways strategy in March / April 2029. This will take strategy commitments a step further and provide a route-by-route plan of how to respond to current and projected risks.

How many standards checks of approved driving instructor trainers have been carried out in each of the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of periods of more than five years without quality assurance checks on training quality.

DVSA does not have a separate standards checks for trainers of ADIs. If a driving instructor wishes to train driving instructors, they do not need an extra qualification.

Whether her Department will achieve an average 5% annual real-terms reduction in resource spending between 2025-26 and 2028-29.

Spending plans for the period from 2025-26 to 2028-29 were agreed with HM Treasury as part of the Spending Review 2025 settlement and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document.They were amended as part of the Autumn Budget 2025 and can be found at [page 146] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/Budget_2025.

What the annual cost was of the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce in 2024–25, including a) staff costs, b) external consultancy costs and c) other programme expenditure.

For financial year 2024-25 the annual cost of the Competition and Markets Authority’s Sustainability Taskforce was £342,983.19. This includes £342,306.01 in staff costs and £677.18 in other programme expenditure covering travel and subsistence.