Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83373 on DfT Operator, whether her Department has issued any (a) Notices to Improve or (b) written instructions to any DfT Operator train operating company in relation to (i) service performance or (ii) financial control since April 2024.

The Department has not issued any Notices to Improve to any of the DfT Operator train operating companies because none have been in breach of their formal contractual terms.DfT regularly engages with all operators on service performance and financial management, aligned with this Government's priorities on improving performance and reducing subsidy.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2025 to Question 76344 on South Western Railway: Personnel Management, which organisation provided payroll services for South Western Railway (a) prior to and (b) following its transfer into public ownership.

South Western Railway has managed payroll services internally prior to and following the transfer to public ownership.

Whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prevent taxi drivers being licensed in one authority and operating in another.

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 September 2025, to Question UIN 76341.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78691 on Railways: Concessions, whether Great British Railways plans to use ticket pricing to (a) manage demand and (b) reduce crowding on trains.

Great British Railways (GBR) will be empowered to deliver industry-wide modernisation and fares reform, including considering the most effective ways to manage issues such as crowding. We are already making progress in considering options to address this, including through supporting LNER in trialling easier to understand fares on their long-distance network between the London area and Edinburgh and the North East. This aims to address the inefficient and unacceptable situation where some ‘peak’ trains run nearly empty while some ‘off-peak’ trains are crowded. We are doing this by moving towards more flexible, demand-based pricing – a model commonly used for long-distance rail in countries such as France, Italy, and Spain. The results of this trial will be carefully considered before any decisions on next steps are taken.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 59359 and the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 77650 on Motorcycles: Bus Lanes, how many and what proportion of respondents to the consultation were (a) in favour of and (b) opposed to allowing motorcycles to access bus lanes by default.

This information is contained in the ‘Motorcycles in bus lanes consultation outcome’ published on 21 November 2024 and available here:www.gov.uk/government/consultations/motorcycles-in-bus-lanes

What steps she is taking to help (a) promote UK-based innovation in road (i) maintenance and (ii) resurfacing and (b) ensure that (A) public procurement and (B) supply chain standards support the adoption of such technologies.

The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is determined to support local highway authorities in adopting new and innovative technologies to maintain and improve their highway networks in a way that is cost effective and reduces carbon impacts. For example, the Department has funded Live Labs 2, a three-year, £30 million programme designed to support the local highways sector to adopt innovation and reduce its carbon impacts. Projects funded under the programme include the trialling and demonstration of sustainable materials and processes, and the creation of toolkits and databases so that all local highway authorities can access findings and lessons learned from the programme. Each project is a collaboration between a local highway authority, a contractor, and at least one UK university. Further to this, in March, the Prime Minister announced that to receive their full allocation of this year’s £500m uplift in highways maintenance funding, all councils in England must publish annual progress reports and prove public confidence in their work. These reports also require local highway authorities to set out how they are adopting innovation in highways maintenance. This is helping to highlight positive innovations and new technologies and encourages authorities to learn from each other. Finally, the Department is currently updating the Code of Practice for Well Managed Highways Infrastructure. The Code provides guidance to local authorities on the delivery of safe, efficient, and sustainable highway services through a risk-based, evidence-led approach to asset management. This update will ensure the Code reflects the latest best practice on innovative and low-carbon road repair technologies.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 82744 on Roads: Repairs and Maintenance, whether her Department has (a) conducted and (b) commissioned an assessment of the potential impact of the revised national road maintenance capital allocations on local highway maintenance performance indicators.

As set out at the Spending Review, the £24 billion of capital funding that was announced to maintain and improve our motorways and local roads will allow National Highways and local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys. The Government will confirm highways maintenance funding allocations for local highway authorities in due course. An additional £500m of highways maintenance funding was announced this financial year, alongside new reporting requirements for local authorities. This includes the publication of an annual transparency report detailing how the funding has been used and the outcomes achieved. These reports will enable the Department and the public to better understand the impact of investment over the next four years.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 3 September 2025 on Pavement Parking, column 165WH, when she plans to publish the Government’s response to the consultation on Managing pavement parking which closed on 22 November 2020; and whether that response will include measures relating to (a) people with sight loss and (b) other disabled pedestrians.

The previous government failed to publish a response to its own 2020 consultation on pavement parking. This Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and disabled people with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs, and is currently working through policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce next steps and publish a response as soon as possible.

What discussions she has had with (a) Innovate UK and (b) the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on (i) supporting research, development and commercialisation of (A) advanced road surfacing materials and (B) graphene-enhanced and recycled products; and (ii) assessing the potential for British manufacturing and export growth arising from those low-carbon technologies.

Advanced road surfacing materials, including graphene-enhanced and recycled products have the potential to deliver significant benefits to the UK, through helping deliver cost effective and long-lasting road surfaces. They may also present an opportunity for British innovators and manufacturers. While the Secretary of State for Transport has not had discussions with Innovate UK or the Secretary of State for Business and Trade about these matters, the Department is supporting innovation in relation to such products through its Transport Research and Innovation Grants, and as part of its £30 million Live Labs 2 programme. Projects funded as part of Live Labs 2 include the trialling and demonstration of sustainable materials and processes and the creation of toolkits and databases so that all local highway authorities can access findings and lessons learned from the programme.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2025 to Question 76331 on the Road Investment Strategy 2, what the value is of each RIS2 scheme that was written off; and what the total value of the write-offs was.

The values of the written-off projects are detailed in the National Highways’ Annual Report and Accounts 2025.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of progress towards the (a) lower bound and (b) mid-point rollout figures of the 2030 demand projection range for public electric vehicle chargepoints; and what the projected annual installation rate is.

As of 1 October 2025, Government and industry have supported the installation of 86,021 publicly available charging devices, up 23% on this time last year. The Department does not project an annual installation rate but, as noted by the National Audit Office (NAO) in its report published in December last year, the number of public chargepoints being installed is on track to meet the expected demand for 300,000 chargepoints in 2030. As published in the NAO report, the Department’s 2024 estimated range of potential future demand for chargepoints is around 250,000 – 550,000 in 2030. This expected range will likely be updated as the electric vehicle and charging market evolves.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2025 to Question 76329 on Roads: Capital Investment, on what date she plans to publish the final version of the Road Investment Strategy 3.

The Department for Transport intends to publish the final version of the third Road Investment Strategy by the end of March 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82751 on HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Fund, what the total budget was for that fund; how much of that budget remains unspent; and how that fund relates to the £14 million in joint government and industry funding announced on 9 October 2024 for improvements to freight working conditions.

As set out in my response to Question 82751 there have been three funding windows of the Lorry Parking and Driver Welfare Matched Funding Grant Scheme launched in 2022, 2023 and 2024. £13,849,303.45 of government investment has been awarded in total across the three windows. This does not include projects that have been cancelled by operators to date, subsequent to receiving an award. The 9 October 2024 announcement included up to £4.5 million government investment awarded in window 3 of the Grant, matched by up to £8 million industry investment. Four projects that were awarded funding in the third window have subsequently been cancelled by operators. The remaining funds in that announcement were investment for 10 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to trial new groundbreaking technology for decarbonising freight and driving innovation in the sector. All applications that met the Lorry Parking and Driver Welfare Matched Funding Grant Scheme’s criteria were funded in each window. Investment therefore reflects demand from the truck stop and lorry parking industry. The Grant is on top of up to £30 million National Highways joint investment with industry in lorry parking. Underspends against specific budgets are reallocated to other priorities within DfT where possible. Any departmental underspend at the end of the financial year is returned to HMT.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's net zero transport spending commitments on its capital allocation for (a) road maintenance, (b) HGV parking and (c) freight infrastructure.

All spending allocations were agreed as part of the Spending Review process to deliver Departmental priorities, including road maintenance, HGV parking and freight infrastructure, alongside specific commitments that would support delivery of net zero. This approach ensured that investment in net zero was considered alongside, not at the expense of, other essential priorities.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 October to Question 77637 on Railways: Industrial Disputes, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to introduce minimum service levels legislation in the context of industrial action on the transport network since 4 July 2024.

Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) legislation was brought in under the Conservative Government and the Labour Government is repealing it. MSLs do not support a positive and productive relationship between employers, employees, and their trade unions. The implementation of MSLs legislation only exacerbated the national rail disputes, which led to two years of widespread strikes under the last Government. There has been no such industrial action since the General Election.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82409 on Railways: Public Ownership, whether she has defined best practice standards for publicly-owned train operating companies since 10 October 2025.

Publicly owned train operating companies will continue to have regard to a range of industry best practices and deliver services under Services Agreements with the Secretary of State, which sets out specific requirements and performance expectations. As part of the transition towards the establishment of Great British Railways, the Department continues to work with DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) as they identify and share examples of effective practice across public sector operators.

Whether her Department plans to retain statutory independence for the Office of Rail and Road in relation to its (a) appeal and (b) enforcement functions following the establishment of Great British Railways.

Following the establishment of Great British Railways, the Office for Rail and Road will continue to have an independent statutory role, including in hearing appeals and providing enforcement across key areas. More detail on the proposed role of the Office of Rail and Road can be found in the Government response to the consultation ‘A railway fit for Britain’s future’.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78709 on Great British Railways: Staff, if she will make an estimate of the number of staff who will be employed by Great British Railways once those transfers are complete.

GBR will be established as a consolidated new arms-length body from more than 17 existing organisations, and as a result, we estimate it will employ around 90,000 staff. We are developing GBR’s design and resourcing model to ensure GBR is an agile and efficient public service, and we will continue to engage on our plans and the impact on staff.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77648 on Railways: Automation, whether the take-up of automated train operation technology will form part of the bespoke performance standards to be applied to future rail investment decisions.

The Government will continue to consider the most appropriate ways to deliver a modern railway that provides benefits for passengers and taxpayers, including through improved performance. We will always assess the opportunity for making best use of technology in achieving this goal.

What estimate her Department has made of the impact of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate on average airline ticket prices in (a) 2025, (b) 2026 and (c) each of the next ten years.

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 October 2025, to Question UIN 78707 page 61 of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate Final stage Cost Benefit Analysis, covers estimates on air fares. We recognise the importance of protecting consumers from excessive costs, and this principle is embedded in both the SAF Mandate and the Revenue Certainty Mechanism. The SAF Mandate includes a built-in review process, enabling Government intervention if costs become excessive. Meanwhile, the Revenue Certainty Mechanism helps reduce the cost of producing SAF in the UK by lowering the cost of capital for domestic plants. To ensure the Mandate remains aligned with technological and commercial developments, it will be continuously monitored, including its impact on consumers. Formal reviews will be published at least every five years, with the first scheduled for 2030. These reviews will also ensure continued alignment with broader government policies and strategies.