Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 121180 on Network Rail: Assets, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decline in the Composite Sustainability Index for rail assets on long-term network resilience; and what steps her Department is taking to address the deterioration in underlying rail infrastructure condition.

The Government is clear that Network Rail must ensure that network resilience is either maintained or improved during the current Control Period to an extent that is reasonable.Network Rail assesses the resilience of the railway network on a continuing basis, under the oversight of the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road and has had a Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation strategy in place since 2017.Objectives for Great British Railways (GBR) in the next Funding Period regarding the condition of railway infrastructure will be a key element of Government’s considerations during the coming Funding Period Review. The impact of rail infrastructure condition on its resilience will be a part of this work. The condition of the network as assessed via the composite sustainability index metric does not necessarily correlate directly with levels of resilience.

When her Department will respond to the consultation entitled Changes to various permitted development rights for EV charging.

The Department ran a consultation between November 2025 and January 2026, seeking views on changes to permitted development rights for cross-pavement charging solutions and equipment housing. The Department will publish its response shortly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122445, what further proposals the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has developed to reduce the time taken to onboard driving examiner recruits; and if she will publish the (a) expected impact of each proposal on recruitment timelines and (b) planned implementation timetable.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to review its recruitment processes to improve the onboarding experience of new entrants. DVSA has streamlined its processes, which should see applicants move through the recruitment process more quickly. Alongside this DVSA is also seeking to further increase its training capacity to allow successful candidates to move more quickly from campaign candidate lists onto training courses for new entrant driving examiners.

Pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2026 to WPQ 121808, what proportion of the Customer and Communities Designated Fund within the Road Investment Strategy 3 is allocated to (a) HGV parking capacity and (b) driver welfare facilities; and what targets have been set for delivery of additional HGV parking spaces over the RIS3 period.

Further detail on RIS3 funding allocations will be set out by National Highways in its Delivery Plan.

Whether the DVSA has prepared a contingency plan for the operation of driving tests in the event of fuel rationing or wider fuel supply disruption.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has well-developed and tested contingency plans for a range of situations that could affect the provision of its services, including driving tests.

With reference to her Department's report entitled Department for Transport annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, what expenditure is included under the category entitled Science, research and support functions, and if she will provide a breakdown of this spending by programme, activity, and delivery body for each year listed.

‘Science, Research and Support Functions’ is an Estimate Line descriptor shown in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply within the 2024-25 Annual Report & Accounts. All costs recorded on this Estimate line are incurred by the Core department. A breakdown of the spending recorded in this Estimate Line for 2024-25 and 2023-24 is provided below.Spending in 2024-25 Resource DELCapital DELBusiness area Amount £mAmount £mPublic Transport & Local Group1111Road Transport Group164Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group04TOTAL2719 Individual programmes incurring more than £5m spending in 2024-25, were:Bus Open Data Service (£11m, Capital DEL). This is the Department for Transport’s national digital platform that enables bus operators and certain local authorities to meet their legal obligations to publish bus service data. https://www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/Road statistics survey and collection (£7m, Resource DEL) https://roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk/National Travel survey (£5m, Resource DEL) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-survey-statistics Spending in 2023-24 Resource DELCapital DELBusiness area Amount £mAmount £mRoads and Local Group2213Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group66Rail Strategy and Services Group30TOTAL3119 Individual programmes incurring more than £5m spending in 2023-24, were:Bus Open Data Service (£13m Capital DEL).Road statistics survey and collection (£7m Resource DEL).National Travel Survey (£5m, Resource DEL).

What manual paper-based processes are in operation at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

The vast majority of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main processes are digitised. Where any paper-based elements remain, DVSA continues to look to digitise these where possible. In a small number of cases, paper is used as part of processes where legislation requires or where digital is not practical for all users. Examples of paper-based elements include:Pass certificates for all categories of driving testApplications to provide approved motorcycle training coursesEvidence of a potential driving instructor’s (PDI) completed training and supervision, and declaration from sponsorPotential driving instructor (PDI) trainee licence and approved driving instructor (ADI) certificate of registrationOut of pocket expense claims for a cancelled theory test or driving test.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 116574, what minimum number of public electric vehicle chargepoints her Department considers necessary by 2030 to meet anticipated demand; and how she will determine whether delivery is on track in the absence of a defined benchmark.

An estimate of potential future demand for chargers was originally published in the 2022 “Taking Charge: The National Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy” and was updated in 2024 to a range of 250,000 to 550,000 in 2030. Both the 2024 NAO ‘public chargepoints for electric vehicles’ report, and the Climate Change Committee 2025 Progress report, concluded that charge point rollout is on track.

When she plans to respond to Question 122529 from the Rt Hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay.

Question 122529 was answered on 2 April 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 122959 on Unadopted Roads: Research, what was the cost to the public purse of the research study her Department commissioned from Ipsos UK on the operation of sections 37 and 38 of the Highways Act 1980 and whether the current road adoption system remains fit for purpose since 4 July 2024.

Ipsos UK has been commissioned by the Department for Transport to conduct research into the operation of sections 37 and 38 of the Highways Act 1980 and to assess whether the current road adoption system remains fit for purpose. The total cost to the public purse of this research was £90,390.

How many people are currently engaged by her Department in roles providing political advice or support to Ministers; and how many such individuals are classified as (a) special advisers and (b) ministerial or other political appointees outside the special adviser classification, including those not formally designated as special advisers but undertaking equivalent functions.

The Department currently has (a) 5 special advisers, and (b) no ministerial or other political appointees.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact on a) drivers of extending the electric car grant; and b) motorcyclists of the planned cessation of the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant.

The £2 billion Electric Car Grant has been extended to 2030 to support drivers to purchase electric vehicles by reducing upfront costs. More than 90,000 people have already benefited from grants of up to £3,750 across 45 models. In February 2025, we announced the decision to close the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant, which closed at the end of the 2025/26 financial year. Ending the £500 Plug-in Motorcycle Grant is not expected to have a significant impact on uptake of zero emission motorcycles or on riders. The Government, working with industry, will continue to monitor the development of the zero emission motorcycle market and the need for any further interventions on an ongoing basis.

With reference to page 21 of her Department's report entitled Department for Transport annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, if she will provide a breakdown of the £644 million expenditure on Sustainable travel, including (a) the projects and programmes funded and (b) the amount allocated to each.

Page 21 of the Annual Report & Accounts is the ‘Financial Overview’ report, which presents total departmental spending by Estimate Line. ‘Sustainable Travel’ is an Estimate Line descriptor shown in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply within the 2024-25 Annual Report & Accounts. This Estimate Line records spending incurred by the Core department and Active Travel England. A breakdown of the spending incurred in 2024-25 is provided in the table below. Capital DELResource DELBusiness area Amount £mAmount £mActive Travel England5482Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group39837Rail Strategy and Services Group1915Road Transport Group1722Sub-total488156Overall total644

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 122891 on Driving Licences: Medical Records, if she will set out (a) when the DVLA's new casework system will become operational, (b) when updates to its online service will be completed and (c) how many additional staff have been recruited since 4 July 2024 to deal with medical applications and answer telephone calls.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) new drivers’ medical casework system became fully operational on 27 February 2026. It is expected to deliver significant improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions. The new drivers’ medical online portal for customers was launched on 31 March 2026. This service will be subject to continuous improvement and the next release is due in July 2026. The majority of customers can now apply online through the DVLA’s driver and vehicle account. The DVLA has recruited an additional 43 staff, with a further 22 expected to join by the end of April 2026, in the drivers’ medical casework team and an additional 100 staff in its contact centre to deal with drivers’ medical calls. All these staff have been recruited in the last six months.

On what date her Department will publish its annual report and accounts for the financial year 2025 to 2026.

The Department plans to publish its 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts ahead of the Parliamentary summer recess.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2026 to Question 122888 on High Speed 2 Line: Crewe, when her Department expects to complete the work required to develop plans for a North-South new line between Birmingham and Manchester.

The Northern Growth Strategy set out the Government’s intention to ultimately deliver a full North-South new line between Birmingham and Manchester. We expect the delivery timelines for this line to follow the completion of HS2 and NPR.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the M6 Lune Gorge works on (a) freight movements and (b) connectivity between England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

For most of the M6 Lune Gorge works, traffic, including freight, will continue to use the M6 via a contraflow arrangement, which has been assessed as providing sufficient capacity to avoid significant delays. National Highways does not anticipate significant changes to freight movements as a result. A limited number of overnight and weekend full closures of the M6 will be required for safety reasons. For full closures between junction 38 and 39, traffic will use a fully signed diversion route via Junction 36 and the A6, A591 and A590, as agreed with relevant local highway authorities. This approach is intended to maintain connectivity between England, Scotland and Northern Ireland throughout the works.

What estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the M6 junction 38 closures on (a) local businesses, (b) tourism and (c) employment in Cumbria.

The M6 Lune Gorge bridge works are being undertaken to avoid future emergency interventions, such as unplanned closures or restrictions, which would have greater adverse impacts on local businesses, tourism and employment in Cumbria. These works will maintain the M6 as a safe and dependable corridor for freight, commerce and local communities for years to come. National Highways has undertaken over 60 engagement sessions since 2023 to understand the local impact. National Highways is planning the works to minimise impact as far as possible and will continue to engage with local stakeholders to seek further mitigations where feasible.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122319, what performance metrics the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency uses to assess the effectiveness of recruitment campaigns for driving examiners; and what the outcomes were for each campaign in terms of (a) applications received, (b) candidates progressing to interview and (c) appointments made.

On 31 March 2026, the Driver and Vehicle Service Agency (DVSA) had 1,604 full-time equivalent driving examiners (DE), the highest number since 2018 and 188 more DEs than on 30 April 2025. The table below shows the number of total completed applications DVSA received, the number of applicants invited to interview, the number of applicants invited to the driving assessment stage, applicants recruited and placed on a training course and how many applicants successfully passed training for the 10 recruitment campaigns in each of the three financial years to date: Campaign dateTotal completed applications receivedNo of applicants invited to interview stageNo of applicants invited to driving assessment stage after a successful interviewNo of applicants recruited and placed on a training courseNo of applicants that successfully passed a training courseMay-23655432 [note 1]432 [note 1]7962Sep-231,1687181525340Feb-242,6291,5782737962Jun-241,8161,207501175125Sep-242,2481,460479[note 3][note 3]Mar-253,8652,388361[note 3][note 3]Jul-251,182602267[note 3][note 3]Sep-252,6761,658380[note 3][note 3]Dec-253,4091,014504[note 3][note 2] [note 3]Feb-261,141777388Ongoing campaign still at selection stage therefore no applicants yet recruited and placed on a training course[note 1] - No of applicants invited to interview and driving assessment are the same as this was an assessment centre.[note 2] - 26 applicants booked to a future training course. No applicants from this campaign have yet passed training.[note 3] – DVSA continue to recruit from merit lists for these live recruitment campaigns. The final numbers for the recruitment campaigns shown are therefore not yet known. For all Civil Service roles, after starting an application, an applicant must complete initial forms with their personal details and to confirm such details as to their right to work in the UK. For a DE role, there are further questions to assess eligibility for the role, including the age of the applicant, and whether they hold a driving licence. If an applicant meets the necessary eligibility requirements, they are then asked to complete a full application form for DVSA to sift and progress to interview if successful.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104661, what estimate National Highways has made of the cost of constructing temporary slip roads at M6 junction 38.

National Highways is currently assessing the latest proposals for temporary slip roads at M6 Junction 38 and will feedback on this in due course.