Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2026 to Question 107769, what estimate he has made to the Insolvency Service of compliance with Net Zero, sustainability and climate-related disclosure requirements.

I have made no such assessment, however the Insolvency Service’s total emissions have been reported in the Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts since 2012/13. Progress on wider sustainability requirements is reported quarterly to the Department for Business and Trade through the Agency’s Greening Government Commitment (GGC) returns. The Agency adheres to the Greening Government Commitments and the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidance.

What the cost to UK Export Finance was of mitigating operational emissions arising from (a) its office footprint and b) business travel in 2024-25.

UKEF’s office footprint is managed by the Government Property Agency, which is responsible for the provision of all energy and utility services. UKEF mitigates operational emissions arising from business travel through policies to reduce the cost of business travel; these measures do not place additional costs on UKEF.Full details regarding expenditure on UKEF’s office footprint and business travel for 2024-25 can be found in the UK Export Finance Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2025 to Question 93460 on Roads: Safety Barriers if she will publish the (a) location and route section, (b) date granted, c) reason of each departure from standard; what plans she has for upgrades to rigid concrete barrier.

The locations, routes and dates of approval for the departures from standard allowing steel crash barrier to be replaced with new steel barrier, rather than concrete, are as follows:M4 Junctions 13-14: 20/08/2025M6 Junction 37-38: 12/05/25M5 Junctions 23-24: 24/04/24A1(M) Junctions 37-38: 02/12/24 The reason for permitting departures from standard allowing the replacement of life-expired steel barrier with new steel barrier and not concrete barrier is due to the affordability of concrete barrier schemes – this can be either due to the cost of the concrete barrier in isolation or the additional works which would be required in order to change the barrier provision from steel barrier to concrete barrier. Plans for upgrades to rigid concrete barrier: Given the availability of new higher-containment modular precast concrete barriers, and higher-containment steel barriers, a tiered approach has now been adopted for the renewal of existing central reserve barriers.  The highest tier is the provision of rigid, higher-containment concrete barrier.  This can be relaxed to the provision of a non-rigid, higher-containment concrete barrier or a higher-containment steel barrier. However, this is only permitted if supported by a documented justification and risk assessment.

What is the policy of (a) the Cabinet Office people group and (b) the Office for Equality and Opportunity, on white privilege.

The Government wants to ensure that whoever you are, wherever you come from, Britain is a country that will respect your contribution and give you a fair chance to get on in life. The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving outcomes for everyone.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2026 to Question 108300, when the rollout of the Fire and Rescue Data Analysis Platform (FaRDAP) will be completed; and from what date Fire and Rescue Services will be required to record whether fires involve lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles.

The Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP) Version 1 was successfully rolled out to 48 Fire and Rescue Services in England, Scotland and Wales by 14 November 2025. At present, Fire and Rescue Services are not required to record whether fires involve lithium-ion batteries or electric vehicles in national incident data, and no date has been set for when such recording will become mandatory. However, work is underway on FaRDaP Version 2 to update the data collected, including the development of categories to capture incidents involving lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles (including e-bikes and e-scooters).

Whether the Motor Insurance Taskforce examined motorcycle insurance as part of its work leading to the Final Report published on 10 December 2025.

The taskforce was given a strategic remit to set the direction for government policy, in order to identify short- and long-term actions that may stabilise or reduce motor insurance premiums, but not the cost of motorcycle insurance specifically. The scope of the taskforce was agreed by ministers at the Department for Transport and HM Treasury, as the co-chairing departments.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108459 on Department for Transport: Artificial Intelligence, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of AI-enabled initiatives operating on a test-and-learn basis not delivering the expected benefits on the corporate initiatives efficiency target.

Please see the previous response to Question 108459 which answers this question.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2026 to Question 110095, whether the Department plans to publish route-specific or island impact assessments before domestic maritime is brought into scope of the UK ETS in 2026.

The Impact Assessment set out that it is not possible to robustly break down compliance costs to the level of individual routes or service types, as ticket prices, fare structures and commercial operating decisions vary widely. The Assessment therefore considers impacts at the sector and scheme level. The Authority consulted extensively with all operators, including those serving island mainland and shortsea routes, to ensure all perspectives informed policy development.

What percentage weighting is given to social value in the evaluation of bids under each Government-funded scheme supporting the procurement of new buses, including zero-emission, electric, hydrogen and hybrid buses.

Social value, through community benefits, was one of the criteria considered when assessing the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) 2 funding announced in March 2024. The strategic case, including community benefits, had a 10% weighting. The published criteria can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding-zebra-2/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding-zebra-2 . Previous rounds of ZEBRA funding did not explicitly assess social value. Through the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, which this Government launched in March 2025, my department is working with the sector to explore how best to consider social value in future bus procurement.

Whether his Department issues guidance to teams on the proportion of staff time or budget that should be allocated to net zero strategy or corporate sustainability activity.

The department does not issue guidance to teams on the proportion of staff time or budget that should be allocated to net zero strategy or corporate sustainability activity.

What the Competition and Markets Authority’s total expenditure was in 2024–25, broken down by project and function.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s published Annual Report and Accounts contains details of its expenditure, including a breakdown of total gross expenditure by operating segment. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) the abolition of non-dom status and (b) increases in levels of taxation on the retention of international shipowners in the UK; what estimate she has made of the number of shipowning individuals or companies that (i) have relocated and (ii) are considering relocating as a result of these changes; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the UK remains an attractive base for global shipping and maritime businesses.

The Government’s priority is improving the UK’s competitiveness internationally and securing economic growth. The reforms to the tax treatment of non-domiciled individuals have been specifically designed to make the UK competitive, with a modern, simple tax regime that is also fair. The reforms establish a tax regime for new residents which is more attractive to new arrivals than the current rules.The introduction of a residence-based tax system is expected to raise £39.5bn by 2030-31 (as costed by the OBR last autumn), and the OBR have said that there is no firm evidence to change the estimated impact of the reforms on migration. As set out at Budget 2025, the Chancellor has been clear that she will continue to assess the regime to ensure it strikes the right balance, including on competitiveness.The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note for this policy on 30 October 2024, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-changes-for-non-uk-domiciled-individuals/reforming-the-taxation-of-non-uk-domiciled-individualsRegarding global shipping and maritime businesses, the Government is maintaining the Tonnage Tax regime, introduced in 2000 to improve the competitiveness of the UK’s shipping industry. This is designed to make it easier for shipping companies to move to the UK and ensures they are not disadvantaged compared with firms operating in other countries.

How paragraph 3.9.2 of the draft National Policy Statement for Ports will be applied by decision-makers when considering development consent for port infrastructure.

We are currently considering the views received from consultation on, and Parliamentary scrutiny of, the draft revised National Policy Statement for Ports, and will lay a final text in Parliament in due course. In line with the recommendation of the Transport Select Committee, we are considering further guidance on how developers assess carbon emissions as part of Environmental Impact Assessments.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2025 to Question 95968, for what reason there is a difference between the estimates of the fiscal cost of freezing rail fares (a) as set out in that Answer and (b) the figures published in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2025.

The difference is due to a difference in rounding. The estimates provided in the Department’s previous response were sourced from the published Budget document, where numbers are rounded to the nearest £5m. The OBR choose to round figures to the nearest £1m in their own publications, including their Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in November 2025.

How many Memorandums of Understanding the UK has signed since 5 July 2025, broken down by (a) the countries with which countries they were signed and (b) the policy areas covered by each agreement.

This Department has signed a range of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) since 5 July 2025 to help drive economic growth. However, these are not routinely published or notified to Parliament in line with HMG policy on non-legally binding instruments and in some cases to respect the confidentiality requirements of partner countries. It is, therefore, not possible to provide a full list of MoUs by country and subject area as requested.

Whether her Department is considering mandating the TechSafe framework as a national safety, competence and assurance framework to support implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act and related vehicle technology regulation.

The Department is currently running a public Call for Evidence in support of the regulatory framework for automated vehicles. Responses to this Call for Evidence will inform a public consultation on the proposed regulations later in the year. The Department encourages those with views or evidence on frameworks such as TechSafe to respond to the Call for Evidence.

With reference to her Department's research and analysis document entitled Factors influencing multi-modal public transport use, published on 29 January 2026, what was the total cost of commissioning and producing the research; how much of that cost was spent on external contractors and consultants; which organisations and suppliers were contracted to deliver the research; and from which budget and programme was the work funded.

The research report on ‘Factors influencing multi-modal public transport use’ was published on 29 January 2026. The work was conducted in full by the external research contractor, Verian (previously Kantar) and was commissioned as part of the ‘TROO0282 - Qualitative Research Call Off’ contract, details of which can be found on the GOV.UK Contract Finder. The project was funded under the Department’s Science, Research and Support budget, as presented in the 2024/25 financial estimates.

For each month since November 2025, how many driving test centres recorded the maximum waiting time of 24 weeks for a practical car test; and if she will publish a list of those test centres for each month since.

The answer of 9 January 2026 to Question 101472 provided information on which driving test centres had a waiting time of 24 weeks in each month from July 2024, including for November 2025.The answer of 22 January 2026 to Question 104863 provided information on which driving test centres had a waiting time of 24 weeks in December 2025.The attached Excel document shows how many driving test centres had a waiting time of 24 weeks for a practical car driving test, in January 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 105894, what estimate the Department has made of the proportion of efficiency savings attributed to regulated settlements that arise from funding constraints imposed by the Office of Rail and Road rather than from operational productivity improvements.

As set out in Question 105894, the Office for Rail and Road do not set funding constraints as these are determined via the overall funding settlement.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2026 to Question 107278, what items of hospitality were provided at that reception; and if she will publish the relevant food and drink invoices and procurement contracts.

The items of hospitality provided at the Department for Transport Operator Group’s (DFTO) parliamentary reception on 19 January 2026 were: canapés, tea and coffee, bottled water, and various soft drinks totalling £1,646.99. As this was below the contractual minimum catering spend of £2,365, an additional charge of £718.01 was applied. Room hire, a service charge, a facility fee, and an AV package made up the remainder of the cost published in the Answer to Question 107278. Relevant documents including invoices and the procurement contract will be published in due course, as set out in Cabinet Office guidance for electronic invoicing and payments under the Procurement Act 2023.