Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 84310 on High Speed 2 Line, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the four-year deferral of work on the Handsacre link on (a) journey times and (b) the economy during the initial operating period of HS2.

The deferral of work at Handsacre is not expected to have any impact on journey times once the delivery of HS2 is complete.The economic benefits of the government's delivery plans for HS2 will be considered as part of the updated business case being developed in line with the work on the programme reset.

What estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the rail network in each of the next five years.

For the next three financial years (2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive) the Department estimates the net cost to the public purse could be c£9bn a year on average, including passenger services, Network Rail’s operations, maintenance and renewal (OMR) and enhancements investment. This net cost is a reduction when compared to previous financial years. OMR CDEL and RDEL for 2029/30 to 2033/34 will be finalised through the next Periodic Review (PR28), with funding for enhancements and passenger services agreed during future Spending Reviews.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle the increase in eating disorders among teenagers and young adults.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, there is a critical need to shift the treatment of eating disorders from hospital to the community. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, improving outcomes and preventing relapse.NHS England is currently working to improve children’s community eating disorder services. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, improving outcomes and preventing relapse. By preventing eating disorders from progressing to adulthood, we will help deliver our aim to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.

What mechanisms will be put in place to ensure enforcement of service quality standards under Great British Railways.

Great British Railways (GBR) will be held to account for railway performance and customer experience including service quality, as will open access and devolved operators. We intend for minimum consumer standards to be set and monitored by the Passenger Watchdog and independently enforced by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR).ORR will also have powers to independently monitor GBR's business performance and advise the Transport Secretary. Further details are set out in the Government's consultation response, A Railway Fit for Britain's Future.

Whether through the (a) Railways Bill and (b) the associated policy framework she plans to ensure that (i) regulatory oversight of the infrastructure manager’s periodic review and (ii) the setting of its performance targets for each control period will be maintained at an adequate level.

The Railways Bill will create a new Periodic Review process in legislation. The key role that the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) plays in ensuring a robust and well evidenced plan for delivery, including performance targets, will be carried across. ORR will provide expert, independent, and public advice across Great British Railway’s (GBR) proposed plan for the 5-year period which the Secretary of State, and Scottish Ministers, will need to consider before approving GBR’s plan for delivery. ORR will continue providing scrutiny throughout the 5-year period and will be involved when GBR’s plan is updated and changed.

Whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of banning first cousin marriage.

The Department of Health and Social Care recognises the increased health risks for children of first cousins and we are in contact with other Government departments, including the Ministry of Justice, to provide further information on these as part of wider discussions.

If his Department has had discussions with the Ministry of Justice on making first cousin marriage unlawful.

The Department of Health and Social Care recognises the increased health risks for children of first cousins and we are in contact with other Government departments, including the Ministry of Justice, to provide further information on these as part of wider discussions.

Whether powers given to Great British Railways to (a) design and (b) implement the (i) access, (ii) contracting and (iii) pricing regime would be subject to (A) regulatory oversight equivalent to the current framework and (B) a continued presumption in favour of access growth.

The new framework will allow GBR to strategically plan the best use of the network.  This will include working with operators like freight and open access to identify services vital to growing the economy. GBR will be required to design and consult on its access and use policy which will include how it will take capacity allocation, access and charging decisions. The ORR will be a statutory consultee on GBR’s access and use policies, able to hold GBR to account, ensuring decisions are fair and consistent with its duties, and through its new and robust appeals function will be able to hold GBR to account, ensuring decisions are fair and consistent with its duties. The ORR will be able apply remedies including to direct GBR to change a decision or substitute a GBR decision with its own.

Whether she plans to maintain the schedule 4 compensation mechanism for planned service disruption for operators outside Great British Railways.

GBR will be required to have a performance and incentives scheme that covers planned and unplanned disruption to protect all users operating services on the network.

Whether she plans to maintain the schedule 8 compensation mechanism for unplanned service disruption for operators outside Great British Railways.

GBR will be required to have a performance and incentives scheme that covers planned and unplanned disruption to protect all users operating services on the network.

If she will take steps to ensure that (a) charities, (b) churches, (c) voluntary organisations and (d) community groups are able to deposit cash into bank accounts via the Post Office without the need for (i) trustees and (ii) volunteers to hold debit cards on the organisation's account.

The Government recognises the importance of cash, understanding that it continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including charities, churches, voluntary organisations and community groups to support communities across the UK, and is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses The Post Office plays a key role in supporting access to banking services. Under the Banking Framework, a commercial agreement between the Post Office and 30 banking firms, personal and business customers can withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The FCA has previously worked with the Post Office, banks, and the National Economic Crime Center to improve controls on cash deposits at the Post Office, in order to minimise financial crime risks. The FCA set out its expectations for transaction verification when making cash deposits, including use of cards, whilst seeking to limit the unintended consequences and ensuring additional measures did not disproportionately impact legitimate customers. This is a matter for the FCA as an independent regulator.

Whether existing rail track access rights will (a) remain and (b) be unfettered by the introduction of (i) the Railways Bill and (ii) policies thereunder.

The Government has committed to honouring existing access rights. As existing contracts expire, operators will move on to new GBR model access contracts. There will be a need to make technical amendments to existing contracts to ensure that they continue to work effectively following GBR stand up and the Government has included a power for the Secretary of State to make such amendments as required.

Whether (a) screen-reader compatibility, (b) audio navigation cues, (c) wheelchair-accessible vehicles and (d) other accessibility features will be mandatory requirements for the licensing of autonomous passenger services.

Certain requirements relating to accessibility of Automated Passenger Services (APS) are set out in the Automated Vehicles Act, which was agreed by Parliament in 2024. In considering whether to grant a permit, the appropriate national authority must have regard to whether and to what extent its granting is likely to lead to an improvement in the understanding of how APS should best be designed for, and provided to, older or disabled passengers. Permit holders will also be required to publish reports on how their services are meeting the needs and requirements of older and disabled passengers. In October, I chaired a roundtable on accessibility considerations for automated passenger-carrying services with individuals from advocate groups and accessibility organisations. The discussion included the importance of public trust and digital inclusion. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as we progress with the introduction of the APS permitting scheme in Spring 2026 and beyond. The Government’s consultation on the APS permitting scheme closed at the end of September. In the consultation, we sought input on what information should be required to be published by permit holders on how the service is meeting the needs of older and disabled people. Government will respond to the consultation in due course.

Whether she plans to take steps to require that (a) Great British Railways and (b) any operator within Great British Railways cannot operate commercial freight services.

The Government is committed to supporting rail freight growth, recognising its significant economic and environmental potential and critical role in the UK’s resilience.Under GBR, freight will remain a private industry and continue to be an integral part of the railway. There are no plans for GBR to run commercial freight services. GBR will retain Network Rail’s ability to run services which are required to support the operation of the network.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of track access charges by operators within Great British Railways on the (a) pricing, (b) access and (c) general operations of (i) non-nationalised passenger and (ii) freight operators.

The Government is fundamentally reforming the track access charging framework to remove complexities and the complicated ‘money go round’ that would have required GBR to charge itself for using its own infrastructure. To ensure transparency GBR will need to carry out cost apportionment process which will account for the cost of providing rail infrastructure and the costs of its own passenger services using GBR managed infrastructure had they been subject to charges.

Whether she plans to require companies (a) trialling and (b) operating autonomous vehicles to publish data on (i) vehicle miles travelled and (ii) collision incidents.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 includes provisions around the collection and sharing of data and information. The way in which these provisions will be used is still being considered and will be informed by recently closed and forthcoming Calls for Evidence and consultations. For example, the recently closed consultation on the proposed Automated Passenger Services (APS) scheme proposed provisions on the disclosure and use of information, including in the event of an incident. Government will respond to this consultation in due course. The ‘Code of Practice: automated vehicle trialling’ (CoP) is available for trialling organisations and other stakeholders to provide guidance on safety-driver led trials of automated vehicles in the UK. This includes a recommendation that plans are in place to readily share data with police and relevant organisations in the event an incident and to report on the performance of the trial vehicle.

If she will publish the number of (a) civil servants from the Department of Transport, (b) civil servants from other Government departments, (c) employees from Network Rail and (d) employees from other public and private sector organisations who are expected to move from their current roles to roles within Great British Railways.

While details on exact roles are subject to further design work, Great British Railways (GBR) will continue to need colleagues from across the railway to continue the hard work that they do delivering for passengers. We will continue to engage with the industry on our plans for GBR.

When she plans to publish Great British Railway’s (a) Access and Use Policy and (b) Draft Licence.

A consultation on a draft Access and Use Policy is to be launched during Bill passage to support implementation of rail reform. Under the Railways Act 1993, the Department is required to publish and consult on a draft licence, and this will not change with the Railways Bill. We intend to consult on the draft GBR licence during the Bill Passage.

How much funding the DVLA has received by providing vehicle registered keeper details in each of the last 10 years.

The table below shows the income collected by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by providing vehicle registered keeper details in each of the last ten years. The law allows the DVLA to provide information from the vehicle record (including keeper information) where the requester can demonstrate reasonable cause to receive it. The fee payable by private sector organisations seeking the contact details of the registered keeper of a vehicle is £2.50 per request. The fee is set to recover the cost of providing the information and ensures that the cost is borne by the requester, not passed on to the general taxpayer. Financial yearIncome collected from the release of keeper details (£)2015-1611,887,2772016-1714,583,3862017-1817,024,7372018-1920,231,8472019-2023,697,3872020-2113,601,6572021-2224,412,3332022-2330,619,6062023-2434,544,2762024-2538,113,498

If she will publish the total spending by her Department on (a) rail reform and (b) the formation of Great British Railways since 4 July 2025.

The recently published Railways Bill Impact Assessment sets out estimated costs for GBR and the passenger watchdog. Costs will be confirmed in the Full Business Case, which we expect to publish next year.