Written questions by Holden.

With reference to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority's Annual Report 2024–25, published on 11 August 2025, for what reason no evaluation was completed for the East Coast Mainline programme.

The Department has continued to work closely with Network Rail and industry stakeholders on development of the recast East Coast Main Line timetable, planned for introduction this December. This timetable will realise the benefits of the investment made through the Enhancements Programme, and so discussions are ongoing with the Department’s Research and Evaluation team, and NISTA, to develop a suitable Evaluation Plan for the Programme once the final details of the timetable have been formally confirmed.

What information (a) her Department and (b) Great British Railways holds on (i) the trade union agreements with each railway operator and (ii) the operating practices on employees rights in each railway operator.

The Department for Transport does not hold any records of individual trade union agreements or operating practices relating to employee rights for each individual railway operator. These matters are managed directly by the operators themselves. Great British Railways does not currently exist as a statutory body and therefore holds no such information.

What substantive proposals her Department received relating to the construction of a third runway at Heathrow, other than from (a) Heathrow Airport Limited and (b) the Arora Group; and from which organisations.

The Department received seven proposals for consideration through a structured internal assessment process.The assessment process is designed to ensure that each proposal is examined carefully and consistently against the criteria set out in the Secretary of State’s 30 June letter. This includes a review of the proposals’ overall feasibility, their timelines, the costs and revenues associated with the scheme, details of the scheme’s financing and funding, the environmental impacts and mitigations, and deliverability of the scheme.While we are not disclosing the names of promoters or details of their proposals at this stage, a further update will be provided in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 65151 on Permanent Secretaries: Pay, which two Permanent Secretary roles were approved; and what the salaries were.

Since July 2024, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office have approved two Permanent Secretary roles to exceed the Permanent Secretary pay band; one in each the Department of Health and Social Care and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

With reference to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority's Annual Report 2024–25, published on 11 August 2025, for what reason no evaluation was completed for the Lower Thames Crossing.

The Lower Thames Crossing position can be found in the Tables section of the NISTA annual report which refers to the project post opening evaluation report (POPE). This report details the expected benefits once the scheme opens for traffic, how they will be measured and the actual ‘as measured’ benefits (3 years after opening) and produced as part of the Benefits Realisation and Evaluation Plan. Drafting of the POPE does not normally commence until the Full Business Case, which defines the expected benefits at the start of construction when they have reached full maturity and the scheme design is complete, has been approved.

How much her Department has spent on (a) designing, (b) producing and (c) installing posters on departmental workstreams for its headquarters in London since 4 July 2024.

Since 4 July 2024, the Department for Transport has made no spend on designing posters to promote departmental workstreams in London offices. Costs of producing and installing posters are covered by the fixed cost of the total Facilities Management contract.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 64502 on Road Traffic Control: Oxford, whether DVLA will be providing vehicle registration data to (a) Oxfordshire County Council and (b) Oxford City Council to facilitate the penalty notice enforcement of the Oxford traffic filters from 2026.

The law allows the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to make information about UK vehicles and their registered keepers available for use by a local authority for any purpose connected with the investigation of an offence. The law also allows the DVLA to make this information available to a local authority in England and Wales when that local authority is acting as an enforcement authority under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004. These provisions would apply to Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire City Council in the usual way.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 31166 on Ministers: Aviation, how much air passenger duty has been paid for Prime Ministerial domestic travel on RAF-provided flights since 4 July 2024.

During the period 4 July 2024 to present there have been a total of seven domestic tasks for which the Prime Minister (PM) was identified as the principal passenger. The total of Air Passenger Duty (APD) paid for all passengers on those flights is £14,358. Information is not held regarding the identity of individual passengers, but on the assumption that the PM was present for all legs that involved passenger movements, the total APD for the PM in this period was £1,578.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63330 on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, on what date the event took place; where it took place; who attended; and what the cost of the event was.

The expenditure for PYM ARTEMISPLUS EXPRE, made via the Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, was made for a training event on the 25-26th September 2024 with 75 attendees, including over 70 Government of Philippines officials in Manila, and totalled £777.

With reference to the document entitled Fixing the foundations: Public spending audit 2024-25, published on 29 July 2024, if she will publish the (a) equality impact assessment, (b) strategic environmental assessment and (b) environmental principles assessment produced for the Ministerial decision to cancel the Restoring Your Railway fund.

On 8 July 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer instructed HM Treasury officials to undertake a audit of public spending. The audit’s findings showed a forecast overspend on departmental spending of £21.9 billion above the resource departmental expenditure limit (RDEL) totals that had been set at Spring Budget 2024. Taking immediate action to respond to the spending pressure, the government cancelled the Restoring Your Railway programme as a cost-saving measure of £85 million. HM Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics in line with both our legal obligations and with our commitment to promoting fairness. HM Treasury also carefully considers the environmental impacts of decisions in line with the environmental principles policy statement duty and the recognition of long-term environmental targets to tackle climate change.

Whether DVLA is making use of AI for (a) Automatic Number Plate Recognition and (b) supply of traffic enforcement data to local authorities.

While artificial intelligence (AI) is not currently in use for these purposes, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is actively monitoring developments with AI technology and will consider where and how it could potentially be used to help improve processes in the future.

What the (a) punctuality, (b) reliability and (c) other quantified performance targets are for c2c Railway Limited under the Services Agreement with the Department for Transport; if she will publish those targets in full; what the defined outturn performance standards are for c2c Railway Limited under the Services Agreement; how each standard is measured; what minimum thresholds apply; what indicators and benchmarks are used to assess the continuing development of the customer offer for c2c Railway Limited under the Services Agreement; and how progress against those indicators will be reported.

The Services Agreement with c2c Railway Limited will be made available on the Department for Transport’s website in due course, which will set out the Secretary of State’s requirements for the publicly owned operator. c2c Railway Limited, along with other public sector operators, will be required to meet targets for punctuality, reliability, service quality and customer satisfaction every period, and it will also be required to publish its performance against these targets on a regular basis. In addition, a suite of Key Performance Indicators will be routinely monitored by the operator and the Department.

Whether the nationalised railways will be subject to (a) the Freedom of Information and (b) Environmental Information Regulations regimes.

Great British Railways will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 in accordance with the statutory provisions that apply to public authorities. This means that information held by these bodies can, in general, be requested under these regimes, subject to the usual exemptions and exceptions.

Whether she plans to reduce the micrograms of alcohol drink drive limit in England and Wales.

As part of the development of our Road Safety Strategy, the Government is considering a range of policies relating to motoring offences such as drink driving and other matters of concern that have been raised. The enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the alcohol drink drive limit level on the viability of (a) pubs, (b) restaurants, (c) cafes and (d) other hospitality businesses in rural areas.

As part of the development of our Road Safety Strategy, the Government is considering a range of policies relating to motoring offences such as drink driving and other matters of concern that have been raised. The enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

Pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62994 on Defence: Expenditure, whether expenditure on (a) transport and (b) broadband networks are within the scope of spending on critical infrastructure.

As set out in the Government's answer of 1 July to Question 62994 on Defence: Expenditure, the Government defines defence and national security spending in line with NATO's definition. NATO's definition of defence and security related expenditure includes areas such as strengthening the defence industrial base and our energy security, enhancing civil preparedness and resilience, and countering hybrid treats.

With reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Spring Statement 2025: Policy Costings, updated on 2 April 2025, for what reason that document uses both (a) RPI and (b) CPI inflation.

The Government confirms tax rates and thresholds annually. In some cases, to make sure that they reflect the current economy, they are uprated to account for inflation. The policy paper entitled Spring Statement 2025: Policy Costings sets out the indexation assumed in the public finances forecast baseline, which underpin the costings set out in the document.The Office for National Statistics (ONS), regulated by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), produces a range of inflation statistics. The most widely used estimates of inflation, both by Government and the private sector, are the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI)The Government agrees with UKSA that RPI is a flawed measure of inflation, which at times overstates and at times understates changes in prices. RPI’s shortcomings are well-documented. In 2013, as a result of flaws in the way it is measured, RPI lost its status as a National Statistic. Since 2010 the Government has been reducing its use of RPI and has committed to not introduce any new uses of RPI.

How much her Department has spent on (a) purchasing and (b) installing soundproof meeting pods for its headquarters in London since 4 July 2024; and how much of this relates to meeting pods for the Ministerial private office.

Since 4 July 2024 the Department has spent £27,083.43 purchasing and £8,229.23 installing soundproof meeting pods. Of those costs £18,055.62 for purchasing and £5,486.15 for installation relate to Ministerial private office.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the cancellation of the THINK! Road Safety communications campaign on road (a) injuries and (b) fatalities.

The Department continues to run the THINK! Campaign. In 2025/26 it has delivered a paid campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of drink driving and will continue to prioritise budget where it can have the most impact. The THINK! campaign has successful cut through and trust among young drivers. We consistently see high claimed action taken, including changing driving behaviour, and positive shifts in attitudes towards priority issues including drink driving and speeding. THINK! also promotes key road safety messages across its social channels and via ongoing radio advertising. The partner-led platform, THINK! 0%, continues to encourage drivers to always opt for 0% over an alcoholic drink if they’re getting behind the wheel. Assets are also made available for stakeholders and partners to promote. THINK! also supports road safety education for children via free resources for schools, parents and local authorities. The Government treats road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We continue to adapt and evolve our campaign strategy and will consider any requirements aligned to the future Road Safety Strategy.

Whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that more customers can access pension pot consolidation more quickly.

The Government is committed to the consolidation of small workplace pension pots, when in the best interests of savers. The Pension Schemes Bill 2025 was introduced into Parliament on the 5 June. This includes measures to address the growing issue of deferred small pots, which normally arises when individuals change jobs and accumulate multiple pots over their working lives. This will ensure workplace pension pots, initially worth £1,000 or less are automatically consolidated, unless members choose to opt-out. This will address the 13m stock of deferred small pots, and any future small pots that are created. As announced in our recent publication, ‘Workplace pensions: a Roadmap’ The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workplace-pensions-a-roadmap/workplace-pensions-a-roadmap#roadmap. However, savers do not need to wait for legislation to benefit from consolidation. Currently, individuals can transfer and consolidate their pension pots themselves through a member-initiated transfer. This will also soon be aided by the introduction of pensions dashboards. Once launched, pensions dashboards will allow people to find and view their pensions, including State Pension, securely and in one place online. This will help people to reconnect with each of their pension pots and better plan for retirement.