Written questions by Arthur.

What progress his Department has made on implementing United Nations Global Technical Regulation No.22 on EV battery health.

On 13 April 2026, the Department launched a public consultation on updating the minimum emission standards for new road vehicles to Euro 7. As part of these proposals, manufacturers would be required to meet the requirements of United Nations Global Technical Regulation No.22 by fitting electric vehicles with accurate, accessible and comparable battery health monitors. The consultation will remain open until 25 May 2026. The Government is seeking views on these proposals through that consultation. No final decisions have been taken, and the timetable for introducing any new battery health measures will be determined following careful consideration of the responses received.

What recent assessment she has made of the level of demand electric vehicles; and whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of aligning the ZEV mandate trajectory with the 2035 European transition timeline in the light of current consumer and business rental demand.

According to industry figures, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) represent 22.4% of new car sales in the year to date. In March, new BEV volumes were up 24.2% on March last year, with 86,120 BEV sales, the highest month of BEV sales by volume ever in the UK. New BEV sales increased by almost a quarter in 2025 compared to 2024, while BEVs showed the strongest growth on the second-hand market, up by 45.7%. The Government continues to monitor regulatory approaches to support the transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) in other countries and in the EU. These vary depending on economic, market, and geographic circumstances. Transitioning to ZEVs is essential to meeting the UK’s objectives on air quality, energy security and industrial policy, and to delivering on our climate commitments. The Government has a long-standing commitment to publish a review of the ZEV Mandate by early 2027, with preparations beginning this year.

How many driving tests (a) took place, (b) were cancelled and (c) went unused at the Currie Driving Test Centre in each month of 2025; and what the pass rate was in the same period.

The attached Excel spreadsheet shows how many practical car driving tests were conducted and cancelled, including pass rates at Currie driving test centre in each month for 2025. Also included is the number of practical car driving test slots that were available to book during this period but were not used. It is not possible to include data on the number of tests cancelled that then go on to be unused. Please note this data is up to 31 March 2025. Data for individual driving test centres is updated annually. The next update to this information will be published in June/July. DVSA publishes some of this data which is available on GOV.UK.

What assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of the expiry of the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant on riders in the gig-economy, the use of illegal e-bikes, and road safety.

The Plug in Motorcycle Grant has supported almost 16,000 vehicle purchases since 2016 and will close at the end of the 2025/26 financial year or when budgets have been exhausted, whichever comes first. The grant is currently available for L3 motorcycles costing under £10,000 with a range of at least 31 miles. There is no evidence to suggest a link between the grant’s closure and wider road safety risks.

What recent discussions her Department has had with industry on the number of flight instructors; and assessment she has made of the capacity of flight schools to train commercial airline pilots.

Ministers and officials engage regularly with industry and trade bodies (including the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) on all aviation skills issues. As the UK aviation sector operates predominantly in the private sector, it is for individual airlines to recruit and train pilots to meet today’s demand and the demand of the future. A major training organisation has now been approved to deliver the first officer apprenticeship, which would provide training completely cost-free to young people. We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions and Skills England to encourage airlines to deliver this apprenticeship.

Whether funding from expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime will be used to support maritime decarbonisation.

Receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) support the Government’s priorities, including spending that helps deliver the transition to net zero. The Government recognises that decarbonising the maritime sector requires a suite of policies, and continues to provide funding, guidance and policy support to facilitate the uptake of cleaner technologies across the sector. In September 2025, the Government announced a further £448m funding for the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) research and development (R&D) programme between 2026 and 2030, representing the biggest government investment ever in the UK's commercial maritime industry.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the road safety strategy on deaths and serious injuries from cycling and walking.

The Road Safety Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. This target will focus the efforts of road safety partners across Britain, with measures to protect vulnerable road users, update vehicle safety technologies and review motoring offences. One of the Safety Performance Indicators which will be monitored alongside delivery of the Strategy is: the rate of cyclists/pedestrians killed or seriously injured on England’s roads, measured as the number of fatalities and serious injuries per billion miles walked and cycled. Monitoring this should enable government to understand the impact that the Strategy is having on deaths and serious injuries of those cycling or walking. Our roads aren’t just for motorists; it is vitally important that everyone using our roads is kept safe. With that in mind on the 10 December 2025 we announced that we are allocating £626 million for local authorities from 2026-27 to 2029-30 to deliver walking, wheeling and cycling schemes.

What will be the remit of the new Road Safety Investigation Branch in relation to cycling and e-bikes.

Improving road safety is a key priority. Injuries and fatalities from road collisions caused by driving are unacceptable, and this Government is working hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users including cyclists. The detailed remit of the Road Safety Investigation Branch is still to be determined, but it will be built around the core objectives of the Data-led Road Safety Investigation Branch, namely using large cross-sector datasets and connected vehicle data to identify risks and thematic priorities, and providing insights and recommendations to support continuous safety learning and decision-making.

What action her department is taking to support the use of digital twin technologies across the UK's transport system.

Since the publication in 2023 of Transport Research and Innovation Board’s Transport Digital Twin Vision and Roadmap to 2035, DfT has established a dedicated team to lead a digital twins programme, aligned with the Transport AI Action Plan (2025). This has already enabled the development of a diverse research programme, including the £46m TransiT research hub to decarbonise transport through digital twins; and a £5m programme to improve crisis response and resilience. These are providing the new tools and skills to ensure UK leadership in this key emerging technology. To enable business case development and improve adoption, in 2024 DfT published its Economic Benefits Analysis for Integrated Transport Digital Twins, quantifying the key benefits this technology can bring to the UK economy, estimated to £1.85bn over the next decade. Finally, DfT has directly supported industry innovation by funding innovative digital twin projects through the Transport Research Innovation Grants and the Freight Innovation Fund, to improve rail maintenance, traffic flow, urban resilience, better EV charging infrastructure and port operations.

What assessment she has made of the progress of the Transport Research and Innovation Board's 2023 Transport Digital Twin Vision and Roadmap to 2035.

The Transport Research and Innovation Board provides regular oversight on the progress against the Transport Digital Twin Vision and Roadmap to 2035, as part of regular operations for all its areas of activity. DfT has met all key government-owned milestones in digital twins, including working with the National Digital Twin Programme, enabling funding to research organisations, and providing a clear vision for the strategic case and benefits for digital twins in transport and adjacent sectors. A key milestone was to provide clear evidence and guidelines on the benefits of digital twins, and DfT has published its Economic Benefit Analysis (2024) showing that this emerging technology can enable better integration of traffic management and deliver £1.85bn of benefits to the UK over a decade. Additionally, DfT is working with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to develop guidance on data interoperability and integration across transport. The work is ongoing, and DfT committed in the recent Climate Adaptation Strategy for Transport (Dec 2025) to a long-term digital twin programme that aims to support network management, resilience planning and climate response.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of unlawful number plates on (a) the ability of the police to trace hit-and-run drivers and (b) efforts to reduce the proportion of untraced driver claims handled by the Motor Insurers' Bureau.

While those specific assessments have not been made, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime. On-road enforcement of number plate and insurance offences is a matter for the police. The Government published its Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

What her planned timetable is for taking legislative steps to develop a regulatory framework for low and zero emission vehicles, following the commitment in the Road Safety Strategy.

As stated in the Road Safety Strategy, the Government has made a commitment to pursue legislative reform for micromobility vehicles when parliamentary time allows.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of compensating victims of collisions involving illegal e-scooters and e-bikes on (a) the cost of motor insurance premiums for other motorists and (b) costs to the Motor Insurers' Bureau in the last 12 months.

We regularly engage with the Motor Insurer’s Bureau and are working with them to understand the impact of private e-scooters and illegal e-bikes on car drivers’ insurance premiums. It is clear the law on e-scooters needs to change, which is why the Government has committed to pursuing legislative reform for micromobility vehicles when parliamentary time allows. Any future regulations, including potential insurance requirements, will be publicly consulted on before they come into force.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the data opportunities of connected and autonomous vehicles to reduce uninsured driving.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 sets out the regulations for insurance requirements of automated vehicles. The operator or owner of an automated vehicle must hold a policy of insurance that satisfies the conditions in section 145 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The recent call for evidence, launched in December 2025, seeks views on various aspects of the automated vehicles regulatory framework, including insurance. Responses received will support future consultation on the proposed regulations, with full implementation of the Act anticipated by the second half of 2027.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2025 to Question 98632, how many visits the DVSA has made to retailers selling e-scooters; and how many incidences the DVSA have recorded of e-scooters being sold illegally or without proper guidance of legal restrictions.

The table below shows the number of retailers the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has checked from March 2022 to April 2025. 2022-2023932023-2024582024-202547 The table below shows many incidents DVSA has recorded of e-scooters being sold illegally or without proper guidance of legal restrictions, for the same time period. 2022-2023792023-2024412024-202542 Please note, high level of non-compliance found in 24-25 FY is due to poor levels of compliance being found in the on-line marketplace. In that year DVSA’s market surveillance unit (MSU) looked into higher proportions sold in on-line markets due to apparent shifts in the way such items are sold.

What interactions the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has had with food delivery companies in reference to vehicles used by delivery drivers.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises that last-mile delivery, including food delivery services, presents specific safety and compliance challenges. To address these challenges, DVSA has engaged with representatives from the sector and continues to collaborate on the development of guidance and best practice, including hosting a last mile delivery summit. Operational enforcement activity is also undertaken where appropriate, particularly in relation to light commercial vehicles used within this segment. In addition, DVSA does support police investigations – for example, by conducting technical assessments of modified “last-mile” fast-food delivery bicycle fitted with electric motors.

How many registered a) petrol vehicles, b) diesel vehicles, c) electric vehicles, d) hybrid vehicles and e) classic vehicles were there in Edinburgh South West constituency in the last 5 years and the last 10 years.

We do not readily hold new vehicle registration figures at the requested geographic level. Information on licensed vehicles broken down by Upper and lower tier local authorities and lower super output areas (LSOA) are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tables

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the APPG for Cycling and Walking's report entitled Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes.

The Government recognises the concerns raised in the APPG report about the safety of e-bikes which do not comply with regulations and the risks associated with battery fires. The Product Regulation and Metrology Act which received Royal Assent in July, created the powers to allow Government to change regulations to respond to emerging technologies, including e-bikes, batteries and conversion kits.The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies.

What assessment she has made of whether a disproportionate burden is placed on local authorities and National Highways to identify and reunite cats injured or killed on the road, in the absence of a statutory duty for drivers to report such collisions.

There are no plans to amend section 170 of the Road Traffic Act to make it mandatory for drivers to report road collisions involving cats. Although there is no obligation to report all animal deaths on roads, drivers should, if possible, make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals, such as cats, and advise them of the situation. Since June 2024, all cats in England over 20 weeks of age must be microchipped and registered on a compliant database, unless exempt or free-living. This will make it easier for National Highways and local authorities to reunite cats with their keeper.

Whether her Department has considered the potential impact of amending the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 to introduce a statutory minimum uptime for all publicly accessible charge points, including slow on-street and residential chargers.

Since November 2024, the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 have required operators to achieve an average reliability of 99% across their network of rapid chargepoints of 50 kW and above. We continue to monitor the public charging network, the impact of the regulations, and whether further steps may be required.