Written questions by Logan.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the safety of lorry drivers when using roadside facilities.

Through the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Grant Scheme, the Government and industry are delivering up to £35.7 million of joint investment to upgrade truck stops in 30 counties across England, improving both safety and working conditions for drivers. This funding is helping operators to deliver security improvements, including:Enhanced CCTV coveragePerimeter fencing and improved lightingAutomatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systemsNew and upgraded security barriers The scheme is also supporting better welfare and rest facilities, such as improved showers, rest areas, and increased HGV parking capacity. In addition, National Highways and industry are investing up to £30 million to enhance facilities on the Strategic Roads Network, including investment in security measures. The Department has also developed the Road Transport Security Standards (RTSS) to support the commercial freight sector in improving the security of vehicles, drivers and operations. The RTSS is a voluntary, industry‑led framework that promotes good practice to reduce risks such as vehicle theft, hijack and misuse, including risks that can arise when drivers are operating or resting away from base locations.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of differences between HGV driver facilities in (a) England and (b) other European countries.

The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the HGV Parking Matched Funding Grant Scheme, to consider the application and delivery process, the role of the scheme in improving lorry driver facilities in England and the impact of the site improvements for drivers. This analysis is underway and due to be finalised in Summer 2026. The Department is also currently undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey which will provide up to date and comprehensive evidence on the availability and quality of lorry parking in England, including regional differences. The survey's findings will inform policy development on HGV parking and welfare, as well as providing data to support planning applications for new facilities. The survey is due to be published in Autumn 2026. There has been no assessment of differences between HGV driver facilities in England compared with other European countries, nor is such an assessment planned in future.

What progress her Department has made on reducing driving test wait times for test centres in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country.Further information on these actions and progress on the DVSA’s plan, which was set out last year, can be found on GOV.UK. DVSA continues to run recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners (DEs). From recent campaigns, DVSA has recruited four new potential DEs at driving test centres (DTCs) that serve the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency. DVSA has just completed a further recruitment campaign and hopes to make offers to the successful candidates soon. DVSA will also continue to strategically deploy examiners to ensure fair coverage across all DTCs in Aberdeenshire, including remote and outstation locations.

If she will take steps to help increase the affordability of taxis for disabled people.

General policy on taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing is devolved in Scotland (where PHVs are known as private hire cars), Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, licensing authorities can set maximum taxi fares for journeys within their area to protect passengers hailing taxis in the street or at a rank where passengers have little choice over which vehicle they hire. The setting of fares by private hire vehicle operators is a commercial matter for the company in question; as such services must be pre-booked passengers can shop around, comparing factors such as price, reliability and availability. Disabled people are particularly reliant on taxi and PHV services and, thus, can be especially sensitive to high fares. We encourage licensing authorities to use the government’s Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England which emphasises the importance of licensing authorities continuing to improve the inclusivity of the taxi and PHV services they regulate to ensure services in their area are safe, available, affordable and accessible. The Equality Act 2010 is however clear that operators and drivers cannot charge disabled people, including wheelchair users and assistance dog owners, more for their carriage or for providing assistance required by law. Local authorities in England can also choose to provide an additional scheme to the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), whereby a person eligible for free bus travel under the ENCTS, may agree with the local authority to surrender their pass in return for alternative travel concessions, such as travel tokens (which may be used on taxi and PHV services) or a railcard.

What her Department's original budget for the Great Western Railway modernisation project was; how much her Department has spent since that project started; and what the estimated final cost is in (a) real and (b) current terms.

The Great Western Route Modernisation Programme was estimated to cost £2,967m at the time of the 2015 Business Case. The outturn cost for the Programme in 2021/22 was £3,863m.

What her Department's original budget for HS2 Phase 2 was; how much her Department has spent since that project started; and what the estimated final cost is in (a) real and (b) current terms.

The original funding envelopes (in 2015 prices) for Phase 2a was £3.72bn and £24.8bn for Phase 2b. Spend on the HS2 project can be found in the latest Parliamentary Report here , which is updated and published at regular intervals. The project currently reports estimated final costs in 2019 prices.