Written questions by Raja.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of building the Midlands Rail Hub on people in (a) Leicester East constituency and (b) Leicestershire.

We are working with Network Rail, Midlands Connect, and West Midlands Rail Executive, to maximise the benefits of Midlands Rail Hub for people throughout the region, including in Leicester and Leicestershire. In December, the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a ‘zero-based’ review, to ensure every line of spending – including the transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers. Midlands Rail Hub will be assessed as part of this review alongside other planned rail infrastructure investment schemes.

Whether she plans to take steps to improve the equitable distribution of practical driving test slots in (a) England and (b) Leicester 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 18 December, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 Driving Examiners (DEs) and improving rules for booking driving tests. Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK. As part of recent recruitment at Driving Test Centres (DTC) that serve the Leicester East constituency, DVSA has just concluded a campaign at Leicester Cannock Street DTC and has made employment offers to successful candidates. In addition to the recruitment plans at Cannock Street DTC, DVSA has been growing the teams at surrounding sites which will help to balance the demand across the Leicestershire area. At Leicester Wigston DTC, two new DEs were recruited last year, with an additional new entrant due to start later this month. At Loughborough DTC, two new DEs also joined last year, and the DVSA is making offers to two more potential new entrants from the most recent recruitment campaign.

Whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of SEND pupils in (a) Leicester East constituency and (b) England impacted by changes to the bus fare cap.

The Department for Education is the lead government department with responsibility for policy on home to school transport, including provision for pupils with special educational needs. With regard to the national bus fare cap, this will be designed to be...

What assessment she has made of the potential economic impact of the Midlands Rail Hub on people in Leicestershire.

We are working closely with Network Rail and Midlands Connect to maximise the benefits of Midlands Rail Hub throughout the region, including in Leicestershire. Midlands Connect are leading on the development of the rationale for the scheme including the d...

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a new direct rail link between Leicester and Coventry for Leicester's economy.

The Department is conducting a thorough review of the previous Government's transport plans to ensure that our transport infrastructure portfolio drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers. Decisions about individual projects will b...

What information her Department holds on the number of rail journeys made between Coventry and Leicester in each of the last five years.

The Department holds information on the estimates of the number of journeys between all pairs of mainline stations in Great Britain by financial year in the Origin and destination matrix (ODM), published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The total num...