Speeches by Lightwood.

“Under this Government, all councils must publish a statement on their website so that all local people can hold them to account on exactly how they are spending their money. Let me share an interesting fact with the House: Reform came out by far the worst in our recent RAG—red, amber, green—rating exercise, with a mass…”

“It is not acceptable for this Reform-led council to refuse to provide basic information to my hon. Friend’s constituents. As I mentioned earlier, 25% of Reform-led councils have been rated red—the lowest rating. It will not surprise my hon. Friend to hear that Labour councils have come out on top. I hope that her const…”

“The Department continues to give funding that is devolved to local leaders. It is up to the democratically elected local leaders to decide how to spend it. Funding is allocated for the whole of the hon. Gentleman’s constituency to deal with that.”

“I know that driving test waiting times remain too high, but there are signs that we are starting to turn the corner thanks to the action that we have taken since coming into government. We are increasing examiner capacity, improving booking rules and using Ministry of Defence examiners to provide additional tests. We n…”

“We are almost doubling the amount of money going to local highways maintenance to turn the tide. That is why a massive percentage of the road investment strategy—something like £8.5 billion—is going on repairing and renewing our strategic road network.”

“This Government will continue to do all we can to drive down the waiting times, and of course, we will always keep the affordability of driving tests under review.”

“The DVSA continues its recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners. Examiner capacity is rising, with 1,556 full-time equivalent examiners in post as of February 2026—that is an increase of 108 when compared with the number of driving examiners in February 2025. DVSA has also had difficulty in retaining experienced…”

“National Highways has assessed the status of the land and is taking steps to improve its condition, including replanting substantial numbers of trees, protecting ecological sites and creating new wildlife habitats.”

“I continue to be flabbergasted by the comments from the Opposition. Let me just remind the House once again that the National Audit Office reported in December that the Department for Transport had had “limited involvement” in helping the DVSA tackle its waiting time backlog “up to mid-2024” and that “DfT largely left …”

“I absolutely agree that constituents should report potholes to their local authority. The good news is that by the end of this Parliament we will have almost doubled the amount of funding to allow those councils to get on top of this pothole plague.”

“It is a pleasure as always to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) for securing this important debate, and I recognise her tireless advocacy on behalf of her constituents and rail passengers across the region. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member fo…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Goods Vehicles (Testing, Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Alec. We both know a thing or two about changing weight categories—[Laughter.] I could not resist. Might I say you a…”

“To pick up on the point from the Liberal Democrat spokesman, the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage, the Government are absolutely committed to greater road safety. I am glad to see my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South in her place today; she steered us through the first road safety strategy in more than a de…”

“How could I refuse? Of course I will meet my hon. Friend. Publishing incomplete or provisional findings would risk misleading consumers and compromising the quality of the technical assessments underway, as my hon. Friend will appreciate. To support transparency, I am pleased to say that the Department will shortly pub…”

“It is a pleasure to see you, Ms Lewell—my favourite sand dancer—chairing the debate this morning. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq) on securing this debate on defeat devices in diesel vehicles. This is an important subject that rightly attracts scrutiny from Parliament, the …”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, as always, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) for securing this debate and thank Members for all their comments and contributions. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss how planning developments impact on local transport…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Murrison. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank) and the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) for securing this debate, and Members on both sides of the House for their passionate contributions. I wish my hon. Friend the Memb…”

“I am going to make progress. This Government are backing Wales, the midlands and all our regions with long-term investment, local autonomy and an integrated approach across buses, rail, roads and active travel. We are building not an isolated scheme but a coherent, people-focused system that strengthens growth, opportu…”

“Mayor Andy Street failed to deliver a fully developed design for Aldridge station. When we promise to deliver something here, we will do it with a sound business case. [Interruption.] He did not have the designs, and he failed to deliver. There was £1.05 billion to deliver it, and he did not do that. There is now £3.6 …”

“I will finish my point. Mayor Richard Parker is delivering on local priorities and taking forward schemes that are good value for taxpayers and will deliver real improvements. Perhaps the right hon. Lady would like to explain, when she intervenes, why the previous mayor did not use the money allocated to complete the d…”