Department for Transport

The department does not manage the process of Harbour orders, as this process is led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The MMO is unusually busy with Harbour orders at present but is working continuously to process all harbour orders.

For an accurate status update of the harbour order in question, we suggest the Council contacts the MMO directly.

The department does not manage the process of Harbour orders, as this process is led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The MMO is unusually busy with Harbour orders at present but is working continuously to process all harbour orders. While the Department is keen to work with the MMO to understand how we can support more sustainable efficiencies in the longer term, no assessment has been made of the impact of time taken for this order or any other.

For an accurate status update of the harbour order in question, we suggest the Council contacts the MMO directly.

The department does not manage the process of Harbour orders, as this process is led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The MMO is unusually busy with Harbour orders at present but is working continuously to process all harbour orders.

Whilst the department is a consultee of all HROs, the department does not comment on the content of orders unless it affects the position or powers of the department. As such, no assessment has been made on the impact of the order on leaseholders.

For an accurate status update of the harbour order in question and for an update as to its content, we suggest the Council contacts the MMO directly.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has offered apprenticeships in each year, since 2018.

The Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) is funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme in the Department for Transport, to support innovation in the maritime sector. The CMDC is delivered and managed by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department.

We are committed to a robust evaluation of the UK SHORE programme. The Department has commissioned Frontier Economics and SYSTRA Ltd to conduct a comprehensive independent evaluation of the UK SHORE programme, which is assessing the processes and impact of all UK SHORE schemes and will inform future policy development.

In March 2025, the Department for Transport published a report setting out the early outcomes of the evaluation of the UK SHORE programme to date, including completed projects in the CMDC, with the final report due in Autumn 2025.

Officials regularly discuss the appraisal of CMDC projects with Innovate UK, who play a key role in collecting project monitoring data to inform the evaluation programme.

We work jointly across Government to develop policies, regulation and mechanisms to support maritime environment and decarbonisation, including with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

The Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) is funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme in the Department for Transport. The CMDC has supported a range of feasibility studies, pre-deployment trials and short demonstrations.

We are committed to a robust evaluation of the UK SHORE programme. The Department has commissioned Frontier Economics and SYSTRA Ltd to conduct a comprehensive independent evaluation of the UK SHORE programme, which is assessing the processes and impact of all UK SHORE schemes, including environmental impacts and job creation.

In March 2025, the Department for Transport published a report setting out the early outcomes of the evaluation of the UK SHORE programme to date, including completed projects in the CMDC. The majority of the CMDC demonstration projects only concluded at the end of March 2025. Therefore, data about their impact will be captured through the ongoing evaluation, due to conclude later this year.

The Winds of Change project was awarded funding through the third round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC). The CMDC is funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) Research and Development programme in the Department for Transport and delivered and managed by Innovate UK, on behalf of the Department.

Applications for CMDC funding undergo an independent assessment process, managed by Innovate UK. Project partners of all successful bids are published online. Innovate UK and the Department for Transport are not responsible for the procurement of subcontractors, but the rules around the use of subcontractors are set out in the competition scope.

Future government investment in cycling and walking is being considered alongside all other transport priorities as part of the Spending Review. On 28 March, I informed Parliament of my intention to publish a third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy following the conclusion of the Spending Review. This will allow us to say more on the long-term funding for active travel, as required by the 2015 Infrastructure Act.

The Department expects all train operating companies to use reasonable endeavours to meet their obligations for regulated staffed ticket office opening hours under Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement. As such, we regularly review ticket office opening hours compliance and the causes of any negative trends, including staff vacancies.

Train operating companies are also required to achieve challenging customer experience targets across a range of measures, including ticket offices being open at advertised times. These standards are regularly and independently inspected via the Service Quality Regime and there are accountability and financial consequences for failure.

Local highway authorities are responsible for their local roads, in both rural and urban areas. It is up to them to engage as necessary with relevant stakeholders, including farming communities, on matters of this sort.

The Government is committed to seeing better, more reliable bus services delivered right across England, including in West Dorset and other rural communities.

Local transport authorities are encouraged to use funding for Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) on schemes that they, and local operators, believe will deliver the best overall outcomes in growing long term patronage, revenues and therefore maintaining service levels, whilst ensuring essential social and economic connectivity for local communities.

This will be different for each area. We believe local leaders know their areas best and so are best placed to make decisions about how to improve services to ensure they meet the needs of local communities.

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.

The Government has no current plans to make Blue Badge applications online-only. For online applications, the Department for Transport works continuously to improve online badge applications so they are quicker and easier for applicants. This includes undertaking specific research and testing to identify innovative improvements to the online application process. The service also undergoes regular accessibility and assurance testing to guarantee compliance with the Government’s digital standards.

The Government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in Tring, Aylesbury and Hemel Hempstead.

In addition, the Government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Hertfordshire County Council has been allocated over £12 million of this funding, and Buckinghamshire over £6 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, support early morning or evening services and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

We continue to work with other government departments, such as MHCLG and DESNZ, to understand what changes are required to remove barriers to installing chargepoints and obtaining grid connections.

In December 2024, we announced further changes to planning permission for off-street locations and published a grid connections review specifically focused on electric vehicle charging. We continue to work with industry stakeholders to streamline relevant processes.

DfT officials hold regular discussions with airlines, airports and international partners, including Ghana, to facilitate global connectivity. Routes operated, the frequency and management of those routes, are commercial decisions made freely by airlines as an independent business. As these are commercial decisions, the DfT has not had any discussions with British Airways on the frequency of its UK-Ghana route. The recently updated UK- Ghana Air Services Agreement allows for additional direct flights to operate between the UK and Ghana to be operated by an interested and designated UK or Ghanaian airline.

The Government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them, including in Kingswood and villages right across England.

In addition, the Government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Surrey County Council has been allocated over £12 million of this funding. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

The ZEV Mandate remains the Government’s largest single carbon saving measure. The carbon impacts of the ZEV mandate were summarised within the cost benefit analysis published alongside the original legislation.

On 7 April 2025, the Government announced policy changes to the ZEV Mandate to further support the UK’s automotive industry. The policy changes are expected to have a minor carbon impact when compared to the savings delivered by the ZEV Mandate as a whole. We estimate a 1% decrease (-4.2 Mt CO₂) in CO₂ savings from the original ZEV mandate (420 Mt CO₂) across 2024 to 2050. A breakdown of this carbon analysis has been published alongside the government response.

Parking enforcement on local highways is a local authority matter. Local authorities can use traffic regulation orders to designate and enforce electric vehicle (EV) only bays. For private land, enforcement falls to the landowner.

The Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear helmets. The Government encourages cyclists, particularly children, to do so, but has no plans to make this a legal requirement. The safety benefits of mandating helmets would be likely to be outweighed by the fact that it would put some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits.

Age limits for commercial pilots are set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in standards and recommended practices, which the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) apply. These are under review by ICAO and the CAA remain engaged with them on reviewing the evidence base for future changes to age limits and making progress in this area when we can safely do so.

The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). As of April 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 76,507 publicly available charging devices, up 28% on this time last year.

London, which includes Romford constituency, was allocated over £41m capital and resource funding through the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to increase the number of local public chargepoints across the area. The £381m LEVI Fund will support the installation of at least 100,000 on-street chargepoints across the country.

As of 1 January 2025, there were 22,200 public electric vehicle charging devices in London, 1,341 of which had a power rating of 50kW or above. 48 of these devices were in the constituency of Romford, of which 33 had a power rating of 50kW or above.

The Government recognises the value that high-quality public transport infrastructure provides to passengers, including bus stops. Local authorities are responsible for the bus stops in their area, and the government has allocated over £712 million to local authorities in England outside London in this financial year to support and improve bus services. This includes capital funding which can be used to improve infrastructure such as bus stations and stops. The Department has also published Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/24 Bus User Priority which provides guidance on good practice in the design of bus stops.

The Government also knows how important safe and accessible bus stations and stops are in supporting people to make inclusive journeys on local bus services. The Bus Services (No.2) Bill, introduced on 17 December, sets out a comprehensive package of measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive. This includes a requirement on Local Transport Authorities to publish Bus Network Accessibility Plans setting out an assessment of existing provision and measures to improve this in future. These plans could include an assessment of bus stops in the local area.

The Bill also introduces a power to enable the Secretary of State to publish statutory guidance on the safety and accessibility of bus stations and stops, and to require specified public sector bodies to pay regard to it when they provide new or upgrade existing facilities. The guidance will help authorities to provide infrastructure that people can and want to use, helping to ensure that they are not prevented from using bus services because of inadequate accessibility or safety.

This government is committed to providing greater stability to local government by giving councils multi-year funding settlements and ending wasteful competitive bidding.

Funding to local authorities for transport in future years is being considered as part of the current Spending Review, the outcome of which will be confirmed in due course.

The Government knows that a modern public transport network is vital to providing access to services and keeping communities connected. The government introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill on 17 December 2024 as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform.

The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including ensuring access to vital local services such as hospitals. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities, of which Hampshire County Council has been allocated over £14 million and Surry County Council over £12 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

The government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

The government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

The government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

The government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

The Government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in Tring, Aylesbury and Hemel Hempstead.

In addition, the Government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Hertfordshire County Council has been allocated over £12 million of this funding, and Buckinghamshire over £6 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, support early morning or evening services and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

The full reasons for the Secretary of State’s decision on 3 April 2025 to grant consent to the London Luton Airport Expansion scheme, including assessment of the potential impact of expanding Luton Airport on economic growth, are set out in her decision letter which is published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website. Following the decision to grant consent, there is now a period when applications for judicial review may be made and during that period, I am unable to comment further on the decision.

The full reasons for the Secretary of State’s decision on 3 April 2025 to grant consent to the London Luton Airport Expansion scheme, including consideration of carbon emissions and the Paris climate accord, are set out in her decision letter which is published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website. Following the decision to grant consent, there is now a period when applications for judicial review may be made and during that period, I am unable to comment further on the decision.

The Secretary of State’s considerations on the London Luton Airport Expansion scheme are explained in the Decision Letter, published 3 April 2025 on the Planning Inspectorate website, and this sets out the Secretary of States reasoning. Decisions on applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects are taken independently of the timing of policy announcements on other issues. The Honourable Member will understand that following the decision to grant consent, there is now a period when applications for judicial review may be made and during that period, I am unable to comment further on the decision.

Access to a comprehensive charging network will enable more consumers to confidently purchase electric vehicles. Government is committed to supporting industry deliver a visible, reliable charging infrastructure on the Strategic Road Network, ahead of need, and support industry's own investment in transport decarbonisation.

There has been great progress on the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure on our Strategic Road Network. Rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoint numbers at motorway service areas have increased by around 125% over the last 18 months (based on industry data). Within one mile of the Strategic Road Network, there are over 5,250 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargers - an increase of around 100% in the last 18 months (based on data from Zapmap).

Industry has already committed over £6bn investment to support the rollout of public chargepoints across the UK, and government is working closely with industry to target government support where it is needed, including gaps in provision on the Strategic Road Network due to barriers such as high connection costs.

The response below covers the central department (DfTc) and the five Executive Agencies: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Active Travel England (ATE).

Please note: DfT(c) handle all IT devices for Active Travel England (ATE) and so they are included in the returns for DfT(c). The figures provided for Private Offices are included in the central department’s returns, not in addition to.

Use of AI in the Department for Transport falls into a number of categories, each with different security assessment requirements.

Where AI tools and services have been procured from third parties, the department’s supply chain assurance process ensures that security risks are considered and appropriately addressed.

For AI tools and services developed internally, these are deployed in a secure environment following review by data protection, information assurance and performance evaluation specialists.

In line with the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government, staff in DfT are encouraged to make use of AI technology but DfT does not rely on AI for decision making. The 10 core principles outlined in this playbook ensure the appropriate use of AI within the OFFICIAL tier of government information.

The British Transport Police has provided the following figures:

The Department can confirm that subject to the conclusion of the wider industry timetable process, East Midlands Railway (EMR) has identified the potential for service improvements across Lincolnshire to be implemented in the forthcoming December 2025 timetable change. This includes additional services between Lincoln and Peterborough.

CrossCountry performance was not good enough in 2024. A Remedial Agreement was in place from August 2024 to March 2025 when the operator took steps to improve services. The operator was monitored closely. In 2025 CrossCountry cancellations are now lower and punctuality better. The operator is aware there is more to do, particularly on Sundays.

Based on the most recent information available, CrossCountry has been meeting its contractual benchmarks since 5 January 2025.

We are committed to the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation, delivering a range of improvements, from more reliable services to simpler ticketing. Through public ownership and the transition to Great British Railways, it is also our ambition to deliver a more affordable railway. Post-pandemic, the amount of taxpayer subsidy provided to the railway industry has increased from under a quarter in 2018/19 to over half of total income in 2022/23. A proportionate, annual increase in fares is necessary to support crucial investment and to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the railway.

Our goal is to keep the price of rail travel at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers, where possible, while ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the railway.

During the transition of passenger services to a public sector operator, the Secretary of State for Transport will continue to hold private sector operators to account through a range of measures, using enforcement provisions where required. All operators will continue to go through an annual planning process with the Department to agree plans for changes to service specifications, performance improvements and other deliverables. If an operator’s poor performance means that contractual conditions for early termination are met, Ministers will not hesitate to take decisive action.

The British Transport Police have provided the following figures:

Decisions on future Government funding for active travel will be a matter for the Spending Review, which is considering all transport expenditure in the round. Investment in active travel supports the Government’s economic growth, health and net zero missions, and the Department announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6 on 12 February.

The Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) was set up as a temporary organisation under the previous government to design and transition towards Great British Railways, including building cross-industry capability. Total funding provided to GBRTT was: £12.9m in the financial year 2021-22; £52.7m in the financial year 2022-23, £41.3m in the financial year 2023-24; and £27.6m in the financial year 2024-25.