Department for Transport

The Schengen 90/180-day immigration rule has applied since 2021 to all UK nationals (including drivers of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) and coaches) undertaking short stays for leisure and work in the Schengen area. The Schengen 90/180 limit is a fundamental part of the EU’s conditions of entry for third country nationals to its territory. As such, it is not UK Government policy.

The Department for Transport is undertaking a research study to improve understanding of the effects of a) the Schengen 90/180-day limit to date, and b) preparedness for the implementation of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) on the international operations of GB-based HGV and coach businesses that hold standard international operator licences. The data is currently being processed, and the study’s findings will be published in due course.

The societal and carbon impacts of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate were summarised within the cost benefit analysis published in October 2023.

The Department does not hold this information.

The Spending Review in June 2025, which covers multiple years from 2026/27 onwards, allocated £616 million for Active Travel England to support local authorities to build and maintain walking, wheeling, and cycling infrastructure including dedicated cycling routes. This comes on top of £222.5 million announced in February 2025 for local authorities over 2024/25-25/26.

Active Travel funding supports local transport authorities with developing and constructing walking, wheeling and cycling facilities, as well as supporting behaviour change activities and capability building measures. The West of England Combined Authority, of which North-east Somerset and Hanham constituency is part, has been allocated £3,481,065 from the Consolidated Active Travel Fund 2025-26.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency have developed multiple workstreams to support the UK’s maritime autonomy industry. This includes marine guidance notices and the third edition of the UK’s Workboat Code, which provide a regulatory framework within which autonomous vessels can operate. In addition, the recently developed Remote Operator Training and Certification Pilot Framework provides a voluntary scheme for training and certification of Remote Operators, which will lead to an experienced and qualified workforce.

The existing provisions under the Merchant Shipping Act have been maximised to support various sizes and types of vessels, and as parliamentary time allows, we will go further to enable emerging use cases.

These inspections are delegated to the Certifying Authorities, and as such the Maritime and Coastguard Agency do not hold that data directly.

The Government is acting through the Employment Rights Bill to improve protections for seafarers by providing powers to protect the working conditions of those working aboard international services frequently calling at UK ports. The Bill will also close a loophole that prevented prosecution of employers who failed to provide notification of proposed collective redundancies aboard ships registered outside of the UK. These protections will benefit seafarers working aboard services in scope, including when they are employed by companies registered outside of the UK.

My Department will also continue to work internationally to improve protections for seafarers, including through implementing the amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention agreed in April by representatives of shipowners, seafarers and governments at the International Labour Organization in Geneva. The new provisions include measures that will help to protect seafarers against violence and harassment, strengthen their rights to repatriation and improve access to shore leave. It is expected that these amendments will come into force internationally on 23 December 2027.

The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Hours of Work) Regulations 2018 apply to all sea-going commercially operated vessels, including workboats over 200 gross tonnage operating in UK territorial waters. These set the minimum hours of rest as

(a) 10 hours in any 24-hour period; and

(b) 77 hours in any 7-day period.

The 10 hours of rest in (a) may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which is to be at least six hours in length.

At the end of June 2025, the number of licensed cars that were battery electric was 3,119 (2.9%) in Newcastle, 4,955 (2.9%) in Northumberland, 30,928 (2.5%) in the North East and 1,355,127 (4.7%) in England.

We do not readily hold the respective figure for Hexham constituency.

It is important to note, vehicles are allocated to geographic location according to the postcode of the registered keeper. The address does not necessarily reflect where the vehicle is located. This is especially true for large fleets kept by companies involved with vehicle management, leasing or rentals.

The Government is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads and my Department works with a broad range of stakeholders to help us achieve our aim.

In 2022 The Highway Code was updated to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, along with the strengthening of guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking horse-riders.

THINK!, the Government's flagship road safety campaign, plays an important role in raising awareness of, and encouraging compliance with, road safety legislation, including the changes to The Highway Code. THINK!, ran campaigns to alert road users of the changes as they came into effect and broader behaviour campaigns to encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance. Results from the last campaign showed that by September 2023 93% of drivers agreed it was their responsibility to give space to vulnerable road users. We will continue to promote The Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations.

The Government is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads and my Department works with a broad range of stakeholders, including discussions with the British Horse Society, to help us achieve our aim.

In 2022 The Highway Code was updated to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, along with the strengthening of guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking horse-riders.

The Department for Transport provides funding to local transport authorities (LTAs) to support the delivery of their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). Decisions on how this funding is used to improve services for passengers are for local authorities to make. The majority of projects delivered by LTAs using capital BSIP funding are used on bus infrastructure, such as bus priority schemes. The Department does not track the manufacturers of buses procured using BSIP funding.

The Government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing, and earlier this year launched the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. The Panel brings together industry experts and local leaders to achieve three key objectives of supporting growth in UK bus manufacturing, developing a pipeline of future bus orders and prioritising passenger-centric bus design.

The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.

The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.

The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.

The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.

The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.

The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.

The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.

The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.

The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.

The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), air services arrangements between the United Kingdom (UK) and EU Member States have been governed by the Air Transport chapter of the UK-EU Trade and Corporation Agreement (the TCA). The TCA was negotiated in 2020 and provisions within the Air Transport chapter ensure fair and equal opportunities to access the market for both UK and EU carriers. The Department for Transport engages regularly with the UK aviation industry to understand any market access issues and provide support where necessary.

Cornwall Council are running a tender exercise for an operator for the Public Service Obligation air service between Newquay and London to commence on 1st November 2025. The Department has no role in the assessment of bids received, nor on timescales for making the decision to award the contract.

When a decision has been made by Cornwall Council, it will submit a funding request to the Department which will then assess its value for money before deciding whether to provide funding for the air service.

South Western Railway has managed payroll services internally prior to and following the transfer to public ownership.

The Government has been clear that it will work to reset the relationship with Europe, to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. Agreements on UK-EU licensing and maintenance organisation recognition must be established through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and agreed by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The agenda is being agreed with the EU Commission and will be published in advance of the Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The Government is aware of the economic and employment impacts following EU exit, including on personnel licensing and maintenance organisation approvals, and will continue to seek expansions to the Aviation Safety Chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement where appropriate.

The Government has been clear that it will work to reset the relationship with Europe, to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. Agreements on UK-EU licensing and maintenance organisation recognition must be established through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and agreed by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The agenda is being agreed with the EU Commission and will be published in advance of the Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The Government is aware of the economic and employment impacts following EU exit, including on personnel licensing and maintenance organisation approvals, and will continue to seek expansions to the Aviation Safety Chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement where appropriate.

The Government has been clear that it will work to reset the relationship with Europe, to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. Agreements on UK-EU licensing and maintenance organisation recognition must be established through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and agreed by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The agenda is being agreed with the EU Commission and will be published in advance of the Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The Government is aware of the economic and employment impacts following EU exit, including on personnel licensing and maintenance organisation approvals, and will continue to seek expansions to the Aviation Safety Chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement where appropriate.

The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We are considering all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.

We intend to consult shortly on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. Administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing over larger areas could greatly increase consistency in standards across England, reduce out-of-area working and result in a better match between licensing revenue and compliance and enforcement burdens.

We are also reviewing licensing authorities' compliance with existing DfT guidance and considering how the statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. As part of this work, all licensing authorities in England have reported that they require the highest level of criminal background checks for taxi and PHV driver licence applicants – an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with a check of the children’s and adults’ barred lists. Where other recommendations are not being followed, particularly those linked to safeguarding, we intend to hold authorities to account.

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 September 2025, to Question UIN 76341.

We are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognise the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.

Since 2006 the Access for All programme has installed accessible, step free routes at over 270 stations plus a range of smaller scale access improvements at around 1500 stations.

In May 2024, the previous government agreed the publication of a list of 50 additional stations selected for initial feasibility work, which included Whitchurch railway station.

Network Rail have now completed all 50 feasibility studies and we will shortly be announcing which of those stations will progress.

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 waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.

These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. Since July last year, DVSA has recruited and trained 290 driving examiners (DE) who are now in post and delivering driving tests.

St Albans driving test centre is part of a cluster of test centres, including Stevenage.

A new entrant examiner has recently passed their training course and is now testing full time and conducting driving tests at both St Albans and Stevenage driving test centres. A further new entrant examiner is in their final week of training, if successful they will begin conducting tests at St Albans and Stevenage from 3 November 2025. DVSA has also made offers to one further new entrant examiner, DVSA will arrange their training course as soon as they have accepted.

On 28 May, DVSA launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closed on 23 July. DVSA will review the feedback given and announce next steps as soon as possible. Further information on the consultation can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-car-driving-test-booking-rules/improving-car-driving-test-booking-rules

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 waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.

These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. Since July last year, DVSA has recruited and trained 290 driving examiners (DE) who are now in post and delivering driving tests.

St Albans driving test centre is part of a cluster of test centres, including Stevenage.

A new entrant examiner has recently passed their training course and is now testing full time and conducting driving tests at both St Albans and Stevenage driving test centres. A further new entrant examiner is in their final week of training, if successful they will begin conducting tests at St Albans and Stevenage from 3 November 2025. DVSA has also made offers to one further new entrant examiner, DVSA will arrange their training course as soon as they have accepted.

On 28 May, DVSA launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closed on 23 July. DVSA will review the feedback given and announce next steps as soon as possible. Further information on the consultation can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-car-driving-test-booking-rules/improving-car-driving-test-booking-rules

Great British Railways (GBR) will be empowered to deliver industry-wide modernisation and fares reform, including considering the most effective ways to manage issues such as crowding.

We are already making progress in considering options to address this, including through supporting LNER in trialling easier to understand fares on their long-distance network between the London area and Edinburgh and the North East. This aims to address the inefficient and unacceptable situation where some ‘peak’ trains run nearly empty while some ‘off-peak’ trains are crowded. We are doing this by moving towards more flexible, demand-based pricing – a model commonly used for long-distance rail in countries such as France, Italy, and Spain. The results of this trial will be carefully considered before any decisions on next steps are taken.

We have provided the attached spreadsheet showing the pilot licences issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) over the last ten years categorised by type of licence, sex and age. However, the CAA does not hold data on pilot licences categorised by ethnicity.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the key measures required to achieve net zero emissions from aviation by 2050. SAF reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its lifecycle production and use when compared to conventional kerosene.

We are encouraging the production, development, and use of SAF in the UK in three main ways:

1) We are building demand through the SAF Mandate, which came into place in January this year and sets targets for the supply of an increasing amount of SAF in the overall UK aviation fuel mix. Under the SAF Mandate, eligible SAF is required to meet a reduction of 40% GHG savings and fuels are rewarded in proportion to their GHG savings.

2) The Advanced Fuels Fund aims to grow the UK supply of SAF by supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the project pipeline to reach investment ready stage and achieve commercial scale. £63m has been allocated across 17 UK projects for this financial year. The Spending Review 2025 will continue support for the production of SAF in the UK to 2029/30. DfT will provide details on the parameters of this support in due course.

3) We are helping to derisk SAF projects and support investment by legislating to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism. The SAF Bill was introduced at the House of Commons on 14 May 2025 and passed Report Stage and Third Reading on 15 October.

The number of reported personal injury road collisions involving horses and the numbers of killed or injured casualties in these collisions by road user type are shown in the table:

STATS19 only records horses as vehicles and therefore the number of killed or injured horses cannot be calculated.

The Government’s flagship road safety campaign, THINK!, is currently running a Sharing the Road Safely radio advert via the Fillers service, which enables broadcasters to air public service messages at no cost. The advert promotes safe driving speeds and passing distances, reminding drivers to leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists and to give adequate space to horse riders.

In 2022, the Highway Code was updated to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which places greater responsibility on those who can cause the most harm, and strengthened guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking horse riders.

THINK! ran targeted campaigns to alert road users to these changes and broader behavioural campaigns to encourage understanding and compliance. We will continue to promote the Highway Code changes through THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels, as well as via partner organisations.

The Government takes the safety of horse riders and other vulnerable road users very seriously and remains committed to reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on England’s roads. My Department is currently developing our Road Safety Strategy, and further details will be set out in due course.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) understands the impact, including the financial implications, the reselling of practical driving tests is having on learner drivers.

On 28 May, DVSA launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. The consultation closed on 23 July. DVSA is reviewing the feedback given and will announce the next steps as soon as possible.

Further information on the consultation can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-car-driving-test-booking-rules/improving-car-driving-test-booking-rules.

The consultation is about changing the rules on how car driving tests can be booked and managed. It looks at how to make test booking fairer, including the possibility of stopping people charging extra fees to book tests and simplifying the system for learners and approved driving instructors. Any additional measures will only be introduced if it is considered appropriate to do so to support the continued delivery of the driver testing service and following public consultation.

All available driving test appointments are shown on DVSA’s live booking system, and as well as releasing tests on a rolling 24-week basis on a Monday, additional appointments are released throughout the week. As new test appointments appear on the booking service at different times of the day and through the week, DVSA advises candidates to continue to check for earlier appointments.

DVSA encourages learner drivers to only use the official GOV.UK website to book and manage their driving test. DVSA has published advice aimed at learner drivers warning them of the risks of using third party services/apps to book a practical driving test. Further information can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/news/learner-drivers-warned-about-the-risks-of-driving-test-cancellation-finders.

In the 2025 Spending Review £400 million of capital funding was allocated to support the rollout of charging infrastructure in the four financial years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. Under prior On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) funding, 127 chargepoints are due to be installed across Northern Ireland.

In total, the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, alongside significant private investment, is expected to support the installation of at least 100,000 chargepoints across England.

The majority of LEVI projects have now been approved to go to delivery, the first contracts have been signed between local authorities and chargepoint operators, and the first projects have now started to install chargepoints. Data on chargepoints installed under LEVI will be available in due course. Installation rates will increase as more projects enter delivery, with installation expected to continue over the coming years.

The Department cannot provide a per model breakdown due to commercial sensitivity.

In respect of local and non-strategic roads, the Department has allocated approximately £5.2 billion for local highways maintenance in England over the period 2023/24 to 2025/26. This comes from a wide range of sources including the Highways Maintenance Block, the Integrated Transport Block, Potholes Funding, Network North, the Local Transport Grant, and highways funding that has been consolidated into City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS).

The figure does not include the baseline highways maintenance funding and Integrated Transport Block funding that has been consolidated into CRSTS funding for 2025/26. The Department has not split out how much of this funding is for highways maintenance as, by the nature of the funding, it is consolidated transport funding for local authorities to decide how best to use.

The £226 million Local Transport Grant of 2025/26 is for local transport and maintenance more widely. Integrated Transport Block funding is for local transport maintenance and enhancements.

The above figure includes the £500 million funding uplift for local highways maintenance in 2025/26 that the Government announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This funding goes well beyond the government's manifesto pledge and is helping councils to fix the equivalent of 7 million extra potholes in 2025/26.

In respect of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), the Government provides National Highways with an overall funding settlement, which does not split out maintenance from other spending on their operations. However, National Highways reports that over the period 2023/24 to 2025/26, approximately £756 million of their funding settlement has been spent directly on the maintenance of the SRN. This figure excludes spend on the maintenance of sections of their network that are operated by Public Finance Initiatives (PFIs). These PFIs are paid a lump sum to maintain, operate and renew some sections of the strategic road network and maintenance costs are not split out.