Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92061 on Great British Railways, whether her Department has now produced (a) costed rollout plans for the Great British Railways logo and (b) estimated expenditure for the re-livery of trains; and if she will publish the estimated total cost ranges and any associated value-for-money assessments relating to the wider implementation of the Great British Railways brand.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has asked the incoming CEO of DfT Operator to lead the rollout of the Great British Railways (GBR) branding. Ministers expect the brand rollout to maximise opportunities to grow revenue as well as to ensure value for money in its application. This includes primarily repainting trains when they were due to be repainted by their leasing companies, and changing station signage when it is life expired. With this in mind, Ministers do not expect significant sums to be spent on the repainting of trains as part of the rollout of branding.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the identified in the Government’s October 2023 cost-benefit analysis of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate represents costs to the public purse; and if she will publish a breakdown of those Government costs.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate is the largest single carbon saving measure across Government and fundamental to the UK’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050. The cost-benefit analysis for the ZEV Mandate and CO2 regulations estimated the net value to society of the regulations. This was estimated at a benefit of £39 billion (2022 prices) over the full appraisal period, between 2021 and 2071.
There are three main sources of Government costs:
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to amend the penalty regime to (a) make non-compliant number plates offences endorsable with up to six penalty points and (b) increase the fixed penalty fine for such offences from £100 to £1,000.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We are considering a range of policies under the new Road Safety Strategy; the first for ten years. This includes the case for changing the motoring offences.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will publish a monitoring and evaluation framework on disability equality training in order to establish a baseline level of training to meet requirements under Section 36 of the Bus Services Act 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are clear that high‑quality staff training is essential to providing bus services that are accessible for all passengers. That is why the Bus Services Act 2025 will mandate that both bus drivers and passenger-assisting staff undertake disability awareness and assistance training.
Section 36 of the Bus Services Act 2025 provides powers for the Secretary of State for Transport to require carriers and terminal managing bodies to record and publish training statistics in order to ensure that compliance can be monitored. Once commenced, we will expect all relevant operators and terminal managing bodies to comply with their reporting duties. We will engage with relevant stakeholders when developing such requirements, and will provide the industry with more information in due course.
The approach to evaluating the impact of the requirements under Section 36 will be considered as part of a wider monitoring and evaluation plan for the Bus Services Act 2025. In particular, and as stated in our Impact Assessment on the new measures on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), we intend to undertake process evaluation, for example evaluating the mechanisms for developing, delivering and reporting on the new disability training requirements, as part of the process evaluation for the Act’s wider training requirements on VAWG and anti-social behaviour.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending The Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 to apply to vehicles which have 16 or more seats, rather than carry 16 or more passengers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Accessible Information Regulations (AIR) 2023 were introduced to support disabled people in particular to make the journeys important to them, but accessible information is valued by a wide range of passengers.
The Department considered the scope of the Regulations carefully during their development, including through a public consultation, seeking to balance the benefits of improved accessibility with the practical and financial implications for operators—particularly those using smaller vehicles. The wording selected, including the focus on total vehicle capacity was chosen for consistency with the well-established Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, albeit with a lower threshold in order to allow more passengers to benefit from audible and visible information.
I recognise the costs involved in achieving AIR compliance and the impact on smaller operators in particular and that is why the Department has made a £4.65 million grant available to operators with fleets of 20 vehicles or fewer to help cover the cost of installing the necessary equipment.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulatory framework governing the operation of foreign-flagged passenger vessels within UK territorial waters.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No recent assessment has been made of the potential merits of limiting access for foreign-flagged passenger vessels to UK territorial waters. Vessels in UK territorial waters are subject to a number of controls, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and inspection at UK ports to ensure compliance with their obligations under international maritime regulations. The UK relies on both foreign-flagged and UK-registered vessels for key imports and passenger services.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to expand rail electrification to Devon.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is developing a Rolling Stock and Infrastructure strategy which will inform future electrification decisions across the country. We are working closely with Network Rail colleagues to identify the right decarbonisation approach for each line and to determine where infrastructure will be needed to support this decarbonisation.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has asked National Highways to update its business case for the A120 dualling scheme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
During the second Road Period (2020-2025) National Highways has been considering improvements to the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey as a possible future major enhancement to the network as part of the Road Investment Strategy pipeline.
The last formal iteration of the business case for these proposals was developed in 2022/23. Affordability and deliverability assessments have been further tested since then to inform decision making and investment planning for RIS3 and beyond. The third Road Investment Strategy is due to be published in March 2026 and will include an updated pipeline of future enhancement schemes.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review 2025 established allocations of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) up to financial year 2029-30. A profile of these agreed allocations is enclosed in the table below, reflecting the measures announced at Autumn Budget 2025:
£ billion (current prices) | Plans 2025-26 | Plans 2026-27 | Plans 2027-28 | Plans 2028-29 | Plans 2029-30 |
Capital DEL Expenditure | 21.6 | 23.0 | 24.8 | 22.7 | 24.4 |
Capital funding allocations in future years and how they are allocated (this includes any unallocated funds) are subject to departmental business planning processes. Furthermore, the department will provide more detail on future spending plans at the appropriate Supply Estimate.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 9 December (HL12329), when they plan for Euston station to be equipped with full step-free access for passengers.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Work is continuing with delivery partners to develop affordable, integrated plans for Euston Station, which will include the new HS2 terminus, along with upgrades to the existing Network Rail and London Underground stations and local transport facilities. The development of these plans will include provision of step free access for passengers. The Department will set out more details in due course as the plans for Euston Station are progressed.