Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 19 January 2026, (b) 12 February 2026 and (c) 3 March 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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 17 February 2026 to Question 111450, whether her Department holds information on the (a) grant funding awarded and (b) number of buses supported under each bus procurement and zero-emission bus support scheme funded in each of the last five years; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of social value weighting requirements in those schemes on tendered bus prices.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Within the last five years there has been two zero emission bus programmes funded by the Government, ZEBRA and ZEBRA 2. The following tables present information on the amount of grant funding awarded and the number of zero emission buses funded through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programmes, by local transport authority. The numbers in this table are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore indicative and subject to change.
In relation to social value considerations, community benefit factors formed a component of assessment in ZEBRA 2. The procurement decisions and tender evaluations were then undertaken by the authorities and operators themselves, so the Department has made no further assessment of the potential impact of social value weighting requirements on tendered bus prices.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government still plans to allocate £1 billion through the Structures Fund for the repair of critical transport infrastructure such as bridges, flyovers and tunnels.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government remains committed to the plans it set out at the Spending Review, including in relation to providing £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve our motorways and local roads. This also includes £1 billion for key local highway enhancement projects and a new Structures Fund for repairing run-down bridges, decaying flyovers and worn-out tunnels.
The Department for Transport surveyed local highway authorities and other transport stakeholders on the criteria for prioritising structures for investment through the Structures Fund in February 2026. The Department is currently considering responses to the survey and will confirm further detail on the Structures Fund and the funding available for the 2026/27 financial year in due course.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the Structures Fund is available to be released in the 2026/27 financial year.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government remains committed to the plans it set out at the Spending Review, including in relation to providing £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve our motorways and local roads. This also includes £1 billion for key local highway enhancement projects and a new Structures Fund for repairing run-down bridges, decaying flyovers and worn-out tunnels.
The Department for Transport surveyed local highway authorities and other transport stakeholders on the criteria for prioritising structures for investment through the Structures Fund in February 2026. The Department is currently considering responses to the survey and will confirm further detail on the Structures Fund and the funding available for the 2026/27 financial year in due course.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Department for Transport 2024-25, published in November 2025, whether capital spending on the High Speed Two programme is on track to fall by 7.9% in real terms between 2025-26 and 2029-30.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that conversations take place with contemporary handlers, ground staff or airport executives regarding flights into and out of Stansted Airport allegedly linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Airports and airlines must operate in full compliance with all UK laws and regulatory standards to ensure safety, security, and accountability.
If those laws are broken it is our expectation that any and all information useful to inquiries by the relevant authorities is swiftly obtained and passed on.
The Home Office is the lead department for these matters. It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to establish the age of any passengers that may have been on board flights allegedly linked to Jeffrey Epstein into and out of Stansted Airport.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Airports and airlines must operate in full compliance with all UK laws and regulatory standards to ensure safety, security, and accountability.
If those laws are broken it is our expectation that any and all information useful to inquiries by the relevant authorities is swiftly obtained and passed on.
The Home Office is the lead department for these matters. It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will take steps to investigate the nature of flights into and out of UK airports allegedly linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Airports and airlines must operate in full compliance with all UK laws and regulatory standards to ensure safety, security, and accountability.
If those laws are broken it is our expectation that any and all information useful to inquiries by the relevant authorities is swiftly obtained and passed on.
The Home Office is the lead department for these matters. It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, a) how many additional practical car driving tests were delivered by DVSA in each month since July 2024 compared with the same months in the previous year; b) of those additional tests, how many were delivered by (i) examiners working overtime, (ii) warrant card holders temporarily deployed from other DVSA roles, and (iii) newly recruited examiners; and c) during which months warrant card holders from non-examiner roles were deployed to conduct practical driving tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/driving-test-and-theory-test-data-cars shows the number of car practical driving tests conducted up to February 2026.
The spreadsheet attached shows the number of overtime tests for the period July 2023 to January 2026. Further information is not available.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to implement Baroness Casey's recommendation on stopping out of area taxis from the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse report.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing. As a first step, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. The Government is currently consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake an enhanced DBS and barred lists check as part of its licensing processes. All licensing authorities in England have advised that they require this.