Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to report on the newly commissioned assessment of the HS2 project, including the new budget and timescale needed to complete the railway.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
On 23 March 2026, we published this government’s latest report to Parliament on HS2, which updated on delivery progress. It also outlined the commission for HS2 Ltd to assess how much taxpayers’ money and construction time could be saved by adopting a specification for HS2 that is more in line with the high-speed railways successfully delivered by the rest of the world.
The Secretary of State has asked Mark Wild to report back to her before the summer recess. The government will reflect on the early outcomes of this work, alongside progress on engagement with HS2 Ltd’s main suppliers, ahead of publishing the new cost and schedule estimates. We are taking the time to ensure the updated estimates are robust, rather than rush the process and risk publishing figures that we do not trust. We will publish the new estimates shortly once they have been fully assured and approved.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the initial assessment carried out by Mark Wild about the current status of the HS2 project.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We published Mark Wild’s initial assessment as HS2 Ltd CEO of HS2’s current position regarding cost and schedule on 18 June 2025.
On 23 March 2026, we published this government’s latest report to Parliament on HS2. This outlined that Mark has been asked to assess how much money and time could be saved by adopting a specification for HS2 that is more in line with the high-speed railways successfully delivered by the rest of the world. The Secretary of State has asked Mark Wild to report back to her before the summer recess. The government will reflect on the early outcomes of this work, alongside progress on engagement with HS2 Ltd’s main suppliers, ahead of publishing the new cost and schedule estimates once they have been fully assured and approved.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they plan to take to promote cross pavement channels to support electric vehicle adoption.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Over 80% of eligible local authorities have applied to the Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel Grant, launched in August last year, and nearly all grants have been issued. Local authorities are beginning to launch schemes for their residents. Over time the funding will support the installation of thousands of pavement channels across England, helping residents benefit from convenient charging and domestic electricity tariffs. Government will continue to support local authorities to deliver through guidance, promotion of best practice and one-to-one support.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the electric vehicle pavement channels grant to date; how many local authorities have received funding from that grant; and what estimate they have made of the number of households who have been assisted by that grant.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Over 80% of eligible local authorities have applied to the Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel Grant, launched in August last year, and nearly all grants have been issued. Local authorities are beginning to launch schemes for their residents. Over time the funding will support the installation of thousands of pavement channels across England, helping residents benefit from convenient charging and domestic electricity tariffs. Government will continue to support local authorities to deliver through guidance, promotion of best practice and one-to-one support.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to establishing an ombudsman to oversee the aviation sector, in particular the work of the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The work of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is subject to the oversight of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The Government has ensured that the CAA have a robust set of internal and external remedies for those who are dissatisfied with the CAA’s customer service.
The remedies are, successively: internal review by the CAA; consideration by the Independent Complaints Assessor; and referral via their Member of Parliament to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
These remedies cannot address dissatisfaction with a regulatory decision which the CAA has taken (such as an aviation safety decision) but regulatory decisions are subject to bespoke internal review procedures and subsequently in most cases, challenge by way of judicial review. There are some exceptions such as economic regulation decisions may be appealed to the Competition and Markets Authority and airline operating licence decisions may be appealed to the Secretary of State. Additionally, some airspace design decisions can be called-in to be made by the Secretary of State rather than the CAA.
These pathways are prominently set out on the CAA’s website and we wish to see that they are used wherever appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current status of the planned new station at Haxby in North Yorkshire; and what further steps are required before construction of the station can commence.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The 2025 Spending Review allocated £19.5 million to deliver a new two-platform station at Haxby on the York-Scarborough line. Work has started to secure planning consents, and the project is progressing toward contractor appointment to deliver the station.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how UK maritime decarbonisation efforts will be impacted by the expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The inclusion of the maritime sector in the UK ETS will, in combination with other enabling policies, strengthen the effectiveness of the scheme in incentivising investment in decarbonisation across the covered sectors.
Specifically, the scheme provides a clear price signal that supports investment in cleaner vessels, operational efficiency and emerging low carbon fuels.
The policy is expected to deliver a net reduction of approximately 645,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over the next 20 years.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK maritime decarbonisation efforts are supported by revenues raised by the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme support the Government’s wider priorities, including spending to support decarbonisation.
The Government recognises that decarbonising the maritime sector requires a suite of policies and is providing funding and policy support to facilitate this transition.
For example, between April 2022 and March 2026, the Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions programme has allocated £240m to the research and development of clean maritime solutions.
In September 2025, the Government announced a further £448m R&D funding for the programme for the period to 2030. This represents the biggest government investment ever in our commercial maritime industry.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime on cruise operations in the UK.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme will only include emissions from domestic voyages and emissions within UK ports.
Emissions from voyages within the European Economic Area (EEA) and emissions within EEA ports are already in scope of the EU Emissions Trading System, which also applies to 50% of international voyage emissions.
The Government therefore expects no net loss of competitiveness for cruise visits to UK ports relative to EEA ports as a result of the inclusion in the UK ETS of the domestic maritime sector.
On this basis, the Government considers the impact on the cruise sector to be minimal.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Road Safety Strategy, published on 7 January, whether they will consider the misuse of nitrous oxide gas as part of the planned work for drug driving evidence collection.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Alongside the Road Safety Strategy, the Department for Transport has published a consultation on motoring offences, including drink and drug driving and the evidence used to support enforcement. The consultation provides an opportunity for stakeholders to submit their views on issues such as nitrous oxide misuse and detection challenges, and we will consider all evidence received before taking decisions.
We will continue to work with partners across Government and operational stakeholders as this work develops.