Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL15443), what steps they have taken in the past year to meet their legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation concerning transport should be brought into force.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Policy teams within the department are responsible for ensuring effective delivery within their area, including the review of uncommenced legislation and considering when to bring forward commencement orders.
Where needed, they draw on the advice of government lawyers to support delivery. This is conducted alongside established post legislative scrutiny processes where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the Vehicle Excise Duty payment screen on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's website prompts people to pay monthly without mentioning on that screen that annual payment would be cheaper; and what assessment they have made of whether this practice is compliant with consumer protection laws and regulations.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
When a vehicle is due to be taxed, the DVLA sends the registered keeper a reminder that includes information on payment options, including the amount due if the customer chooses to pay by direct debit. The DVLA’s online vehicle licensing service also includes a link to a table of vehicle excise duty rates which individuals can view before deciding on which payment option to use.
The table below shows the number of new and automatically renewed direct debit mandates for vehicle excise duty payments in 2025/26.
2025/26 | Monthly instalments over 12 months | One single payment covering 12 months |
Total | 15,850,695 | 1,762,191 |
The DVLA keeps all services under review to ensure compliance with all relevant rules and regulations.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people in the most recent financial year for which data is available paid the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for Vehicle Excise Duty in monthly instalments; how many paid annually; and how much additional revenue was generated for the DVLA by the higher total charge for paying monthly.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
When a vehicle is due to be taxed, the DVLA sends the registered keeper a reminder that includes information on payment options, including the amount due if the customer chooses to pay by direct debit. The DVLA’s online vehicle licensing service also includes a link to a table of vehicle excise duty rates which individuals can view before deciding on which payment option to use.
The table below shows the number of new and automatically renewed direct debit mandates for vehicle excise duty payments in 2025/26.
2025/26 | Monthly instalments over 12 months | One single payment covering 12 months |
Total | 15,850,695 | 1,762,191 |
The DVLA keeps all services under review to ensure compliance with all relevant rules and regulations.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee's 34th Report of Session 2024–26, what progress they have made towards finding a solution for making further amendments to assimilated law in relation to aviation safety after June 2026.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
UK airspace and airlines are amongst the safest in the world. The UK remains steadfast in our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of aviation safety. We are confident that the powers gap issue will not impact the UK’s exemplary aviation safety record.
The Department is actively looking at solutions to close or mitigate these gaps at the earliest opportunity to maintain a functioning statute book and provide certainty to the transport sector. We will review whether existing powers on the statute book may be appropriate and look at introducing primary legislation, where needed, when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish a list of any outstanding safety recommendations from the Air Accident Investigation Branch, along with the planned implementation date for each of the outstanding recommendations.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
All Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) Safety Recommendations are published within the investigation reports to which they relate. In addition, the AAIB provides regular updates on the status of these recommendations on its website. These updates include the responses received, the AAIB’s assessment of those responses, and the progress of any actions taken.
This information is also summarised in the AAIB Annual Safety Review which is published in the second quarter of each year. The review covers recommendations that were opened or closed in the previous year and includes its status at the time of publication as well as expected timelines for further updates.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish a list of any outstanding safety recommendations from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, along with the planned implementation date for each of the outstanding recommendations.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) publishes a list of all its outstanding recommendations in its annual report. Those in receipt of RAIB recommendations must respond within three months with their plans and timescales for implementation or, if no action is planned, with their reasons. It is then for the Office of Rail and Road, as the independent rail safety regulator, to ensure these recommendations are duly considered and, where appropriate, acted on.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the recommendations from Marine Accident Investigation Branch reports that have not been implemented, including the planned implementation date for each of those recommendations.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) publishes details regarding recommendations that have not yet been implemented, including their planned implementation date, in the MAIB Annual Report (Marine Accident Recommendations and Statistics). The 2024 Annual Report was published on 17 July 2025 and is attached. The 2025 Annual report is planned to be published in May 2026.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's digital services for drivers available 24 hours a day.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services for driving licence transactions, vehicle licensing and vehicle excise duty enforcement penalty payments are already available 24 hours a day.
Availability of other vehicle related services is scheduled to be extended to 9PM within the next two months. While the DVLA intends to extend these services to 24 hour availability, this requires wider transformational changes to vehicle services which are currently in development.