Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has been made of potential correlation between proposals to introduce a six-month learning period for learner drivers and efforts to reduce driving test waiting times.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Road Safety Strategy, published on the 7th January, includes consulting on a Minimum Learning Period before learner drivers can take their practical test.
A Minimum Learning Period is designed to prepare people better for a lifetime of safe driving by giving them more time to build up essential skills.
With more preparation for their test more people may pass first or second time, which could help reduce the waiting time for tests by reducing demand from learners booking to retake their test.
Introducing a minimum learning period could raise driving test pass rates and for every 1% increase in pass rate sustained over a year, around 40,000 test slots are freed up over the course of the year. Research suggests that a Minimum Learning Period may increase the pass rate by up to 7 percentage points.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on preparedness for incidents involving new vehicle technologies on strategic road networks in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department actively engages with all Local Authorities, including Surrey County Council, when discussing preparedness and proposed measures to mitigate against incidents involving new vehicle technologies. National Highways regularly reviews and updates their processes and procedures to respond to any incidents involving new vehicle technologies on the strategic road network.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of national standards and guidance for managing incidents on strategic road networks.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways works closely with emergency service partners and other specialist responders to ensure England’s motorways and larger A-roads are as safe and reliable as they can be.
National Highways developed the Strategic Road Responders Agreement which partners in the police, fire and ambulance services have all signed up to.
This agreement identifies the CLEAR initiative (Collision, Lead, Evaluate, Act, Re-open) as a tool that responders commit to using and, in doing so, helps to minimise the impact of incidents and ensures national standards and guidance are available and understood.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve road safety education for young motorcyclists in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035.
Road safety is a shared responsibility, and the strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.
The strategy is an opportunity to reflect on the changes and challenges faced by all motorcycle riders and the government has announced a consultation on an ambitious package of reforms to the training, testing and licensing regime for Category A moped and motorcycle licences in Great Britain.
As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety. To support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety. Local authorities are responsible for delivering road safety education and have a statutory duty to take steps both to reduce and prevent collisions.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with Surrey County Council on embedding safety into road design in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department has held no such discussions. Local traffic authorities are responsible for making decisions about their own roads, based on their knowledge of the area and taking into account local needs and circumstances. It is for them to ensure roads are designed in a way that helps fulfil their road safety duties.
Good design can have a significant impact on road safety. The Department has long advocated street design that improves safety through guidance and good practice advice, in particular the Manual for Streets. As set out in the Road Safety Strategy, an update of the Manual is underway to ensure it continues to provide advice that enables authorities to deliver safer streets.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to use innovative modes of transport to improve road safety in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all.
The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. This is underpinned through the four key themes of the strategy, one of which is taking advantage of technology, data and innovation for safer vehicles and post collision care. This details how we will make current vehicles safer, by mandating vehicle safety technologies and making use of both connected and automated vehicles to make our roads safer. All of this will be supported and monitored by a new Road Safety Board chaired by the Minister for Local Transport.
Road safety is a shared responsibility, and this strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. Partnership working and utilisation of local expertise will ensure that road safety improvements are seen across counties and constituencies, including Surrey and Surrey Heath. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department will consider increasing funding to improve the (a) security and (b) enforcement of vehicle registration marks.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026, the Government published its Road Safety Strategy, which sets out plans to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Great Britain’s roads, including through a focus on robust enforcement.
The Strategy also sets out the Government’s intention to consult on addressing the growing problem of illegal number plates, including ‘ghost’ number plates. The Department for Transport has published a consultation on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, including the use of illegal number plates designed to evade detection. Separately, the DVLA has been engaged in work to strengthen the relevant number plate standard and officials are considering options to support more robust application and audit processes for number plate suppliers.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will consider the potential merits of increasing funding for pavement parking enforcement in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport recognises the importance of safe and accessible pavements for all road users. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing pavement parking restrictions under existing civil parking enforcement powers, and statutory guidance advises that these operations should be self-financing.
While we keep enforcement policy under review, there are currently no plans to provide additional central funding for pavement parking enforcement in Surrey or Surrey Heath.
New devolved pavement parking powers were announced on 8 January 2026 and we will work with local government to develop the approach to implementation.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will assess the potential merits of long-term reform to (a) vehicle identification systems and (b) enforcement systems in tackling number plate crime.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government recognises the impact of number plate fraud and is committed to addressing this issue. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime. On road enforcement remains the responsibility of the police.
The government published its new Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.
Efforts are underway to strengthen application and audit processes for number plate suppliers. DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards to conduct compliance visits to number plate suppliers, inspecting practices and records as necessary.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to engage with road safety public awareness campaigns that educate children in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Through THINK!, the government’s flagship road safety campaign, we provide a wide range of free educational resources to help improve children's road safety. These are made available to schools and local road safety officers via the THINK! website, social channels and partnerships with organisations such as the Department for Education. https://www.think.gov.uk/education.
In 2024, THINK! launched a ‘Safe Adventures’ campaign to help parents across the country prepare their children for independent travel ahead of moving to secondary school: https://www.think.gov.uk/campaign/safe-adventures/. This activity focuses on the risky behaviours assigned to child pedestrian casualties, which includes failing to look and distractions, finding a safe place to cross and being in a hurry.
THINK! routinely engages with local authorities to assist them with using and promoting our campaigns, and we work closely with Road Safety GB who help disseminate and coordinate our outreach to their network of road safety officers and professionals.