Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of service reliability on annual passenger footfall at Narborough Station since 2019.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Unreliable rail services disrupt passengers’ journeys and undermine passenger confidence. This is why we are taking steps to improve train service performance across the country to better deliver for passengers. Passenger numbers across all CrossCountry routes are similar to those that were seen in 2019. Office of Rail and Road figures show growth in demand at Narborough station, with an estimated 240,000 entries and exits in the 2023-24 financial year. This is an increase of 32,000 on the year before.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) reliability and (b) punctuality of CrossCountry services operating between Birmingham, Leicester and Stansted Airport.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
CrossCountry train services were not reliable enough in 2024 and the operator was subject to a Remedial Plan from August 2024 to March 2025. Since January 2025, CrossCountry train service performance has generally improved, although issues remain on Sundays. The Rail Minister has met CrossCountry Directors who are well aware that there is more for them to do. A new senior management team at CrossCountry is taking steps to address underlying issues within the business. We expect to see improvements for passengers, and will continue to hold the operator to account for delivery of the contractual performance benchmarks.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has received proposals on improving the (a) reliability, (b) capacity and (c) frequency of services serving Narborough station from CrossCountry.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We expect operators to plan services balancing the need to meet expected passenger demand, improve train service performance, be affordable and provide value for money for taxpayers. Office of Rail and Road station statistics show that service reliability at Narborough has generally improved in the eight weeks to 13 September 2025. Officials monitor CrossCountry performance closely and will continue to hold them to account for delivery of the contractual performance benchmarks.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with CrossCountry on increasing capacity on (a) peak services between Leicester and Narborough and (b) the 17:18 weekday service from Leicester to Birmingham.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In December 2024, CrossCountry removed First Class accommodation from the trains used on the Birmingham to Stansted Airport route, increasing the number of seats available to all ticket holders. All operators are expected to plan capacity on individual services to best match the expected level of demand, whilst making efficient use of the train fleet and train crew resources available to them. Officials are working with CrossCountry to develop a business case to further expand their Inter-City train fleet.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing mutual recognition of commercial pilot licences between the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency; and what steps she is taking to help streamline the current licence conversion process for European Union Aviation Safety Agency-qualified pilots seeking to work in the UK.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Government has been clear that it will work to reset the relationship with Europe, to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. Agreements on UK-EU licensing recognition must be established through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and agreed by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Aviation Safety. The Government continues to seek expansions to the Aviation Safety Chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement where appropriate. An effective aviation licensing regime that supports UK aviation remains a priority, and the UK is keen to establish closer cooperation on personnel licensing where possible to ease the current burden on UK and EU personnel and industry.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the performance trajectory of CrossCountry Trains following the implementation of its reduced timetable.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Rail Minister met with CrossCountry in August. It is subject to a Remedial Plan that runs until March 2025. CrossCountry reinstated its full timetable from 10 November.
Officials meet CrossCountry regularly to discuss operational issues including progress with the Remedial Plan. CrossCountry will continue to be very closely monitored against the contractual benchmarks that are set out in its National Rail Contract.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making the LGA's voluntary shared database on taxi driver licenses mandatory.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 27 April 2023, the remainder of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 was commenced, and the Department designated the use of a database, which previously operated on a voluntary basis supported by the Local Government Assocation, for the purposes of this Act. The Act mandates the use of a national database in England to record every decision to refuse, revoke or suspend a taxi or private hire vehicle driver licence due to safeguarding, road safety or discrimination concerns.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to limit microplastic pollution caused by automobile tyres.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The development of policy to limit emissions from tyre wear depends on the development of an internationally recognised test procedure for measuring them. This issue is being examined by the UN ECE Particle Measurement Programme (PMP), which includes DfT officials, other international governments, and the automotive industry. DfT is one of the founders of PMP and has played a leading role since its inception.
To support the work of the UN ECE, the Department commissioned a 4-year research project in February 2021 aimed at understanding better the measurement techniques, material properties and control parameters of brake and tyre wear emissions from road vehicles. The outcomes of the project will inform policy and legislation aiming at reducing these emissions on a domestic and international level.
Furthermore, Government is continuing to invest through Innovate UK grants in emerging technologies which reduce non-exhaust emissions.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce traffic congestion (a) on rural roads and (b) in rural communities.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Managing the traffic on local roads is the responsibility of the local traffic authorities. They are subject to a network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to deliver expeditious movement of traffic, including pedestrians. A wide range of tools is already available to help them to manage congestion and traffic flow. In addition, the Department for Transport provides substantial funding to local authorities to improve their respective networks to help and alleviate congestion and promote better provide improved infrastructure, including for public transport and cycling and walking through the ‘Major Road Network’ (MRN), ‘Large Local Majors’ (LLM) and Levelling Up Fund initiatives.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support rural bus routes.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Government provides Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) with £42 million annually through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) for the purpose of subsidising socially necessary services that would otherwise be commercially unviable. The Government also provides over £200 million directly to bus operators every year through the BSOG to keep fares down and help them maintain an extensive network.
The Government initially provided £60 million to help bus operators cap single fares at £2 on services in England outside London from 1 January to 31 March 2023. In addition to this, we will provide up to £75 million to continue to cap single bus fares at £2 in England outside London for a further three months until end June 2023. Over 140 operators covering more than 4,600 routes throughout England are participating in the scheme, including in rural areas, which will help increase patronage on buses and help millions save on their regular travel costs.
Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) is supporting 17 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 15 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.