Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2026 to Question 11742 on British Overseas Territories, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of each monitoring visit undertaken by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to British Overseas Territories since 4 July 2024, broken down by (a) destination and (b) visit.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The MCA undertakes monitoring visits to provide assurance that Overseas Territories’ maritime administrations continue to meet their international maritime obligations and the standards set under the Red Ensign Group framework.
The estimated cost for each of the monitoring visits undertaken by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to British Overseas Territories since 4 July 2024 is shown below: This does not include staff salaries.
Location X Number of Auditors | Dates | Travel (£) | Accommodation (£) | Subsistence (£, estimated) | Other expenditure (£) | Total cost (£) |
Primary Monitoring Visits | ||||||
Gibraltar X 4 | 16–20 Sep 2024 | 2,802.37 | 2,285.33 | 632.07 | — | 5,719.77 |
Turks & Caicos Islands X 4 | 2–6 Dec 2024 | 8,676.98 | 10,268.26 | 1,180.77 | 400.88 | 20,526.89 |
St Helena X 3 | 24–28 Feb 2025 | 16,518.26 | 4,873.56 | 727.74 | — | 22,119.56 |
Cayman Islands X 3 | 1–12 Sep 2025 | 10,034.90 | 3,661.70 | 709.71 | — | 14,406.31 |
British Virgin Islands X 5 | 1–5 Dec 2025 | 32,116.97 | 6,791.67 | 1,725.53 | — | 40,634.17 |
Secondary Monitoring / Support Visits | ||||||
British Virgin Islands X 3 | 29–31 Jul 2024 | 17,410.96 | 2,958.99 | 725.62 | 470.46 | 21,566.03 |
Anguilla X 1 | 20–24 Jan 2025 | 1,978.00 | 1,399.75 | 644.07 | — | 4,021.82 |
British Virgin Islands X 2 | 16–18 Jul 2025 | 4,790.56 | 1,732.16 | 431.59 | 297.15 | 7,251.46 |
Turks & Caicos Islands X 2 | 3–6 Nov 2025 | 7,172.34 | 3,175.34 | 713.27 | — | 11,060.95 |
St Helena X 3 | 16–20 Mar 2026 | 8,267.00 | 2,730.00 | 586.24 | — | 11,583.24 |
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2026 to Question 12280 on Electric Vehicles, whether her Department intends to publish a summary of the evidence and views received during discussions with stakeholders on the review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has a long-standing commitment to publish a review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate to ensure we are taking a pragmatic and balanced approach to the zero-emission transition. We intend to conclude the review, which will include a public consultation, in the next six months. We will welcome views from the automotive and chargepoint sectors during this process and publish the Government response to the consultation in the normal way.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2026, to Question 13237, on Department for Transport: Public Relations, how much spending has there been on these contracts since July 2024.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The value of all contracts referred to in the answer to 13237 are published on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search (contracts above £12,000 - including VAT and £25,000 in the wider public sector) and/or Find a Tender - Find a Tender.
ORR currently holds contracts with Field Consulting, the spend on these contracts since July 2024 would be £9000.
From July 2024 to 31 May 2026, National Highways spent £280,921 on its technical professional services’ public affairs contract.
Transport Focus have a Public Affairs monitoring contract with Randall’s Monitoring Ltd. They have spent £6,210 excluding VAT on this.
Network Rail holds a contract for stakeholder engagement services with Lexington Communications. The contract was awarded in September 2021. Spend on this contract amounts to £423,439.93 since July 2024. Network Rail also spent a total of £143,480 with Yonder. . A total of £33,660 has been spent on the Future Governance Forum project since July 2024.
HS2 Ltd identified 2 live contracts which fall into the scope of Public Affairs spending. From July 2024 to 30 April 2026, HS2 Ltd has spent £71,100 on live contracts.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 14930 on Railways: Standards, whether her Department maintains a record of the operational systems used by state-owned Train Operating Companies to record service cancellations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not maintain a central record of the operational systems used by individual train operating companies to record service cancellations. Train operators are responsible for their day-to-day operational systems and reporting arrangements, while performance information is collected and monitored through industry-standard assurance and performance reporting processes.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether overnight stays associated with major infrastructure projects, including Hinkley Point C in Somerset, would be within the scope of a future Overnight Visitor Levy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The precise design and scope of any Overnight Visitor Levy are still under consideration following the public consultation. The Government will publish its formal response to the consultation in due course.
Decisions on whether to introduce a levy, and on specific local proposals, will be for Mayors and local leaders, subject to local consultation. The detailed scope, including any exemptions, administrative arrangements, use of revenues and other aspects of policy design will be set out, where relevant, in future legislation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether consideration has been given to exempting business-related overnight stays from a future Overnight Visitor Levy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The precise design and scope of any Overnight Visitor Levy are still under consideration following the public consultation. The Government will publish its formal response to the consultation in due course.
Decisions on whether to introduce a levy, and on specific local proposals, will be for Mayors and local leaders, subject to local consultation. The detailed scope, including any exemptions, administrative arrangements, use of revenues and other aspects of policy design will be set out, where relevant, in future legislation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of an Overnight Visitor Levy on financial viability of small independent bed and breakfast operators and guest houses.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The precise design and scope of any Overnight Visitor Levy are still under consideration following the public consultation. The Government will publish its formal response to the consultation in due course.
Decisions on whether to introduce a levy, and on specific local proposals, will be for Mayors and local leaders, subject to local consultation. The detailed scope, including any exemptions, administrative arrangements, use of revenues and other aspects of policy design will be set out, where relevant, in future legislation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of an Overnight Visitor Levy on the competitiveness of tourist destinations in the South West compared with destinations in Wales.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The precise design and scope of any Overnight Visitor Levy are still under consideration following the public consultation. The Government will publish its formal response to the consultation in due course.
Decisions on whether to introduce a levy, and on specific local proposals, will be for Mayors and local leaders, subject to local consultation. The detailed scope, including any exemptions, administrative arrangements, use of revenues and other aspects of policy design will be set out, where relevant, in future legislation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to issue guidance on the proportion of revenue from an Overnight Visitor Levy to be spent on tourism-related infrastructure and services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The precise design and scope of any Overnight Visitor Levy are still under consideration following the public consultation. The Government will publish its formal response to the consultation in due course.
Decisions on whether to introduce a levy, and on specific local proposals, will be for Mayors and local leaders, subject to local consultation. The detailed scope, including any exemptions, administrative arrangements, use of revenues and other aspects of policy design will be set out, where relevant, in future legislation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the administrative costs to accommodation providers in collecting and remitting an Overnight Visitor Levy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The precise design and scope of any Overnight Visitor Levy are still under consideration following the public consultation. The Government will publish its formal response to the consultation in due course.
Decisions on whether to introduce a levy, and on specific local proposals, will be for Mayors and local leaders, subject to local consultation. The detailed scope, including any exemptions, administrative arrangements, use of revenues and other aspects of policy design will be set out, where relevant, in future legislation.