Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure access for those with mobility issues at train stations, including reliable access to lifts, ramps, and waiting rooms.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are continuing to deliver the Access for All programme that has made more than 270 stations accessible including 36 in the last two years. In January 2026 we confirmed that 8 Access for All projects will be progressing directly to delivery and 23 projects will undergo design work for potential future delivery.
In November 2025 the Department published the Accessibility Roadmap which sets out the accessibility improvements being delivered ahead of the establishment of Great British Railways. This includes improving the reliability of key accessibility facilities - ensuring that lift and escalator reliability remain a top priority for accessible travel and introducing better monitoring by operators, so faults are identified and rectified more quickly.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that local governments, including in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, have the resources available for road maintenance and improvements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that local authorities have the resources needed to maintain and improve their road networks. The Government has therefore confirmed a record £7.3 billion investment into local highways maintenance over the next four years. By confirming funding allocations for the next four-year period, authorities have certainty to plan ahead and shift from short-term fixes to proactive, preventative maintenance.
South Gloucestershire and Bristol sit within the West of England Combined Authority. West of England Combined Authority receives baseline highways maintenance funding through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) which runs from 2022-27. In 2026/27, West of England CA will also receive £7.032 million in incentive funding. From 2027/28, all highways maintenance funding will be consolidated into Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlements, which will provide the bulk of future funding.
To further support local authorities and ensure best use of public funding, the Department published a new traffic light rating system for all local highway authorities in England on 11 January which rates authorities red, amber or green based on: the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads and whether they do so using best practice. This system allows the Government to target support to places that need extra help and red-rated authorities have been offered dedicated support to bring them in line with best practice.
Bristol City Council received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green spend and amber for best practice. Additionally, South Gloucestershire received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green spend and amber for best practice.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of driving test waiting times at test centres serving Kingswood.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to reduce waiting times for car practical tests whilst upholding road safety standards. DVSA wants all customers to be able to access a driving test when they are ready to pass, to enable people to get to places of study or work and break down barriers to opportunity.
The table below shows the average waiting time in weeks for February 2026, and number of tests booked and available at the nearest four driving test centres (DTC) to Kingswood of 23 March 2026.
Driving test centre (DTC) | Average car practical driving test waiting time (February 2026) | Booked tests (as of 23 March 2026) | Tests available in 24 week booking window (as of 23 March 2026) |
Bristol (Kingswood) | 24 weeks | 4,442 | 127 |
Bristol (Avonmouth) | 24 weeks | 4,404 | 124 |
Chippenham | 24 weeks | 3,053 | 182 |
Trowbridge* | 24 weeks | 460 | 1 |
*Trowbridge is a taking the test to the customer site so may not be open every day.
Between June 2025 – February 2026, at the four DTCs above, DVSA conducted 2,372 additional car practical driving tests in overtime, when compared to the equivalent overtime scheme between June 2024 – February 2025. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme the agency introduced in June 2025.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of affordable and accessible public transport on supporting older people to (a) remain in and (b) return to employment.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While employment policy sits primarily with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Transport considers the impacts of transport affordability and accessibility through its policy development and funding decisions. This includes supporting lower fares, service provision and improvements to the accessibility of the transport network.
The Government is supporting affordability by extending the £3 bus fare cap in England to March 2027, freezing regulated rail fares until March 2027, and providing over £700 million to local authorities in 2025/26 through the Local Authority Bus Grant to help maintain and improve bus services.
Alongside this, the Department is investing in accessibility through programmes such as Access for All and is developing an Accessible Travel Charter to help improve the end‑to‑end journey experience. These measures support older people and others with accessibility needs to travel with greater confidence, helping them to access and sustain employment where they choose to do so.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce the cost of creating new walking, wheeling and cycling routes on disused railways.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Local authorities are empowered to decide where investment is made in their areas. As such, it is for local authorities to consider whether disused railway lines would be suitable for active travel routes and to work with National Highways, in their role as custodians of the historic rail estate, to assess the viability of any particular routes.
In the Spending Review we announced that we are allocating £616 million for Active Travel England from 2026-27 to 2029-30 to support local authorities to build and maintain walking and cycling infrastructure. This is in addition to the almost £300 million funding for active travel in 2024/25 and 2025/26 which we announced in February.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of pavement parking on levelks of (a) wellbeing, (b) social isolation and (c) economic opportunities of disabled people.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and disabled people with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. To inform next steps, the Department has considered the potential options, assessing the costs and benefits to households and businesses, which includes well-being, social isolation and economic opportunities. This assessment drew on existing evidence, including the 2020 pavement parking consultation. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the likely readiness of hydrogen-powered aircrafts for commercial use at the planned completion of the expansion of Heathrow Airport; and what steps her Department is taking to align aviation decarbonisation initiatives with future airport infrastructure developments.
Answered by Mike Kane
The government recognises the potential decarbonisation and growth benefits that new forms of zero-emission aircraft using hydrogen could provide. However, construction and operational timelines of any Heathrow Airport expansion remain a matter for the scheme promoter.
The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals must be delivered in line with the UK’s legal, climate and environmental obligations. The government will set out detail on plans for meeting legislated carbon budgets later this year, including for aviation.
Also, the Jet Zero Taskforce, convening representatives from government, industry, and academia, has established a dedicated Task and Finish Group to review barriers to the commercial operation of zero-carbon hydrogen aircraft.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to remove barriers to cycling for disabled people.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Requirements set out in ‘Local transport note 1/20: cycle infrastructure design’ and Inclusive Mobility guidance seek to ensure cycling schemes are accessible for all. This includes advice on designing for different types of cycle, including adapted cycles. Active Travel England provides funding and support to local authorities and active travel organisations to deliver programmes that include targeted interventions to overcome barriers for disabled people.