Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2026 to Question 19486 on the Lower Thames Crossing, what working assumptions her Department is using for the level of charges required to cover the economic and efficient costs of service provision, including a fair return on investment for the private sector.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The department is working to secure the best deal for users and taxpayers under the Regulated Asset Base model. Further analysis and development is required before charges can be set. The assumptions include, but are not limited to, forecasted traffic volumes, operational costs and financing costs. An independent regulator will be in place to protect user interests, ensuring the toll regime is fair and transparent and that drivers are protected from being overcharged.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2026 to Question 21972 on Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing, what specific reforms to (a) operator licensing requirements and (b) associated regulatory processes her Department is considering; and which road freight industry representative bodies it has consulted on those potential reforms.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

I refer to my answer of 8 September 2026 to Question 21972.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2026 to Question 29628 on Cars: Manufacturing Industries, what assessment her Department has made of the ability of vehicle manufacturers to meet Zero Emission Vehicle mandate targets in each year to 2030.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government continues to engage with vehicle manufacturers on a regular basis regarding the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, including as part of the long-committed ZEV Mandate Review, which is currently subject to consultation. No policy decisions have yet been taken with regards to the Mandate’s headline annual targets, or any other aspect of the Mandate. The consultation closes on 23 October, and we will publish the outcome of the review in our consultation response.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2026 to Question 29628 on Cars: Manufacturing Industries, what her Department's policy is on revising annual Zero Emission Vehicle mandate targets.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government continues to engage with vehicle manufacturers on a regular basis regarding the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, including as part of the long-committed ZEV Mandate Review, which is currently subject to consultation. No policy decisions have yet been taken with regards to the Mandate’s headline annual targets, or any other aspect of the Mandate. The consultation closes on 23 October, and we will publish the outcome of the review in our consultation response.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role her Department plays in determining NATS executive remuneration; and whether she has sought changes to bonus criteria following disruption caused by NATS system failures.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

NATS is a private company, run by its own board. The Transport Secretary appoints three Non-Executive Directors to the NATS’ board, who oversee the Government’s shareholding interest in the company. Pay and bonuses for senior NATS executives, are set through the governance structures which manage the business. The Government has no role in dictating salary levels.

As part of the independent review into NATS’ performance following the incidents that occurred on 8 and 21 September this year, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will complete a broader assessment of NATS' resilience, capital investment and modernisation plans, as well as the effectiveness of the CAA's own regulatory oversight. An initial findings report is due to be completed by end of January 2027, with a final report submitted by the end of March 2027.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Greater Manchester Combined Authority on commissioning local rail services through a public service contract with Great British Railways.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government and the rail industry are working closely with Transport for Greater Manchester on future partnership arrangements with Great British Railways. Exact contracting arrangements are still to be determined.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has received any (a) representations and (b) correspondence from the hon. Member for East Wiltshire since 15 September 2025 relating to the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down project.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department has received one letter from the Hon. Member for East Wiltshire relating to the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down project since 15 September 2025.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has undertaken analysis of whether implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of NATS (En Route) plc’s Performance on 28 August 2023 would have (a) prevented and (b) mitigated the NATS technical incident on 8 September 2026.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We are still in the process of understanding the impact of the 8 September NATS outage across the UK, including its impact on airlines. I recognise the significant disruption this outage caused for passengers, airlines, and airports. The Government is taking steps to ensure the right lessons are learnt. This includes asking the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct an independent review into the incidents.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2026 to Question 31269 on Electric Vehicles, whether she has made representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the Budget on increasing the £7.5 billion allocated to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles; and whether her Department plans to introduce additional financial incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Ministers in the Department for Transport regularly discuss a wide range of topics with Ministers in HM Treasury.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2026 to Question 30027 on Bus Services: Concessions, which (a) programmes and (b) budgets within his Department will be reprioritised to fund the cost of extending free bus travel for disabled people in 2027-28; and how much funding will be reallocated from each.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The £60 million funding for Free bus travel 24/7 for disabled people comes from existing Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Transport (DfT) budgets. It is made up of a £40 million contribution from DWP, and a £20 million contribution from DfT. The precise budgets for 2027/28 that will support this measure will be agreed through DWPs internal allocations process, which will conclude ahead of the new financial year.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2026 to Question 30018 on Bus Services: Fares, which (a) programmes and (b) budgets within her Department will be reprioritised to fund the £454 million allocated to reducing bus fares, including funding for the devolved administrations; and how much funding will be reallocated from each.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Savings are a small part of DESNZ’s overall budget, which saw a significant uplift at Spending Review. We will set out further detail this autumn.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the costs incurred by airlines as a result of the NATS technical failures on 8 and 21 September 2026.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We are still in the process of understanding the impact of the 8 September NATS outage across the UK, including its impact on airlines. I recognise the significant disruption this outage caused for passengers, airlines, and airports. The Government is taking steps to ensure the right lessons are learnt. This includes asking the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct an independent review into the incidents.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 26159 on speed camera enforcement, when she expects the rigorous testing of the Home Office approved solution to be completed.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Department first engaged with National Highways in November 2025, when a solution was brought to our attention. Since then, we have been working closely with them to undertake the necessary technical work in respect of the camera.

Examination of technical issues continues. We are working at pace and want to conclude this at the earliest possible opportunity, acknowledging that robust information is needed to support an assessment of the effectiveness of the solution.

Once concluded satisfactorily, National Highways will work with police partners, via the National Police Chiefs' Council to re-commence enforcement of all affected operational cameras on the road network as quickly as possible.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 26159 on Speed Limits: Cameras, on what date testing of the Home Office-approved solution commenced; when she expects that testing to conclude; and when she expects implementation across all affected cameras to be completed.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Department first engaged with National Highways in November 2025, when a solution was brought to our attention. Since then, we have been working closely with them to undertake the necessary technical work in respect of the camera.

Examination of technical issues continues. We are working at pace and want to conclude this at the earliest possible opportunity, acknowledging that robust information is needed to support an assessment of the effectiveness of the solution.

Once concluded satisfactorily, National Highways will work with police partners, via the National Police Chiefs’ Council to re-commence enforcement of all affected operational cameras on the road network as quickly as possible.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of schools and places available in specialist provision for pupils with SEMH, broken down by local authority.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department collects and publishes the number of schools which have approved provision for types of special educational needs (SEN), including social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) need, through the school census. The data is published in the ’Special education needs in England publication 2025/26’, with the most recent published in June 2026, here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2025-26.

Data on places in SEN provision is collected in the School Capacity survey (SCAP). In the most recent release, May 2025, local authorities provided the capacity of special schools, plus SEN units and resourced provision in mainstream schools, as defined in the guidance of the publication. This includes post-16 capacity in secondary specialist provision, where appropriate, and does not include independent or alternative provision. Capacity reported in SCAP may not reflect the current pupils on roll in schools due to the different and changing needs for which the schools cater. As SCAP does not collect data by type of SEN, data in places specifically for pupils with SEMH is not held.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the treatment of residential property traders under Stamp Duty Land Tax as part of the Government’s aim to increase liquidity and transactions in the housing market.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The Chancellor holds a range of discussions with ministerial colleagues and other stakeholders across the full range of his policy responsibilities.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of transit charges on commercial vessels using international waterways on (a) UK importers and exporters and (b) supply chain costs.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is closely monitoring the impact of disruptions to key shipping routes.

This includes regularly assessing the impact on UK supply chains, disruption to trade, including any rerouting of container ships, and of increases in prices of critical goods, shipping and energy. In doing so, we are actively drawing input from businesses on supply chain pressures and their own contingency planning to understand impacts on UK imports, exports and subsequent supply chain costs.

We also continue to work with businesses and our international partners to protect trade and investment for all those using international waterways.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 26362 on Speed Limits: Cameras, what estimate her Department has made of (a) the number and (b) the proportion of speed awareness courses that have been cancelled as a result of the HADECS camera system anomaly; and what estimate it has made of the associated loss of income to course providers and instructors.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 16 December 2025, all wider enforcement activity in progress was stopped, regardless of whether the cases were impacted by the HADECS anomaly. As a result, tens of thousands of speed awareness courses were cancelled. This represents a small proportion of the approximately 2 million National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme courses delivered annually. The majority of courses are still taking place.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2026 to Question 26992 on Road Traffic Accidents: Minibuses, how many of the reported traffic collisions with a contributory or road safety factor attributed to a minibus driver involved at least one fatality by year.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The total number of reported traffic collisions involving at least one fatality in Great Britain, as reported by the police using the STATS19 system, with a contributory or road safety factor attributed to a minibus driver, broken down by year, are shown in the table below. These figures include only collisions where police attended the scene and at least one factor was recorded.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps his Department is taking to protect freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office regularly encourages partners to use all channels to press Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz fully, safely and lawfully, reduce escalation risk, restore negotiations and preserve space for a durable settlement.

On 24 September, the Foreign Secretary joined a Bahrain-led UN Security Council press stakeout in New York and endorsed the delivered statement alongside around 80 partners to support these principles. The Prime Minister also discussed global shipping and reopening the Strait of Hormuz with President Trump on 23 September.

I regularly discuss these issues with Gulf and other regional counterparts, including on my recent visit to Oman.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether it is the Government’s policy to oppose the imposition of discriminatory transit charges on commercial shipping using international waterways.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is fully committed to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), which makes clear that the imposition of unilateral and/or discriminatory charges on vessels for transit through straits used for international navigation is unlawful.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 19238 on Large Goods Vehicles: Electric Vehicles, whether the analysis referred to in the Answer of 24 June 2026 to Question 11454 will be published in full.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As set out in our previous responses, we are analysing the feedback and considering our response to the first consultation on the future carbon regulatory framework for HGVs. We will publish our response once this process is completed.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 26119 on East West Rail Line, how many drivers are required for the commencement of passenger services between Oxford and Milton Keynes; how many have completed the required training; and when she expects all required driver training to be completed.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Chiltern Railways has made significant progress and are close to having recruited and trained sufficient drivers.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish the Government’s response to the call for evidence entitled SAF Mandate: SAF supply and industry certainty in an evolving market; and when any resulting changes to the mandate would take effect.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Officials have reviewed the responses provided by stakeholders to the SAF Mandate Call for Evidence, which sought to gain additional information on supply and industry certainty in an evolving SAF market.

The Department is now consulting directly with stakeholders as part of our next stage of engagement on the SAF Mandate and we intend to publish our response by the end of the year, subject to the usual approval processes.

As no decisions have been taken regarding changes to the SAF Mandate, no implementation date has been set. Any decisions on implementation would be communicated alongside the government's response.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted a full bat survey in regards to proposals for an asylum camp at MOD Bicester Site A.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)

No final decision has been made regarding the use of Site A at MoD Bicester for asylum accommodation. Preliminary ecological surveys have been undertaken and additional ecological surveys remain ongoing. The Home Office routinely undertakes due diligence when considering potential asylum accommodation sites, including assessments of suitability, deliverability, safety, security, planning considerations and impacts on local services, communities and the environment. No final decision to proceed will be taken until all necessary arrangements, assessments and approvals are in place and have been properly considered.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been received in compliance payments under the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate in each year since its introduction; and how that revenue has been allocated.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

No compliance payments have been received under the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.

Compliance payments are not a primary means by which manufacturers comply with the Mandate: a manufacturer only needs to make such a payment if they are not compliant after exhausting all the other compliance routes the Mandate makes available. Any compliance payments collected under the scheme will be recycled across a variety of Government grants and initiatives to support the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to her Written Ministerial Statement of 26 March 2026, HCWS1466, what the estimated Government funding contribution was for each scheme in the Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme that has subsequently been withdrawn or removed from the programme.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.