Jerome Mayhew

On the 30^th of June, there were 45 FTE civil servants working within the Department for Business and Trade, as of the 30^th of September, there are 56 full-time equivalent (FTE) civil servants working only on redress for postmasters, an increase of 11 FTE since July. The total excludes a further 15 roles for which recruitment is under way. This figure also excludes the expert cases assessment teams which are contracted by DBT and are not civil servants. Further recruitments will follow as the Department implements plans to create an appeals mechanism for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, as announced in September.

Within the Department for Business and Trade, there are currently 60 full time civil servants working on redress for postmasters across the 4 available redress schemes.

Government is determined that all postmasters who suffered as a result of the Horizon scandal receive the full and fair redress they deserve, as swiftly as possible thus we routinely review whether additional staff are needed.

The Department is producing an impact assessment of the Employment Rights Bill, in line with the HMT Green Book and the Better Regulation Framework, consideration will be given to the potential impact on SMEs and other employment effects.

Employee thresholds used by this department to classify micro, small and medium-sized firms are shown in the table below:

The Acas statutory Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures provides basic practical guidance to employers, employees and their representatives and sets out principles for handling disciplinary and grievance situations in the workplace. As part of our Plan to Make Work Pay we will work with Acas to consider whether there is a need to update procedures in this area.

The UK's labour market enforcement system is fragmented and ineffective. This is bad for workers and bad for businesses who do the right thing. This government will finally establish a single body, the Fair Work Agency, to enforce workers' rights, including strong powers to inspect workplaces and take action against exploitation.

More details, including proposed budgets for the body, will be provided in due course.

The Government is keen to ensure the UK's corporate reporting requirements support economic growth by providing the information investors need to allocate capital effectively, while helping users of reporting understand how business activities align with the UK's net zero and environmental goals. The King's Speech announced that the Government will take forward a bill to improve UK corporate governance and auditing and we will provide further information on specific reporting initiatives in due course.

Great British Nuclear was established in 2023 as an expert nuclear delivery. It is currently running a small modular reactor technology selection process. This is a live procurement and is ongoing; the window for submitting tenders has now closed and Great British Nuclear is now evaluating bids, with further updates to follow in due course.

The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake safeguarding training. Licensing authorities are responsible for deciding the content and format of such training, including whether it includes a test with a minimum pass mark.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, currently being considered by the House of Lords, seeks to provide a power for the Secretary of State to set in regulations requirements that must be met for any taxi or private hire vehicle licence to be issued and held.

The previous Government updated the Highway Code in 2022 to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses including the introduction of a hierarchy of road users.

New rule H1 set out that ‘those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to take care and reduce the danger they pose to others. This principle applies most strongly to drivers of large goods and passenger vehicles, vans/minibuses, cars/taxis and motorcycles. Cyclists, horse riders and drivers of horse drawn vehicles likewise have a responsibility to reduce danger to pedestrians. None of this detracts from the responsibility of ALL road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, to have regard for their own and other road users’ safety.’

The previous Government did not initiate any assessment of their introduction of Rule H1.

The analysis was conducted by Thatcham Research on behalf of the insurance industry. Although key findings have been summarised in published material, the full analysis is not publicly available.

As a result, it is not possible to place a copy in the library, and no assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that analysis.

The Department has not provided funding to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, but has met with them as part of routine official-level stakeholder engagement.

The information requested is not held.

The £199 million efficiencies in the Support for Rail Passenger Services line are expected to be delivered mostly from more efficient workforce management, economies of scale as private sector operating companies move into public ownership, and ticketing and retail reform including the creation of a single Great British Railways online retail offer. These efficiencies contribute to the more than 50 per cent reduction in the rail passenger services subsidy from £2.4 billion in 2024-25.

Forecasts for the corporate initiatives which formed part of the Department’s Efficiency plan were informed by a mix of internal modelling and initial business case development.

The Transport Secretary was briefed in September, and as soon as Ministers were informed of the national scale in October, they acted immediately to prevent any further incorrect fines, points or prosecutions.

The technical anomaly impacts 154 Highways Agency Digital Enforcement and Compliance System cameras deployed on 10% of the strategic road network.

As set out in response to WPQ 103428 on 19 January, a Home Office approved solution to this issue has been agreed, and National Highways and the police are continuing to work together to implement this as a priority.

Following the publication of the NAO report and the appointment of a new Chief Executive, DVSA is accelerating its efforts to increase the supply of tests in order to reduce waiting times. DVSA is driving a strengthened and faster recruitment pipeline and working to expand its training sites and reduce training timelines to get new DEs conducting tests almost 30% more quickly.

Following the publication of the NAO report and the appointment of a new Chief Executive, DVSA is accelerating its efforts to increase the supply of tests in order to reduce waiting times. DVSA is driving a strengthened and faster recruitment pipeline and working to expand its training sites and reduce training timelines to get new DEs conducting tests almost 30% more quickly.

The Secretary of State for Transport announced on 12 November 2025 significant changes to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) driving test booking system following a public consultation. These changes are being introduced incrementally during the Spring.

DVSA announced on 3 February that the first change, which will limit the number of times a test can be moved or swapped, will be introduced on 31 March.

A leaner who wishes to make further changes, can cancel their booking and receive a full refund and book a new test. Further changes will be brought in later in the Spring. This will include allowing only the learner driver to book a test, at which point approved driving instructors and businesses will no longer have access to the booking system. These changes are designed to prevent learner drivers being exploited by people who book up tests and sell them at inflated prices.

An Options Assessment of the proposed measures has been carried out and reviewed by the Better Regulation Unit. This options assessment will be published once the statutory instrument amending the legislation has been laid before Parliament.

The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake safeguarding training.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, currently being considered by the House of Lords, seeks to provide a power for the Secretary of State to set in regulations requirements that must be met for any taxi or private hire vehicle licence to be issued and held.

The approximate proportion of tickets fulfilled as Digital Tickets for January 2026 are:

Network Rail's overall Control Period 7 (running from April 2024 to March 2029) efficiency target is £3.9 billion, which it remains on track to achieve. This will significantly exceed the cumulative cost in Control Period 7 of the major technology investments previously cited (Digital Signalling, Electrical Safety and Delivery, and Project Reach).

The code of practice will set out measures to ensure fairness and manage any concerns of GBR preferencing its own retail arm. We expect the code will ensure that the retail industry management functions managed by GBR will have reporting lines that are separate and distinct from its operational and commercial arm – with appropriate information safeguards also put in place. The full detail of the code will be produced in consultation with industry, via a process led by the Office of Rail and Road.

Both Department for Transport and Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency officials have worked with officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) while developing the proposed changes to eyesight testing for older drivers, and we will continue to engage with the DHSC as our policies develop further.

The Department for Transport fully supports the NHS’s recommendation that adults should have their eyes tested every two years.

All drivers, regardless of age, have a legal responsibility to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if they develop a medical condition that may affect their ability to drive.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Alongside the strategy, we launched five consultations including a consultation on introducing mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers.

Once the consultation has concluded, we will publish our response in due course.

Data on road injury collisions in Great Britain is reported to the Department by police forces using a data collection system known as STATS19.

STATS19 does not record near misses or identify whether drivers involved in collisions have vision below the legal standard.

Police officers attending collisions can assign a range of factors that in their judgement may have contributed to the collision occurring, including ‘Driver or rider had uncorrected or defective eyesight’. The latest figures are published as part of the Department’s road casualty statistics available from the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/reported-road-accidents-vehicles-and-casualties-tables-for-great-britain#factors-contributing-to-collisions-and-casualties-ras07.

The retail industry code of practice announced in the Government's response to the Railways Bill consultation will incorporate clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) should interact with all market participants. The code of practice will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road. GBR’s licence will require it to comply, with the Office of Rail and Road able to demand corrective action if it considers that GBR has not done so.

I have asked Network Rail to write to you on this matter.