Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new buses her Department funded annually since 2015; and how many of those were made in the UK annually since 2015.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programmes, the Department has provided funding which has procured 1300 buses through ZEBRA 1, 1,955 buses through ZEBRA 2 and a further 319 buses due to scope increases. These buses were funded in 2021, 2024 and 2025 respectively and around 60% of these are from UK manufacturers.
The Government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing, and earlier this year launched the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. The Panel brings together industry experts and local leaders to achieve three key objectives of supporting growth in UK bus manufacturing, developing a pipeline of future bus orders and prioritising passenger-centric bus design.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2025 to question 85843, whether she is considering requiring drivers to register with their home local authority validated by checking council tax, electoral roll and credit reference data.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks to introduce powers to set national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. If passed, national minimum standards would enable government to set robust standards for licensing across England, to keep all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel. It would also help reduce the variability of licensing standards across the country, which is a significant factor in inducing drivers to licence with an authority other than that in which they intend to work.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the government has plans to improve parking, access and customer experience at Mills Hill and Moston train stations; and whether there any plans to bring forward a programme to reopen previously closed stations such as the former Middleton Junction station.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Rail North Partnership between the Department and Transport for the North has regular discussions with Northern, which manages Mills Hill and Moston train stations, on its performance, customer experience and improving services.
There are no proposals or plans regarding the reintroduction of Middleton Junction station. Between 2022-23 and 2026-27, we are providing £1.07bn of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding to Greater Manchester to invest in their local transport network. Beyond that, we have confirmed a £2.5billion Transport for City Regions settlement for Greater Manchester providing funding up to 2031-32. It is for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to decide how to invest the funding locally.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has taken place of the effectiveness of measures to tackle the resale of dangerous part worn tyres.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s Market Surveillance Unit works closely with local Trading Standards teams to carry out checks on garages selling part worn tyres, enforcing sanctions where necessary.
Any retailer selling part-worn tyres which fail to meet these requirements is breaking the law under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and could be subject to a substantial fine or prison sentence.
Tyres are safety-critical components and are checked as part of the MOT test, ensuring tyres have adequate tread depth and are free from cuts or bulges. Any vehicle with defective tyres will fail an MOT test and is not permitted to be driven on the road.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) land and (b) property acquired for the construction of the HS2 Phase 2b Western Leg route from Crewe to Manchester is (1) still held, (2) sale pending and (3) sold.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
208 properties have been acquired for HS2 on the former Phase 2b West route between Crewe and Manchester. These are 16 agricultural units; including land where there are no dwellings, 12 commercial properties and 180 residential properties.
No land or property has been sold or is in the process of being sold, as the department is continuing to review the position we have inherited and potential requirements for new infrastructure in the future.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) land and (b) property acquired for the construction of the HS2 Phase 2 route from Birmingham to Crewe is (1) still held, (2) sale pending and (3) sold.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
337 properties have been acquired for HS2 on the former Phase 2a route between Birmingham and Crewe. These are 122 agricultural units; including land where there are no dwellings, 4 commercial properties and 211 residential properties.
No land or property has been sold or is in the process of being sold, as the department is continuing to review the position we have inherited and potential requirements for new infrastructure in the future.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) land and (b) property was acquired for the construction of the HS2 Phase 2b Eastern Leg route from Birmingham to Leeds is (i) still held, (ii) sale pending and (iii) sold.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
562 properties have been acquired for HS2 on the former Phase 2b East route between Birmingham and Leeds. These are 20 agricultural units; including land where there are no dwellings, 5 commercial properties and 537 residential properties.
In 2022, 6 of these properties on the former Phase 2b East route were sold as part of a pilot disposal project.
In July, safeguarding was removed along the majority of the former HS2 Phase 2b Eastern Leg. We are now initiating a programme to dispose of properties on the former Eastern Leg that are no longer required. We expect disposals on the open market to begin in 2026. Before then, former owners whose property was acquired under statutory blight will have the opportunity to reacquire their former property at the current market value.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has to tackle unauthorised advertising adjacent to motorways in England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not permit advertising within the boundary of the Strategic Road Network, and National Highways removes any unauthorised signage from its land.
For adverts on private land adjacent to motorways, enforcement is carried out by local planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007. National Highways will continue to notify the relevant authority and raise concerns where an advert poses a road safety risk.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reports of (a) antisocial behaviour towards, (b) sexual harassment of, (c) sexual assault of and (d) physical assault of train staff were made in each of the past three years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police are responsible for policing the railway in England, Scotland and Wales and have provided the following figures.
Offence/Incident Type | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Antisocial Behaviour | Not available as a breakdown for incidents against rail staff | ||
Unwanted Sexual Behaviour | Not available | 71 | 83 |
Sex offences | 95 | 111 | 121 |
Violence | 2761 | 3415 | 3727 |
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much did train operators pay passengers in compensation for delayed journeys for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government produces annual figures relating to the amount of compensation that is paid out by train operating companies.
The data between 2020 and 2024 can be found here:
The data between 2015 and 2020 can be found here: