Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with (a) the equine sector, (b) local authorities and (c) road safety bodies on enforcing safe driving practices around horse riders.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads and my Department works with a broad range of stakeholders, including discussions with the British Horse Society, to help us achieve our aim.
In 2022 The Highway Code was updated to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, along with the strengthening of guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking horse-riders.
Local authorities are responsible for road safety on the local road network. The Government treats road safety with the utmost seriousness and provides local authorities with guidance on road safety measures but it is up to individual authorities to determine how they meet their statutory duty.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve road safety for horse riders in Isle of Wight East constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads and my Department works with a broad range of stakeholders, including discussions with the British Horse Society, to help us achieve our aim.
In 2022 The Highway Code was updated to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, along with the strengthening of guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking horse-riders.
Local authorities are responsible for road safety on the local road network. The Government treats road safety with the utmost seriousness and provides local authorities with guidance on road safety measures but it is up to individual authorities to determine how they meet their statutory duty.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to increase public awareness of changes to the Highway Code made in 2022.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022 introducing a hierarchy of road users, the department ran a THINK! campaign to raise awareness of the changes as they came into effect. This was followed by broader behaviour change campaigns in the summer of 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance.
Over £2.4million has been spent on paid advertising across the Highway Code campaign, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.
We continually review our campaign priorities using data and research to make sure we are addressing the most important road safety issues to help make our roads safer.
We also continue to promote the Highway Code in partnership with other organisations, through THINK! social channels and via education resources. In addition we run three radio filler adverts year-round, encouraging motorists to maintain safe passing distances from cyclists and horse riders, to use the Dutch Reach when opening car doors to help keep cyclists safe, and to raise awareness of pedestrian priority at junctions.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 16662 on NHS: Public Consultation, if he will provide a full breakdown of the total costs incurred.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following an invitation to tender competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and the Institute For Public Policy Research to support us to run the engagement exercise for the 10-Year Health Plan. The details of this award and the redacted contract can be found on contracts finder, at the following link:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/80963989-c4d6-4a16-8e12-c31b43a81dda
The awarded value of the contract was up to £2,961,595.50, with an option to vary to £3,500,000 in the event that the scope of the contract evolves. Following the conclusion of the engagement exercise and launch of the 10-Year Health Plan, the contract cost is £3,336,483.50.
The increase in costs was largely due to the high number of responses received during the engagement exercise, and the ensuing analysis required. The number of responses received during the engagement exercise significantly exceeded the estimates provided by any of the prospective suppliers bidding for the contract. In total, the Department received over 270,000 contributions, making it the largest ever conversation on the future of the National Health Service.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths involving the Isle of Wight NHS Trust required a serious incident investigation in each of the last five years; for each case, on what dates the investigation was (a) opened and (b) completed; and whether the inquest has been held.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have been informed by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust that there has been a total of 56 Serious Incident investigations during this period, with 35 resulting in an inquest, 20 not requiring an inquest, and one ongoing investigation. Of the 35 cases requiring an inquest, 27 have been completed, with eight outstanding, and with the oldest cases dating back to 2020.
The table attached shows data relating to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust’s Serious Incident investigations for each of the last five years, including the opening and closing dates of the investigation and whether the inquest has been held, and the date of inquest where applicable. This includes cases that now sit under the Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Healthcare Foundation Trust after mental health and community services were transferred from the Isle of Wight NHS Trust on 1 October 2024.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to establish Great British Railways, following the disbandment of the Great British Railways Transition Team in March 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act was the first step towards fixing our railways, enabling the majority of services to be owned by and run for the public, but we need further fundamental reform to fix the underlying structural problems and put passengers and customers back at the heart of the railway.
Great British Railways (GBR) is set to be the ‘directing mind’ for the rail industry, bringing together the management of the network and the delivery of passenger services into a single public body. A design programme for GBR is underway, which is jointly run by the Department for Transport, DfT Operator and Network Rail.
We anticipate that GBR is to be set up over the following 12 months after the Railways Bill receives Royal Assent. The Bill is expected to be introduced later in this session.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role Network Rail's System Operator has in the establishment of Great British Railways; and whether any staff have been moved to the System Operator since March 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Teams from the System Operator contribute to elements of the Great British Railways (GBR) design programme, where their expertise is relevant. They do this alongside other teams from across the industry with the design programme deliberately set up to draw on relevant capabilities from all parts of the railway. In addition, the Department for Transport has asked Network Rail’s System Operator to engage the railway industry in preparatory work on the anticipated changes to access and use of the railway network.
Some staff have been moved into the System Operator since March 2025 following the shut down of the previous government’s Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT].
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison deaths were recorded by the Isle of Wight coroner in each of the last five years; on what dates the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman investigation was (a) opened and (b) completed for each of those cases; and whether an inquest was held.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Coroners have a statutory duty under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to hold an inquest into all deaths of individuals who die while in custody or other state detention. The coroner will typically suspend their investigation into a death pending the completion of any related investigatory processes, primarily to avoid duplication of process.
The annex sets out the dates on which the Prison and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) opened and completed investigations into prison deaths occurring in the Isle of Wight coroner area in each of the last five calendar years. Information on fatal incidents and investigations are published by the PPO on their website, including in their annual report, available here: Death investigations & reports – Prisons and Probation Ombudsman or here Fatal Incident reports | Document Types | Archive website - Prisons & Probation Ombudsman post July 2024.
Inquests have concluded into two of the deaths that occurred in 2020, and eight that occurred in 2021. Inquests into the remaining deaths listed in the annex have not yet concluded.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much transformation funding for (a) learning disability and (b) autism services NHS England has allocated to integrated care board areas for 2025-26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in NHS England’s Planning Guidance, integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to work with local system colleagues to ensure that there is high quality and accessible community infrastructure in place for people with a learning disability and autistic people. They should also ensure that admissions to a mental health hospital are for assessment and treatment that can only be delivered in an inpatient setting.
ICBs are planning to spend £3.35 billion on Learning Disability and Autism services in 2025/26. Previous transformation funding for learning disability and autism has been transferred to core ICB funding. This is in line with the objective of giving systems greater financial flexibility to manage constrained budgets, which includes transferring a higher proportion of funding than ever before directly to local systems and minimising ringfencing, allowing local leaders maximum flexibility to plan better and more efficient services.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department holds on holders of provisional licences to ride AM category mopeds by (a) age and (b) country of birth of holder.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are currently 9,809,729 individuals with entitlement to drive mopeds (Categories AM and P). The table below shows the data broken down by age group.
Age | Total |
16-20 | 1,676,083 |
21-30 | 2,727,290 |
31-40 | 2,094,385 |
41-50 | 1,554,664 |
51-60 | 1,127,531 |
61-70 | 607,358 |
71-80 | 19,772 |
81-90 | 2,528 |
91-100 | 115 |
101+ | 3 |
Grand Total | 9,809,729 |
It is not compulsory to provide country of birth when applying for a driving licence so a full breakdown of provisional licence holders with moped entitlement by country of birth is not available.