Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed of rail electrification.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government expects electrification to play an important role in our programme to achieve our Net Zero 2050 target and improve the passenger experience.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Shadow Great British Railways is taking to increase the volume of goods moved by rail.

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

The Secretary of State has tasked Shadow Great British Railways leaders with producing a delivery plan for both passengers and freight users. Priorities will be communicated in due course.

In the future, Great British Railways will have a statutory duty to promote the use of rail freight and an overall growth target, as confirmed by the Secretary of State when she announced the establishment of Shadow Great British Railways.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 8568 on Roads: Freight, what steps her Department is taking to support road haulage businesses.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Small businesses including those in the road haulage sector are the beating heart of our communities, and essential to our economic success. This Government will draw on all resources to support these small businesses and boost productivity by delivering commitments made in our nine-point pledge, Plan for Small Business.

We are working on delivering these commitments and announced on 19th September 2024 measures to tackle the scourge of late payments and long payment terms. We are also creating opportunities for UK businesses to compete and supporting small businesses to access the finance they need to scale up and break into new markets.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced continued support for haulage businesses, by extending the 5p fuel duty cut for one year and cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2025-26. This maintains fuel duty rates at the levels set on 23 March 2022 for an additional 12 months and represents a saving of nearly £1,100 for the average HGV in 2025-26.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the guidance by her Department entitled Disclosing your criminal record, published on 28 October 2023, on what evidential basis the guidance says that one in four people of working age have a criminal record.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The statistic that approximately one in four people have a criminal record is based on Home Office data on the Police National Computer compared with population data.

An updated estimate of the number of individuals of working age (16-64 and 16+) with a nominal record on the Police National Computer was published on 28 October 2024. The data can be found here: Number of working-age individuals with a record on the PNC - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will provide additional funding for the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme.

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

Live grant awards for this financial year total £20.8m, which is in line with historic levels of funding for this scheme. Future budgets are being determined as part of the continuing Spending Review.