Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his advocacy on behalf of his constituents and those using rail services in his area. I can assure him that Greater Anglia continually looks for opportunities to improve service frequency. Services will be strengthened for customers and communities on regional routes, including in the Stowmarket area, in the new timetable from Sunday 17 May. As we work towards the establishment of Great British Railways, we will continue to look for further opportunities to strengthen services.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

Nationalisation was supposed to put local communities in touch. Grimsby is the largest town in the east of England without a direct train to London. We have been campaigning for one for years, and now the Secretary of State has written to me to say that we are not going to get the train because of accessibility problems in Market Rasen station. It is ludicrous to spend £15 million on extending a platform that does not need to be extended and building a bridge that does not need to be built. What does the Secretary of State want me to do? Does she want me to get on my knees and beg for this train? Let me do so now—[Laughter.] My hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Immingham (Martin Vickers) and I have been campaigning for this for our local community for years.

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[Keir Mather]

On the subject of step-free access, I know that Network Rail is engaging with stakeholders to progress designs. I am happy to facilitate a discussion between my hon. Friend and Network Rail on plans to improve accessibility. I have also heard that the Secretary of State is keen to attend the visit that my hon. Friend outlines.

[Mr Speaker]

Now to the centre of the railway network: I call Jim Shannon.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

You have elevated me to heights I did not even know I could reach, Mr Speaker.

I thank the Minister for that answer to the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier). Not a week passes without some of us getting complaints about accessibility, yet equality law is clear. What are the Government doing to ensure that there is accessibility at all train stations for all disabled people that meets equality legislation? Quite clearly, at this moment in time it does not.

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[Simon Lightwood]

The DVSA continues its recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners. Examiner capacity is rising, with 1,553 full-time equivalent examiners in post as of February 2026—that is an increase of 108 when compared with the number of driving examiners in February 2025. DVSA has also had difficulty in retaining experienced driving examiners, some of whom retire or leave the DVSA for other roles. We are encouraging them to stay, with exceptional payments of £5,000 to examiners in eligible roles, divided into two payments over the next 12 months.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)]

The waiting time for driving tests has got worse since the Government took office. As others have said, it is critical that, whether for work or education, young people are able to get a test and have the use of a car to grow our economy and get their lives on track. Cabinet Office Ministers answered a written question from the shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden), saying that 26,000 people applied to become a driving examiner. Why are more of them not in training or in post?

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[Simon Lightwood]

Under this Government, all councils must publish a statement on their website so that all local people can hold them to account on exactly how they are spending their money. Let me share an interesting fact with the House: Reform came out by far the worst in our recent RAG—red, amber, green—rating exercise, with a massive 25% of Reform-led councils rated “red”.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)]

Road Emulsion Association research has found that 57% of UK drivers experience fewer and less severe potholes on Europe’s motorways compared with ours. That was confirmed by Office of Rail and Road benchmarking, which identified that the Netherlands’ strategic road network had double the high standard of ride quality than UK roads. Does the Minister agree that we should embrace good road practices from other countries, and what steps is he taking to ensure that our money is well spent?

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[Keir Mather]

Although I might not have too much more to add on the question of LNER services, the hon. Member will know that open access decisions are a matter for the operationally independent Office of Rail and Road.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

We still do not know how or what the Government want to achieve with state control of the railways. They say that there will be simpler fares, but the public are seeing simply more expensive fares. They say that passenger growth is necessary, but there is no target for that growth in the Railways Bill. They say they want to reduce the taxpayer subsidy, but in written answer after written answer, the Minister refuses to say how they hope to achieve that. Is this lack of a plan why the Secretary of State has been reduced to trying to claim credit for the work of others? She has been left red-faced and community noted after posting on X about the phasing out of the old class 455 trains on South Western Railway. She said it was down to the

“progress...on your publicly owned railway”,

when it was actually delivered under a Conservative Government and by a private company.

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[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

For HGV drivers, the ability to stop and rest is essential to our road safety, yet HGV drivers and freight sector representatives recently told my Committee that the long-known critical shortage of HGV parking spaces continues. The Government do not need another survey, so when can we expect a diagnosis of the causes of this problem and then a plan to deliver more HGV parking spaces on all parts of our network?

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[Heidi Alexander]

The Government have already taken significant steps to keep the costs of motoring low, extending the fuel duty cut that was due to end this month until September and launching the fuel finder tool. Together, those measures will save motorists £129 compared with previous plans. We will monitor developments in the middle east closely, and I repeat what I said in my original answer: we will stand by the British people in these times of international turbulence.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)]

The costs of motoring are going up for everyone later this year because of the choices of this Labour Government. A set of motorists who are too often forgotten are those who drive our heavy goods vehicles and light goods vehicles; as the Chair of the Transport Committee, the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury), said in an earlier question, they are suffering because of their rest facilities. In particular, we are seeing increasing fuel thefts from our hauliers. Freight crime is an incredibly serious matter. Will the Secretary of State set out clearly what she is doing with urgency to support our hauliers, who keep our economy quite literally moving, and to get the facilities they need that will not just give them good rest space, but keep them safe?

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[Heidi Alexander]

I am delighted to confirm that improvements to the A19 at Moor Farm have been included in the pipeline of schemes that we have asked National Highways to develop for construction. I thank my hon. Friend for her tireless advocacy on behalf of her constituents, and for making such a strong case for this scheme in particular.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

In September last year, the Secretary of State told the House:

“I know the importance of the fuel duty freeze”.—[Official Report, 11 September 2025; Vol. 772, c. 1031.]

That was when diesel and petrol were significantly cheaper than they are today. Why is Labour hiking fuel duty by 5p a litre this September?

[Mr Calvin Bailey (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

T2. As the US-Iran war pushes up petrol prices, ensuring that people can own electric vehicles is an economic and environmental necessity. To do that, it is essential that families can reach a charging point within a four-minute walk of their house, which Waltham Forest council has enabled for 86% of its residents, but the continuing barrier to ownership and the cost of charging at public stations need to be addressed. Can the Minister highlight to me—

[Mr Speaker]

I think the Minister has got the gist of the question.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather)]

At the Budget last November, the Government announced a comprehensive review of public charging costs, which will examine what is driving higher prices and potential measures to make public charging affordable for all users. The review is set to report this autumn.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)]

An October 2024 Active Travel England analysis of case studies found that walking and cycling schemes typically generate a benefit-cost ratio of between 3.5:1 and 19:1. Given the plans for significant devolution of transport funding, how will the Government ensure that local authorities deliver consistent standards and improvements to streets and routes to enable walking and cycling, and the huge accompanying economic and health benefits?