Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118042, whether the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has set any key performance indicators for recruitment campaigns for driving examiner roles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including:
The performance in these areas have improved in the past 12 months. For example, before November 2025, the average time DVSA took to advertise and onboard potential driving examiners (DE) into training was 16 weeks. In December 2025, DVSA improved its recruitment process and the average time DVSA now takes to onboard potential DEs is 13 weeks. Further proposals should see this reduce by another 2-3 weeks for future campaigns.
For campaigns up to November 2025, DVSA used the data available from the Civil Service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information is limited and does not give 100% coverage.
In December 2025, DVSA introduced a DVSA specific survey. This is sent to everyone who is offered an interview. This is then followed by another survey sent to anyone who successfully moves onto training. The data will be crossed referenced, however DVSA currently only has data for one complete and one ongoing campaign.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in which month will the first East West Rail services operate from Winslow to Bletchley.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central via Winslow. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, and driver training will need to have been completed. Winslow station also needs to be fully handed over, and future staffing arrangements also remain to be agreed.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the paragraph entitled East West Rail lease write-offs on page 9 of the National Audit Office’s Department for Transport Overview 2024–25, which states that £2.6 million in lease costs for East West Rail rolling stock were written off following delays to testing, whether (a) East West Rail Company Ltd, or (b) her Department, has written off any such lease costs; and if she will provide a breakdown of those costs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The published Department for Transport annual report and accounts 2024/2025 included the £2.6m lease cost write-off. The breakdown comprised of approximately £900k in 2023/2024 and approximately £1.7m in 2024/2025. The costs were for rolling stock contracted payments to the Rolling Stock Company (ROSCO).
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of emergency track and asset renewals on the rail network over the last ten years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Analysis of trends in asset failures form part of Network Rail’s assurance processes. Whilst it has identified that track asset ‘used life’ has been increasing over ten years, its data shows that the ‘performance risk’ for rail and track geometry defects is less than 40 per cent of the levels seen 25 years ago.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of rail decarbonisation policies on costs to consumers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The impact of rail decarbonisation policies on consumers is very minimal, as measures such as electrification of track and train are implemented over multi-year infrastructure investment cycles, and are not passed through to consumers in full via ticket prices. As such, the department has not made an estimate. Rail is also already a comparatively low-carbon mode of travel.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of moving to a ten-year rail funding settlement to support long-term planning, value for money, and whole-life asset management.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have considered the appropriate length of rail funding settlements as part of rail reform and the establishment of Great British Railways. Five-years of infrastructure funding, resulting in a five-year delivery plan, has been established as the appropriate balance between supporting long-term planning and reflecting the realities of a changing operational environment. Five-year funding will be informed by the Long-Term Rail Strategy to ensure there is long-term planning that supports the funding settlement.
Whilst we will continue to fund passenger services through the Spending Review process and timelines, legislation does retain future flexibility for passenger services budgets to be set over a five-year period.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consideration her Department has given to the potential impact of wage inflation on the availability of skilled labour in rail infrastructure, maintenance, and engineering roles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The railway depends on a thriving and competitive supply chain that supports economic growth and invests in its workforce and the skills required to enable a functioning railway. The Department for Transport monitors capacity within the rail sector through the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) Periodic Review process, which assesses the resources and capability required for Network Rail to deliver its obligations safely and efficiently across each five year control period.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of returning the Railway Inspectorate to the Health and Safety Executive.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
His Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) was transferred from the Health and Safety Executive to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in 2006 to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of railway safety regulation. Housing HMRI within ORR allows safety oversight to sit alongside the wider regulatory and economic functions for the rail industry, supporting a more integrated and streamlined approach to enforcing railway safety legislation.
The Government considers the current framework to be effective. As such, no assessment has been made of returning HMRI to the Health and Safety Executive, and there are no plans to do so.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned sequencing and timetable is for (a) publication of the draft Great British Railways licence for parliamentary scrutiny and formal consultation, (b) consultation led by the Office of Rail and Road on the Retail Code of Practice and (c) finalisation of those documents; and whether Parliament will be able to scrutinise the draft licence before the passage of the Railways Bill.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided to Question 88358 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament Further information on the GBR licence can be found in the Railways Bill factsheet: holding Great British Railways to account
There will also be a full consultation on the retail code of practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course. Further information on the code of practice can be found at Railways Bill factsheet: tickets and retail.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the principle of economic parity between Great British Railways’ retail operations and third-party retailers will be included in the Great British Railways Licence.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure fair and open competition when Great British Railways (GBR) has a dual role as a retailer and provider of wider retail industry management functions, the government has announced a robust package of safeguards. These are a Code of Practice, with the force of a GBR licence condition; separation of decision-making between GBR’s retailer and its cross-industry systems and services; and ORR monitoring and enforcement of GBR’s adherence with the Code of Practice.
The retail Code of Practice will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR should interact with all market participants. There will be full consultation on the Code of Practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course.