Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 118920, whether she has plans to undertake a BCR assessment for the dualling of single sections of the Clitheroe to Manchester Victoria line.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The most recent appraisal was undertaken in 2014 as part of the Blackburn to Manchester Rail Scheme, which assessed options to double the single-track sections between Blackburn and Bolton.

The preferred option was to extend the Darwen passing loop, which presented a core BCR of 1.67. The £13.8 million scheme was funded by Blackburn & Darwen Council and the Local Growth Fund. It was delivered by Network Rail in 2015 and the half hourly rail service between Blackburn and Manchester Victoria commenced in December 2017.

The Department has no plans to undertake further economic analysis or development work on this corridor, but would welcome discussions with Lancashire County Combined Authority, should they wish to prioritise any such analysis locally.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, a) what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues and with international counterparts on plans to link the UK and EU Emissions Trading Schemes and b) what impact assessment has been done to identify how it will affect the maritime sector and, in particular, island communities such as the Isle of Wight.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Negotiations to agree linking of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and EU ETS are ongoing, including for the maritime sector. The Government is working to negotiate a good deal in line with UK interests, as quickly as feasible, as set out in the Common Understanding in May 2025.

The Government is committed to providing Parliament with appropriate analysis of our EU deal. We will not be able to provide a full assessment of the impacts whilst negotiations are ongoing, and a final agreement has not yet been reached. As negotiations progress, the Government will follow normal processes for any necessary legislative changes and assess impacts accordingly.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the announcement of 25 March 2026 entitled £1 billion to cut costs for businesses, drive growth and clean up UK roads, a) how much funding has been allocated to the Depot Charging Scheme in each financial year covered by the announcement, b) what estimate her Department has made of the number of (i) electric vans and (ii) zero emission HGVs expected to be supported by the funding, and (c) how much of this funding is expected to be made available to (i) SMEs and (ii) large businesses.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

£171 million has been allocated to the Depot Charging Scheme for financial year 2026/27 out to Financial Year 2029/30, with £28 million confirmed for the 2026/27 Financial Year and £38 million for 2027/28. Grant rates and future application windows will be confirmed in due course. The Zero Emission Van Grant and the Zero Emission Truck Grant are demand led and the number of grants offered will be dependent on the needs of SMEs and large businesses across the UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 April 2026 to Question 127583 on Electric Vehicles: Prices, (a) whether her Department has a projected date by which zero emission vehicles will reach purchase price parity with internal combustion engine vehicles and (b) if she will publish the estimated date or date range.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

DfT continues to monitor evidence on prices and projections. Prices for electric vehicles have fallen over the last few years, but there is substantial uncertainty around precisely when the average new zero emission car may reach price parity with an average new internal combustion engine vehicle.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the answer of 24 March 2026 to WPQ 120039, what the purpose was of the flight to Kazakhstan; which Ministers and senior officials approved the visit; how many officials travelled on that occasion and at what grade; what the cost was of the visit; and whether an assessment was made of whether those engagements could be (a) conducted remotely and (b) combined with other travel.

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

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) mean and (b) median average waiting time was between application for Access to Work and an initial assessment, in each of the past two years, broken down by region.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Access to Work does not record the information requested in a way that allows data to be extracted by region. Providing this would require manual examination of individual case records and would therefore incur disproportionate cost.

Access to Work applications are managed through a national queue and processed in chronological order, meaning that a customer’s region does not determine waiting time.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2026 to WPQ 120039, what the purpose was of each flight to Jordan; which Ministers and senior officials approved each visit; how many officials travelled on each occasion and at what grade; what the cost was of each visit; and whether an assessment was made of whether those engagements could be (a) conducted remotely and (b) combined with other travel.

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

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 125945 on Universal Credit, what data his Department holds on the relationship between hours worked and reductions in Universal Credit awards through the earnings taper.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department does not hold information about Universal Credit awards reduced by the earnings taper at claimant level.

UC awards are affected by the amount that households earn, rather than the number of hours that they work. The department holds information on the earnings levels of individuals on UC, but information on the number of hours worked for those in employment is not collated.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on public relations companies since 4 July 2024 since 4 July 2024, and for what purpose.

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

The Department for Transport has spent £110,720.24 (excluding VAT) on public relations activity since 4 July 2024 to support its THINK! drink and drug driving campaigns. This forms part of the Department’s wider, targeted communications approach to road safety and is in line with its previous use of PR activity to complement paid media and reach priority audiences effectively.

The drug driving activity included partnerships with two media partners to highlight the risks of drug driving to its 17–30-year-old male target audience, particularly challenging the “I feel fine to drive” misconception.

The effectiveness of THINK! campaigns is assessed using established evaluation measures, including reach, engagement and delivery against key behavioural KPIs. Latest research shows that total trust in the THINK! brand among young men has increased to 82%, its highest recorded figure.

After seeing the most recent drink drive campaign, 72% of young male drivers aged 17–24 agreed that drinking even a small amount of alcohol before driving puts you at risk of being in a collision. In addition, 40% of young male drivers reported changing their own driving behaviour as a result of seeing THINK!’s drug driving campaign.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants had their award reduced through the earnings taper in each of the last five years; and how many claimants experienced monthly reductions of (a) less than £100, (b) £100 to £249, (c) £250 to £499 and (d) £500 or more.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department does not hold information about Universal Credit awards reduced by the earnings taper at claimant level.

UC awards are affected by the amount that households earn, rather than the number of hours that they work. The department holds information on the earnings levels of individuals on UC, but information on the number of hours worked for those in employment is not collated.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including the metal packaging industry in the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

From 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will benefit over 10,000 eligible businesses, reducing electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour. The Government published its response to the consultation on eligibility in April, which included the list of eligible SIC and HS codes.

That list was determined through a multi-stage analytical process, including formal consultation with businesses. This ensured the list is robust and targets support where it will have the greatest impact on growth, focusing on manufacturing across the Industrial Strategy’s growth sectors.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Access to Work applicants waited more than (a) six months, (b) nine months and (c) one year for approval of their application in each of the past two years, broken down by region.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Access to Work does not record the information in a way that allows data to be extracted by six, nine, or twelve month waiting periods.

Providing the information requested would require manual examination of individual case records and would therefore incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of differences in waiting times for Access to Work, including (a) initial assessment, (b) approval and (c) commencement of support between regions.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not hold the information in a format that allows waiting times to be analysed by region.

Access to Work applications are managed through a national queue and processed in date order, meaning that a customer’s region does not determine waiting time.

Information on the commencement of support is not collected, as it is for customers to put agreed support in place following approval.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 118920, if she will develop new Outline Business Cases for the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Ely Area Capacity Enhancement scheme will be considered for potential progression in the future as funding becomes available.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reduction in tariff-free quotas for packaging steel on the UK metal packaging industry.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Minister Bryant and I met with representatives of the metal packaging sector on 19 March to discuss the new steel trade measure. Officials have been in regular contact with representatives of the metal packaging sector leading up to the announcement of the steel strategy and those engagements are ongoing.

We will continue engaging regularly with companies across the supply chain. We will keep the measure under review, including a review after the first 12 months, to ensure it remains effective.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was between approval of an Access to Work application and commencement of support in each of the past two years, broken down by region.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on the average time between approval of an Access to Work application and the commencement of support is not held.

Providing this information would require a manual review of individual case records, which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the metal packaging industry on the UK Steel Strategy; and when those discussions took place.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Minister Bryant and I met with representatives of the metal packaging sector on 19 March to discuss the new steel trade measure. Officials have been in regular contact with representatives of the metal packaging sector leading up to the announcement of the steel strategy and those engagements are ongoing.

We will continue engaging regularly with companies across the supply chain. We will keep the measure under review, including a review after the first 12 months, to ensure it remains effective.

Social Security

Found: Shadow Rail Minister Jerome Mayhew was unavailable, so Rebecca Smith (Con) moved amendment 78 to clause

Found: authorisation will be 4 vehicle(s) OB2020697 SI TMR INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT LIMITED Director(s): REBECCA SMITH

Found: vehicle(s), 10 trailer(s) OB2020697 SI TMR INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT LIMITED Director(s): REBECCA SMITH