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 1 July 2026 to Question 12280 on Electric Vehicles, what form the discussions with stakeholders to inform the review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate will take.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Stakeholder views will be essential to the review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. The review process will include in due course a public consultation, to which stakeholders will be able to respond with written submissions and evidence in the usual way.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the maintenance backlog requirements are for the rolling stock fleet of each train operating company.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not hold information relating to any backlog of maintenance for the rolling stock fleet of each train operating company. Responsibility for identifying, managing, and undertaking rolling stock maintenance requirements rests with train operators, rolling stock leasing companies and maintenance providers through their contractual asset management arrangements.
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 30 June 2026 to Question 12840 on Railways: Fares, which departmental directorate or arm's-length body was responsible for the communications activity associated with the announcement of regulated rail fares for 2026-27; and what budget was used to fund that activity.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Communications activity associated with the announcement of regulated rail fares for 2026-27 was undertaken by the Department, supported by its communications and rail directorates as part of normal Departmental business. Any routine communications activity associated with this announcement has been delivered using existing Departmental budgets, and costs are not held separately.
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 Answers of 6 July 2026 to Questions 14929 and 15007 on Network Rail: Biodiversity, whether her Department has made any assessment of the impact of ecological survey windows and protected species licensing requirements on the cost and delivery of Network Rail projects since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 4 July 2024, the Department has not made any assessment of the impact of ecological survey windows and protected species licensing requirements on the cost and delivery of Network Rail projects.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in receipt of Universal Credit have (a) no member of the household in employment, (b) no member of the household in receipt of a (i) health and (ii) disability related benefit and (c) at least one child aged four and under.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
However, monthly Universal Credit statistics for the number of households in receipt of Universal Credit by the Number of Children Aged 0 to 4 are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to February 2026.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 126865 on Motability: Rural Areas, what estimate his Department has made of the average annual mileage driven by Motability Scheme customers living in rural areas, and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Whilst the Department works closely with Motability and is responsible for the main disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations.
Motability have stated that, on average, customers drive around 7,500 miles a year but understand that living in rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services. On 14 July they announced that to support this, they are adding up to 3,000 additional miles per year onto the lease for certain customers.
They’ve used the Governments' data on rural isolation to identify the areas with limited access to essential services. The data looks at the typical travel time to services that people regularly rely on, including grocery shopping, healthcare and education. Motability will identify and contact those eligible for this support and contact them directly by email or letter.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what categories of management information are recorded locally by state-owned Train Operating Companies in relation to service cancellations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold centrally a list of the categories of management information recorded locally by train operating companies. Decisions on locally recorded management information are an operational matter for each operator.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what responsibility (a) Great British Railways and (b) DfT Operator Limited will have on trade union facility time.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) is responsible for agreeing and administering reasonable paid trade union facility time for its employees, in accordance with recognition agreements, ACAS guidance, employment legislation and operational requirements. Great British Railways will determine its own arrangements for trade union facility time as part of its future employment and industrial relations framework.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many resident parents in receipt of Universal Credit receive Child Maintenance from more than one paying parent.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2026 to Question 862 on Department for Transport: Aviation, if he will set out the policy on (a) civil servants and (b) Ministers going on holiday to a foreign destination adjacent to an official visit overseas.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
There are strict controls on Cabinet office employees travelling overseas with departmental IT. The Senior Responsible Officer (a Senior Civil Servant in Cabinet Office) is accountable for ensuring that all the potential implications of the individual being abroad have been considered. Cabinet Office employees are not permitted to claim for travel and subsistence expenses for personal travel or international remote working.
The Ministerial Code sets out principles relating to ministerial travel for official business. Section 10.1 of the Ministerial Code states that “Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost‑effective travel arrangements. Official transport should not normally be used for travel arrangements arising from party or private business, except where this is justified on security grounds.” Section 10.4 states “When ministers travel on official business, their travel expenses should be borne by the departmental vote.”
Furthermore, section 8.13 of the Ministerial Code notes that “If a minister meets an external organisation or individual and finds themselves discussing official business without an official present (for example, at a social occasion or on holiday) any significant content should be passed back to the department as soon as possible after the event.”