Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 92100 on Great British Railways: Environment Protection, if she will take legislative steps to require Great British Railways to publish an annual environmental performance report.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to legislate for a specific annual report on environmental performance. Reporting requirements for GBR will be set as part of GBR design, ensuring transparency in GBR’s delivery. We expect that GBR will include detail in its Integrated Business Plan and its annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2025 to Question 90803 on Transport: Apprentices and Training, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the impact of the removal of Level 7 apprenticeship funding for those over 22 on workforce availability in the transport sector.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport has been in regular contact with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding Level 7 apprenticeships, including most recently as part of preparations for a Transport Select Committee session discussing skills for transport manufacturing.
Analysis done by Skills England on Level 7 apprenticeship funding has shown that in the majority of areas, including transport, there are appropriate substitutes or alternatives to progress at Level 7 for those over 22, which will support workforce availability. This was factored into the decision that was taken on Level 7 apprenticeships.
We know there has been a large decline in young people starting apprenticeships – around 40% over the last ten years. We currently have around 800,000 young people who are not in education, employment or training. Therefore, we are looking to reverse this trend and our focus is on making sure Government funding supports young people starting out in their careers, rather than those already in work with higher prior qualifications. We also know that Level 7 apprenticeships can be valuable for young people, so the Government will continue funding them for learners under 22 as part of our reforms.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92061 on Great British Railways, when the Department expects to publish the rollout plan for Great British Railways branding; and whether that plan will include a timetable, cost breakdown and value-for-money assessment of the transition process.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers will empower rail industry leaders to deliver an efficient and cost effective rollout of the Great British Railways brand, maximising value for money and growing revenue. The Department is working to finalise more detail on the rollout plan and will announce next steps in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the answer of 21 July 2025 to Question HL9428, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of unfunded freight schemes on her Department's (a) rail freight growth and (b) modal shift targets.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and is committed to delivering growth and supporting modal shift to lower-carbon modes of freight transport. We have committed to the rail freight growth target of a 75% increase in freight moved by rail by 2050.
The recently laid Railways Bill sets out that the Secretary of State will provide GBR with growth targets for rail freight. As was the case during the development of the 2050 target, we will make informed forecasts about the future capability and capacity of the network when developing any further rail freight growth targets.
Network Rail has a regulated target of a 7.5% increase in rail freight by the end of Control Period 7 (March 2029). In the first year of reporting rail freight grew by 5%, which is significantly ahead of the 1.5% annual growth forecast.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 18 November 2025 to WPQ 89594, what the difference will be between the Operator of First Choice and the previous Operator of Last Resort in the Framework Document.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Framework Document is being reviewed and updated following the change of role from the DfT Operator of Last Resort to the Operator of First Choice and the transfer of circa 200 DfT staff to DFTO on 31 March 2026 which moves more operational functions into DFTO. The new Framework Document will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 88878 on Train Operating Companies: Contracts, what is a GBR model access contract what its key terms and conditions are, and how it differs from existing rail track access agreements.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of GBR’s new role in determining access to its network, GBR will develop and issue Model Contracts. This will set the rights and obligations between an operator and GBR for the use of GBR's network. The provisions of the model contracts must be consistent with requirements in legislation and GBR’s AUP.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 77640 on Road Traffic Control: Oxford, whether the DVLA has received requests for access to vehicle registration data from (a) Oxfordshire County Council and (b) Oxford City Council in financial year 2024 to 2025 for the purposes of (i) congestion charging, (ii) traffic filters, (iii) zero-emission zone enforcement and (iv) moving traffic offences; and what the statutory authority is for each of those requests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In 2024/2025 financial year, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received requests for registered keeper information from a third-party service provider on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council in relation to zero-emissions zones and moving traffic offences. It is not possible to say if requests specifically relating to traffic filters have been received as they would be included in the category of moving traffic offences. The Oxford congestion charge came into effect in October 2025. Oxford City Council requested information, also through a third-party service provider, for off-street parking management only.
Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 allows the DVLA to make information about UK vehicles and their registered keepers available for use by a local authority for any purpose connected with the investigation of an offence. The same regulation also allows the DVLA to make information available to a local authority in England and Wales when it is acting as an enforcement authority within the meaning of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004. These provisions apply to Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of remote monitoring equipment used to detect landslips on the rail network; and what steps she is taking to improve detection rates.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager of Britain’s railways, is responsible for maintaining the integrity and safety of the rail network to ensure passenger and freight services can operate reliably.
Following the tragic derailment at Carmont in August 2020, Network Rail commissioned two task forces looking at earthworks management and extreme weather response. In response to these, Network Rail have taken forward a number of actions including commissioning an active nationwide monitoring regime using remote sensors, modelling and geotechnical assessments to monitor slope stability across the network.
In its 24/25 Annual Assessment, the independent safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, indicated that Network Rail is making good progress in its delivery of weather resilience and climate adaptation plans.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2025 to Question 91465 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if she will provide the hyperlink to the electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics listing the number of public charging devices at local authority level.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department’s latest published statistics on the number of public charging devices at local authority level are available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6900f9b584b816d72cb9aab6/electric-vehicle-public-charging-infrastructure-statistics-october-2025.ods.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 92692 on South Western Railway: Rolling Stock, if she will provide the link to the renewed rolling stock leasing contract as published on the Government’s Find a Tender website.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Contract Award notices for the leases entered into can be found here:
Direct award of a Lease for Class 701 rolling stock - Find a Tender
Direct award of a Lease for Class 444/450 rolling stock - Find a Tender
Direct award of a Lease for Class 158/159 rolling stock - Find a Tender
Direct award of a Lease for Class 455 rolling stock - Find a Tender