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 16 March 2026 to Question 119492, if she will publish details of the (a) month and (b) year she expects the reset of the High Speed Two programme to be completed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The HS2 programme reset is underway and we are committed to updating parliament on progress on the reset 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, pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120007, whether any elements of the HS2 programme’s scope, specification or associated works are expected to change in order to align the programme with the Spending Review settlement for FY2025-26 to FY2029-30.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review settlement profiles reflects the scope, specification and associated works that the HS2 programme plans to deliver over the period. The HS2 programme reset work that Mark Wild is currently undertaking is underpinned by the Spending Review settlement.
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 March 2026 to Question 120007, whether any elements of the HS2 programme’s scope, specification or associated works are expected to change in order to align the programme with the Spending Review settlement for FY2025-26 to FY2029-30.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Spending Review settlement profiles reflects the scope, specification and associated works that the HS2 programme plans to deliver over the period. The HS2 programme reset work that Mark Wild is currently undertaking is underpinned by the Spending Review settlement.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of potholes filled in (a) 2023–24, (b) 2024-25 (c) 2025-26.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced in March 2025, local highway authorities had to publish transparency reports about their highways maintenance activities to unlock their full share of the Government’s £500m uplift for local highways maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year. This included publishing an estimate of the number of potholes they have filled in each of the last five years. Reports are now available on local highway authorities’ websites.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what oversight the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency exercises over the International Parking Community (IPC) as an accredited trade association whose members access DVLA vehicle keeper data; whether the DVLA requires accredited trade associations to maintain publicly available contact details, including an office address; whether the DVLA has made an assessment of the governance and ownership arrangements of the IPC, including any transfer of ownership or control; and what criteria the DVLA applies when determining whether an accredited trade association remains eligible to access DVLA vehicle keeper data on behalf of its members.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The law permits the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to disclose the contact details of registered keepers of UK vehicles for a number of lawful purposes. Information needed to manage parking on private land is provided only to private parking operators that are members of an appropriate Accredited Trade Association (ATA). The two ATAs for the private parking sector set and enforce their own codes of practice and private parking companies must meet these requirements to retain their membership. This helps ensure motorists are treated fairly.
The DVLA meets regularly with both ATAs to discuss their effectiveness and relevant issues. Contact details for each ATA are available on their respective websites and there is no requirement for an office address. The Department for Transport does not regulate the private parking sector and is not responsible for determining the governance or ownership arrangements of the ATAs. The ATAs do not themselves request or receive vehicle keeper details from the DVLA.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish the DVSA's fees strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As DVSA’s fees are set out in legislation, any changes require a statutory process, including public consultation and subsequent legislative amendments. DVSA will publish details of any fee changes when consulting as part of the statutory process.
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 11 March 2026 to Question 117436 on Buses: Electric Vehicles, when she expects officials to complete their investigation into reports on Chinese-manufactured electric buses; which month she expects to (a) publish the findings and (b) update the Transport Committee; and whether she has made an interim risk assessment in relation to ongoing and planned publicly funded zero-emission bus procurements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Transport Secretary remains committed to updating the Transport Select Committee on the reports on ‘Yutong’ electric buses.
It would not be appropriate to disclose any information before first updating the Committee.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, a) what assessment her Department has made of the £2.50 fee charged by the DVLA for the release of vehicle keeper data to private parking companies, b) what analysis has been conducted on the volume of keeper data requests made annually by private parking companies, and c) whether her Department has had discussions with the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding oversight of the use of DVLA vehicle keeper data by private parking enforcement firms.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 permits the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to release vehicle keeper details from its vehicle record where the requester can demonstrate reasonable cause to receive it. The fee payable by private sector organisations, including private parking companies, seeking the contact details of the registered keeper of a vehicle is £2.50. The fee is set to recover the cost of providing the information and ensures that the cost is borne by the requester, not passed on to the taxpayer. In line with Managing Public Money, the DVLA reviews its fees regularly to ensure that they are set to recover the costs of providing the service. Any changes would be subject to public consultation and Parliamentary approval.
The number of electronic requests for information for this purpose is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/who-dvla-shares-data-with. Vehicle keeper information is only made available to private parking operators who are members of an appropriate Accredited Trade Association (ATA). The ATAs are responsible for setting and enforcing codes of practice for their members. No analysis is undertaken in respect of the volume of requests made.
The Information Commissioner provided an opinion in 2022 confirming the release of DVLA data for private parking management is lawful and my Department maintains regular contact with the ICO on these matters.
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 10 March 2026 to Question 118043, what systems the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency uses to track the source of applications for driving examiner roles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
For campaigns up to November 2025, The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) used the data available from the civil service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information 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. DVSA will cross-reference the data from these two surveys going forward, but for now DVSA has data for only one complete and one ongoing campaign.
For DVSA social media advertising the current click through rate as of February 2026 was 1.4%. For direct communications from DVSA to subscribers to DVSA job alerts, over the last 12 months the average click through rate was 4%. It is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed applications.
DVSA displays posters in driving test centres as part of a wider mix of recruitment activity. All driving test centres (DTC) have access to a centrally produced recruitment campaign poster to be displayed in their waiting rooms. Posters are displayed only if DVSA is actively recruiting in the area.
The table below shows how many full-time equivalent (FTE) DEs were in post, and out of those, how many were available to deliver practical car driving tests in January and February 2026.
FTE DEs in-post * | Available to deliver practical car driving tests | |
January 2026 | 1,608 | 1,546 |
February 2026 | 1,641 | 1,556 |
* - Includes those who are in training to be a driving examiner
A DE is a paid DVSA employee from the point at which they start their training. The available number is only those who are qualified and who are working at DTCs doing tests. The in-post figure therefore includes those who are in training.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent driving examiners employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency were (a) in post and (b) delivering practical car driving tests in (i) January 2026 and (ii) February 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
For campaigns up to November 2025, The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) used the data available from the civil service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information 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. DVSA will cross-reference the data from these two surveys going forward, but for now DVSA has data for only one complete and one ongoing campaign.
For DVSA social media advertising the current click through rate as of February 2026 was 1.4%. For direct communications from DVSA to subscribers to DVSA job alerts, over the last 12 months the average click through rate was 4%. It is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed applications.
DVSA displays posters in driving test centres as part of a wider mix of recruitment activity. All driving test centres (DTC) have access to a centrally produced recruitment campaign poster to be displayed in their waiting rooms. Posters are displayed only if DVSA is actively recruiting in the area.
The table below shows how many full-time equivalent (FTE) DEs were in post, and out of those, how many were available to deliver practical car driving tests in January and February 2026.
FTE DEs in-post * | Available to deliver practical car driving tests | |
January 2026 | 1,608 | 1,546 |
February 2026 | 1,641 | 1,556 |
* - Includes those who are in training to be a driving examiner
A DE is a paid DVSA employee from the point at which they start their training. The available number is only those who are qualified and who are working at DTCs doing tests. The in-post figure therefore includes those who are in training.