Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of wire rope safety barriers are installed on roads managed by National Highways; and in which years they were installed.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
National Highways has approximately 143 miles of wire rope safety barrier on its network. For context, the total length of Vehicle Restraint Systems (VRS) on National Highways’ network is approximately 6462 miles, of which wire rope safety barrier is one type. National Highways does not hold the data on when all wire rope safety barriers were installed.
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 2 March 2026 to Question 115446, in which month and year the updated Setting Local Speed Limits guidance will be published.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Work to update the Setting Local Speed Limits guidance is expected to commence shortly. No timetable has yet been set for the publication of the revised guidance.
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 February 2026 to Question 107159, whether the decision taken in March 2024 was made by Ministers; and what start date for construction was in place prior to that decision.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The decision taken in March 2024 to defer the start of construction on the A12 widening scheme was made by Ministers.
Prior to this decision, the publicly committed start date for construction was 2023/24 but a new start date was being planned.
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 9 February 2026 to Question 108806, if she will make it her policy to provide such an estimate within the next three months; and if she will publish it.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not have plans to collect and publish this data.
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 February 2026 to Question 110085, (a) whether electric vehicle repair costs and their impact on insurance premiums form part of that work, (b) what analysis has been undertaken through that forum on the cost differential between EV and internal combustion vehicle repairs, and (c) if he will publish any minutes, reports or findings relating to EV repair costs.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Motor Insurance Taskforce published its final report in December 2025. This report sets actions to strengthen the vehicle repair sector and references independent findings by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on the causes of increased premiums, including analysis of average repair costs for electric, hybrid, and petrol/diesel vehicles. The FCA found that increased claims costs were driven by factors including more complex and expensive cars, supply chain delays, and increased costs for replacement vehicles. The report is published and available here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/multi-firm-reviews/motor-insurance-claims-analysis.
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 Written Statement of 23 February 2026 on Update on disclosed documents for AC-2025-LON-003837, which official was responsible for the incorrect application of fuel efficiency measures within the Department’s Aviation Model; and what grade that official was.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not name individual members of staff. Such updates are always quality assured, which involves checks from various analysts who are not directly involved in the work. The Department’s quality assurance processes are fully aligned with the Government’s AQuA Book (the quality assurance guidance), but I have asked my officials to strengthen our practices further.
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 February 2026 to Question 110088, how many staff in total have been recruited into DFT Operator Limited (DFTO) on a headcount basis since 1 January 2024; and what the net change in total headcount at DFTO has been in each quarter from January 2024 to the most recent quarter for which figures are available.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below sets out the number of employees recruited from January 2024 and the change to net employee headcount per quarter for DFT Operator Limited (DFTO). The increases in headcount are as a result of the progressive public ownership programme managed by DFTO. The increase in staff costs are being offset by the savings in fees that would otherwise be payable to the former private sector owners.
Quarter | Employees recruited | Employees left | Total headcount | Net change |
Q1 2024 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 3 |
Q2 2024 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 5 |
Q3 2024 | 11 | 2 | 28 | 9 |
Q4 2024 | 10 | 0 | 38 | 10 |
Q1 2025 | 22 | 1 | 59 | 21 |
Q2 2025 | 17 | 0 | 76 | 17 |
Q3 2025 | 31 | 4 | 103 | 27 |
Q4 2025 | 26 | 6 | 123 | 20 |
Q1 2026 (as of 3/3/26) | 27 | 6 | 144 | 21 |
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on formally assessing Eastern European and Asian countries as potential strategic partners for UK bus and coach manufacturing supply chains.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My officials work closely with Business and Trade officials, including through the work of the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an Equality Impact Assessment was undertaken in relation to the guidance entitled Floating Bus Stops: Provision and Design.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ahead of publishing the guidance on floating bus stops, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty, I had due regard to impacts on people with protected characteristics, particularly disabled people, in making decisions regarding the guidance. This was supported by engagement with organisations representing disabled people and input from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, the statutory advisory body on disability transport issues, and a statutory consultee for this guidance under the Bus Services Act 2025.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with the Prime Minister on the impact of floating bus stop designs on the ability of blind, disabled and older people to board and alight from buses independently.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statutory guidance on the provision and design of floating bus stops was published on 26 January under section 31 of the Bus Services Act 2025, which was cleared across government in the usual way.