Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's net zero transport spending commitments on its capital allocation for (a) road maintenance, (b) HGV parking and (c) freight infrastructure.

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

All spending allocations were agreed as part of the Spending Review process to deliver Departmental priorities, including road maintenance, HGV parking and freight infrastructure, alongside specific commitments that would support delivery of net zero. This approach ensured that investment in net zero was considered alongside, not at the expense of, other essential priorities.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82986 on Aviation: Alternative Fuels, how many UK-based sustainable aviation fuel production facilities have (a) commenced construction and (b) reached final investment decision.

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

The only commercial scale SAF producer in the UK is P66’s Humberside Refinery. Through the Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) we have awarded over £198m to 21 UK SAF projects. Information on these projects is published on gov.uk.

There are a wide range of SAF projects across the UK using different technologies and at different stages of development. However, much of the information on the development of fuel projects that DfT holds is commercially sensitive.

Our policies are both ambitious and pragmatic to the realities of the SAF industry. The SAF Mandate entered into force on 1 January 2025. In its first year, the mandate requires that SAF constitute 2% of total fossil jet fuel supplied, increasing to 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040. Provisional data suggests the UK was already on track, with SAF accounting for approximately 2% of aviation fuel supplied in 2024.

On the supply side, we are creating the right environment to support the future construction of UK SAF production plants through measures such as the UK’s pioneering SAF Clearing House, AFF, and legislation to provide investor confidence via a Revenue Certainty Mechanism.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84695 on Bus Services: Fares, when her Department expects to complete its evaluation of the £3 single bus fare cap scheme; and whether she plans to publish that evaluation in full once it is finalised.

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

The Department for Transport is currently undertaking an evaluation of the £3 single bus fare cap and its impacts, with the full report expected to be published next year.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82997 on the Restoring Your Railway Fund, whether the audit was independently reviewed by (a) the Office for Budget Responsibility and (b) another external body.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In July 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer instructed HM Treasury officials to undertake an audit of public spending. The audit’s findings showed a forecast overspend on departmental spending of £21.9 billion above the totals that had been set at Spring Budget 2024.

Taking immediate action to respond to the spending pressure, the government cancelled unfunded policy announcements made by the previous government, including the Restoring Your Railway programme.

The full Spending Audit summary can be found on GOV.UK.

The OBR conducted a review into the Spring Budget 2024 forecast which is available on their website, setting out that if the OBR had been aware of the scale of pressures at the time, they would have reached a “materially different judgement about...spending in 2024-2025”

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84700 on Road Traffic Control: Oxford, whether her Department holds information on the level of income the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has received from Oxfordshire County Council for access to vehicle registration data in each year since 2020.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has not directly provided vehicle keeper data to or received income directly from Oxfordshire County Council in the time frame specified.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82735 on Great British Railways, how much her Department expects the rail passenger services subsidy to reduce by in each year over the period covered by the Spending Review 2025.

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

Rail passenger services subsidy is expected to reduce by over 50 per cent from £2.4 billion in 2024-25 over the period of the Spending Review.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 71197 on Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, when the UK Statistics Authority plans to publish (a) the synthesis of work and (b) next steps on harmonised standards for sex and gender identity.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 28th October is attached.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 82745 on Roads: Freight, if she will publish all substantive written representations her Department has received from the road haulage industry on road user charges since 4 July 2024; and if she will publish her Department's responses to those representations.

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

The Department has received no written representations on road user charges from the road haulage industry since July 2024.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82409 on Railways: Public Ownership, whether her Department plans to draw on best practice from (a) devolved operators such as Transport for London, Merseyrail, ScotRail and Transport for Wales and (b) private sector train operating companies in developing guidance for publicly-owned operators.

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

We expect DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) to draw on best practice from across the rail sector, and other relevant sectors, for its operators.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83382 on Railways: Safety, what proportion of the campaign’s (a) production and (b) promotion costs were borne by train operating companies (i) owned and (ii) controlled by her Department; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of that rebrand once the operators’ expenditure is included.

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

The production costs, referenced in the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83382 on Railways: Safety, were all borne by the Department for Transport.

To minimise implementation costs, train operating companies (including those under public ownership) will gradually phase out the current See It. Say It. Sorted. campaign materials and are only required to introduce the new posters or announcements when these would usually be replaced through business-as-usual rotation of materials.

Campaign posters, both digital and physical, are required to be displayed only at locations which train operating companies already retain for public messaging campaigns or for their own content, and which are not otherwise used for commercial purposes, in order to avoid any loss of advertising revenue. We have not asked train operating companies to provide detailed production or implementation costs as we anticipate them being minimal on this basis.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83387 on Large Goods Vehicles: Electric Vehicles, how much underspend has been identified to date; and what the revised total forecast spend for the programme is in (a) 2024–25 and (b) 2025–26.

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

The Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (R&D) programme had a total programme funding spend of approximately £106 million in the 2024-25 financial year. We are unable to confirm the spend for 2025-26 as the financial year is still in progress with projects placing orders for final zero emission HGVs and infrastructure sites.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish the names of the (a) people and (b) organisations responsible for the (i) leadership and (ii) operational design of Great British Railways; and what proportion of those people are (A) civil servants, (B) secondees from private companies and (C) external appointees from the rail industry.

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

Richard Goodman, Director General, is the Department for Transport’s Senior Responsible Officer for the design of Great British Railways and Chair of the Rail Reform and Strategy Portfolio Board that includes the NR CEO and DfTO CEO.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her timetable is for publishing the next Rail network enhancements pipeline.

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

This Government recognises the need to develop stable, long-term pipelines for investment and to give communities, investors and the supply chain visibility and certainty about those pipelines.

The Secretary of State set out the rail enhancement schemes across the country that are funded as part of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline over the Spending Review period in July. We continue to make announcements on schemes as they progress or are added to the pipeline, such as the recent announcement of the Cowley Branch Line Upgrade on 23 October. Rail enhancements schemes are also set out in the UK Infrastructure pipeline published by NISTA 11 July, which government has committed to update regularly. This provides a level of transparency on the rail enhancements portfolio that has not been seen since October 2019 and the last RNEP update.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84701 on Roads: Accidents, whether her Department has requested data from (a) the Home Office and (b) the police on the number of roadside drug-driving tests carried out since 2020.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

While statistics on breath tests are published by the Home Office, the equivalent information on roadside drug-driving tests are not. Decisions relating to the collection and publication of this data would be a matter for the Home Office.

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) provide information to the Department on the Christmas Drink and Drug Driving campaign, Operation Limit. This includes the number of drink and drug tests administered during the winter period.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82997 on the Restoring Your Railway Fund, how much and what proportion of previously allocated funding has been (a) spent, (b) returned to the Treasury and (c) written off following the programme’s cancellation.

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

The Chancellor’s 29 July 2024 announcement confirmed that the Restoring Your Railway programme would be brought to a close, as one of the steps she was taking to address the pressures on the public finances created by unfunded policy announcements made by the previous government. At that time, £349.18m had been spent. The remaining funding anticipated for the Restoring Your Railways fund was reallocated to support other priorities within rail enhancements and across government as part of the Spending Review process. This included concluding work on the delivery of the Northumberland Line, and Dartmoor Line projects, previously part of the RYR fund. The Secretary of State has confirmed funding will be provided for Metrowest (Portishead), Haxby station, Wellington station and Cullompton station projects that had also previously been identified through RYR. No funding was "written off" as part of this process.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83373 on DfT Operator, whether her Department has issued any (a) Notices to Improve or (b) written instructions to any DfT Operator train operating company in relation to (i) service performance or (ii) financial control since April 2024.

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

The Department has not issued any Notices to Improve to any of the DfT Operator train operating companies because none have been in breach of their formal contractual terms.

DfT regularly engages with all operators on service performance and financial management, aligned with this Government's priorities on improving performance and reducing subsidy.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the value for money of public funding for (a) commercial vehicle charging and (b) hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

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

The Government is supporting the uptake of zero emission commercial vehicles, and their supporting charging and fuelling infrastructure, through initiatives such as the Plug-In Truck and Van Grants, which are reducing upfront costs for heavy goods vehicles and vans, and the £30 million Depot Charging Scheme and the up to £200 million Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID). The Department continually monitors and reviews grants to optimise delivery and value for money.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) marriages and (b) other unions between (i) first cousins and (ii) closer relatives in each nation of the UK in each year since 1997; and whether the Office for National Statistics (A) collects and (B) plans to collect such data through (1) the census, (2) birth records and (3) linked administrative datasets.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the (a) geographical and (b) demographic distribution of (i) consanguineous unions and (ii) high genomic inbreeding coefficients in each region; and whether these data are used in public health planning.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has taken steps with Cabinet colleagues to make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of inbreeding on (a) socioeconomic, (b) educational and (c) health outcomes in each region of the UK.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd October is attached.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on compliance with ecological mitigation and enhancement conditions attached to planning permissions; and if he will publish post-occupancy monitoring data on the implementation of (a) bird boxes, (b) hedgehog highways, (c) tree planting and (d) other biodiversity features.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Monitoring and ensuring compliance with ecological conditions attached to planning permissions are matters for local planning authorities who already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, to use as they consider appropriate.

For a summary of the steps the government is taking to support capacity and capability within local planning authorities, including within their enforcement teams, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.

In respect of post-occupancy monitoring, my Department does not collect the data requested.

Officials in my Department have engaged with Natural England and local planning authorities about the monitoring of biodiversity enhancements, particularly in relation to the implementation of biodiversity net gain.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to improve the enforcement of ecological conditions attached to planning consents; and whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Natural England and (b) local planning authorities on improving post-occupancy inspections of biodiversity enhancements.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Monitoring and ensuring compliance with ecological conditions attached to planning permissions are matters for local planning authorities who already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, to use as they consider appropriate.

For a summary of the steps the government is taking to support capacity and capability within local planning authorities, including within their enforcement teams, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.

In respect of post-occupancy monitoring, my Department does not collect the data requested.

Officials in my Department have engaged with Natural England and local planning authorities about the monitoring of biodiversity enhancements, particularly in relation to the implementation of biodiversity net gain.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

The Wales Office has not incurred any expenditure on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities or purchased any electric vehicles since 4 July 2024.

The Department does not have any arm’s length bodies.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not purchased any electric vehicles, nor installed any electric vehicle charging facilities since 4 July 2024.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement a national ban on pavement parking; and whether she has held recent discussions with (a) Guide Dogs and (b) other relevant charities on this matter.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Ministers and Department officials have met with Guide Dogs and other relevant charities earlier this year to discuss pavement parking. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response soon.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82998 on HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Grant Scheme, what plans she has for (a) unspent and (b) returned grant funding; and whether those monies will be (i) retained for driver welfare improvements and (ii) reallocated elsewhere within her Department’s budget.

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

As set out in my response to Question 85923, underspent specific budgets are reallocated to other priorities within DfT where possible. Any departmental underspend at the end of the financial year is returned to HMT.

Under the terms of the Lorry Parking and Driver Welfare Matched Funding Grant Scheme there is no provision for returned funding from operators. The Department issues payment for the monies operators claim only once the Department has reviewed appropriate evidence of the completed stages of works.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to require MOT tests to check that (a) front windows and (b) windscreens comply with legal light transmission limits.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Driver visibility is an important safety consideration at the MOT, with the tester required to check the driver’s field of vision for obstructions. This includes inspecting the windscreen and front side windows for excessive tinting and discolouration. The MOT tester will fail the vehicle if the windscreen or window are excessively tinted and visibility through the swept area of the windscreen, or of an obligatory external mirror, is seriously affected.

This approach aligns with legal light transmission levels that are intended to ensure the driver has good visibility of the road for safety purposes.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on (a) enforcement and (b) prosecution rates by police force following reports from members of the public of road traffic offences captured on (i) dashcams and (ii) other video evidence.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on police enforcement of road traffic offences as a part of the annual ‘Police powers and procedures: Roads policing’ statistical release. These statistics include information on the number of offences by outcome, including Fixed Penalty Notice, driver retraining and referral to court action.

The latest publication, covering 2023, can be found on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-roads-policing-to-december-2023

As part of these statistics, the Home Office publishes breakdowns on the number of camera-detected offences. However, these figures relate to offences captured by official traffic enforcement cameras and do not include footage submitted by members of the public via dashcams or other private video recording devices.

Information on the prosecution outcome of offences referred to court action by the police is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82733 on Mobility Scooters: Pedestrian Areas, when her Department plans to commence the powered mobility device review; and what its objectives will be.

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

The powered mobility device review is already underway, and we intend to consult with the public before the end of the year, to ensure regulations are designed with, not for, disabled people. The consultation will also gather views on the Department’s proposed objectives for the review. We will work with a wide range of stakeholders once the consultation is published to ensure it reaches everyone who would like to contribute.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect (a) police officers, (b) immigration officers and (c) other public sector workers from online harassment by people who film and publish deliberately confrontational encounters with them on social media platforms.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Nobody should face harassment in person, on social media or anywhere online.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) introduced a number of communication offences, including the false communications offence and which could include videos uploaded online. This offence captures communications where the individual knows the information to be false but sends it intending to cause harm, or intending for it to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience.

The Act requires services, including social media platforms, to implement robust measures to reduce the risks that users post illegal content, and to reduce the risk of users coming across this content. Moreover, platforms should also have their own terms, community guidelines or options for people to submit complaints to them and potentially have content removed, even if it may not be in breach of the Online Safety Act.

Anybody who believes online material may be in breach of the Online Safety Act or falls short of the social media provider’s policies should report it to the relevant company. We expect companies to take their legal obligations seriously.

It is a criminal offence to engage in behaviour that intentionally causes another person harassment, alarm, or distress, or for a person to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment. In some circumstances, the repeated filming of an individual could be captured under these offences. It is for the police to decide whether a particular offence applies in any given circumstance.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to retain the rail freight growth target of 75% growth in freight carried by rail by 2050; and whether she plans to (a) put that target on a statutory footing, (b) introduce interim milestones and (c) adopt regional 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 the target of at least a 75% increase in freight moved by rail by 2050. The recently published draft Railways Bill sets out a duty on the Secretary of State to set a growth target and for GBR to have regard to it.

The Secretary of State is currently considering whether to set interim targets for 2040 and what those targets will be.

In addition, Network Rail has the target of a 7.5% increase in rail freight growth by the end of March 2029.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the net Government funding of the rail sector was per passenger, per journey in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year; and what estimate her Department has made of the net Government funding of the rail sector was per passenger, per journey in each financial year between 2025-26 and 2029-30.

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

The Department for Transport's support for the 14 contracted operators and Network Rail was £9.60 per passenger journey in 2023/24 and £8.47 in 2024/25.  It is currently estimated that this will steadily decrease to circa £7.40 in 2028/29, primarily driven by a declining rail passenger services subsidy as passenger ridership and revenue continue to recover post COVID-19 and efficiencies and savings are made through public ownership.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82740 on Electric Vehicles: Grants, what information his Department holds on the number of people who were employed in the automotive manufacturing sector on (a) 4 July 2024 and (b) the most recent date for which data is available.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd November is attached.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82990 on Railways: Essex, what estimate her Department has made of the capital cost of that proposal; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposal on (a) efficiency and (b) emissions.

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

As per the answer of 27th October, Initial assessments indicate that electrifying the branch between London Gateway and Thames Haven Junction would improve the efficiency and reliability of rail freight while reducing emissions. We will continue to work closely with Network Rail and other industry partners in assessing the viability and affordability of this proposal.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82992 on Railways: Freight, which schemes set out in the Spending Review were identified as having potential for increasing the capacity for freight on the routes; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those schemes on freight network performance.

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

The government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and that is why we are committed to supporting its growth.

The Spending Review confirmed a number of infrastructure schemes across the country to help support the economy, housing and jobs. These include £3.5 billion for the TransPennine Route Upgrade and £2.5 billion for the continued delivery of East-West Rail between Oxford and Cambridge. Both projects will deliver benefits for rail freight, as well as passenger services.

Options are currently being developed for the Transpennine Route Upgrade to provide increased capacity for rail freight from east and west coast ports to inland terminals.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77156 on Rolling Stock: Leasing, whether any of the train operating companies transferred into public ownership since July 2024 have seen rolling stock leasing arrangements novated unchanged to the new public sector operator; and what the total annual cost to the public purse is of those unchanged existing agreements.

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

We are transferring currently franchised services into public ownership as current contracts expire, after they reach their contractual break point or if the contractual right to terminate is met - avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators for early termination. The services of three train operating companies have transferred into public ownership since July 2024, South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia. The leasing arrangements for both c2c and Greater Anglia were novated on their existing terms. The Government had already been covering the costs of these since the pandemic. The annual cost of rolling stock to operators is published on an annual basis by the Office for Rail and Road.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the establishment of Great British Railways on the cost of rail services for passengers.

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

The Secretary of State will set the overall parameters for fares, reflecting their role in balancing affordability and taxpayer contributions to the railway, while Great British Railways (GBR) will set and manage individual fares for its services, creating a simpler, more consistent fares structure that passengers can trust. These decisions will be made in future once GBR is established.

The new framework will also continue to safeguard existing statutory discount schemes, including those for disabled, senior, and younger passengers, currently delivered as railcards. There are no plans to withdraw other railcard schemes (e.g. Veterans or 26–30 railcards). GBR will have the flexibility to evolve these offers over time in line with passenger needs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the reforms to penalty notices for unauthorised school absences made in August 2024 on levels of unauthorised absence; and whether she plans to introduce further measures to help reduce term-time absences.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Tackling absence is central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Thanks to the efforts of schools and local authorities, attendance is moving in the right direction. Children attended over 5.3 million additional days in the 2024/25 school year compared to the 2022/23 school year, with over 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent.

The ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets out a support-first approach, ensuring that penalty notices are used only when appropriate. The national framework for penalty notices, which was introduced in August 2024 following national consultation, is designed to improve consistency and fairness across the country. It states that penalty notices must be considered on an individual basis, preventing schools from having blanket rules. Schools or local councils may choose to issue a ‘notice to improve’ instead of a penalty notice. This is a further offer of support before a penalty notice is issued.

The department is monitoring the impact of these reforms alongside wider attendance measures, including regional improvement for standards and excellence Attendance and Behaviour Hubs and Attendance Mentors, which are helping to drive improvements.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Since 4 July 2024, the Department and its arm’s length bodies have spent £3,537 on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities.

Since 4 July 2024, the Department and its arm's length bodies have spent £483,909 on the purchase of electric vehicles.

The Department estimates that the capital cost of the electric vehicles purchased is approximately £11,545 higher than comparable petrol or diesel models.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 84309 on High Speed 2, what her Department’s latest estimate is of (a) the additional cost arising from the four-year deferral of works between Delta Junction and Handsacre Junction, (b) the revised total cost of the HS2 programme and (c) the expected date for completion of the final connection between High Speed 2 and the West Coast Main Line.

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

The previous Government paused works between Delta Junction and Handsacre Junction in March 2023. HS2 Ltd provided an estimate at the time in 2023 that the cost of demobilisation of these works was c.£35m (2019 prices). Further deferral will not incur demobilisation costs as the work has already been demobilised.

Any additional costs are being considered as part of Mark Wild’s comprehensive review of HS2. As part of his reset work, he will advise on a revised cost estimate and schedule for HS2, including the scope between Delta Junction and Handsacre Junction.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish a (a) draft licence for Great British Railways and (b) consultation on the licence terms.

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

Under the 1993 Railways Act, the Department is required to publish and consult on a draft licence, and this will not change with the Railways Bill. We intend to consult on the draft GBR licence during the Bill Passage. This will give interested parties the opportunity to share their views on the proposed contents. Further details will be made available in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate she has made of the potential impact of (a) her rail reform policies and (b) the establishment of Great British Railways on costs to the public purse.

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

The Impact Assessment presents an estimate of the set-up costs for Great British Railways and the Passenger Watchdog of approximately £200-400 million, with total transitional costs representing around 1-2% of the annual operational costs for DfT contracted operators and Network Rail combined. This investment will set GBR up on the right footing to achieve benefits for users and realise financial efficiencies once fully established.

This builds on our continuing programme to bring all currently franchised services into public ownership. This will save the taxpayer up to £150 million a year in fees that would otherwise have been paid to private operators.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether powers given to Great British Railways to (a) design and (b) implement the (i) access, (ii) contracting and (iii) pricing regime would be subject to (A) regulatory oversight equivalent to the current framework and (B) a continued presumption in favour of access growth.

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

The new framework will allow GBR to strategically plan the best use of the network.  This will include working with operators like freight and open access to identify services vital to growing the economy. GBR will be required to design and consult on its access and use policy which will include how it will take capacity allocation, access and charging decisions. The ORR will be a statutory consultee on GBR’s access and use policies, able to hold GBR to account, ensuring decisions are fair and consistent with its duties, and through its new and robust appeals function will be able to hold GBR to account, ensuring decisions are fair and consistent with its duties. The ORR will be able apply remedies including to direct GBR to change a decision or substitute a GBR decision with its own.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to maintain the schedule 8 compensation mechanism for unplanned service disruption for operators outside Great British Railways.

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

GBR will be required to have a performance and incentives scheme that covers planned and unplanned disruption to protect all users operating services on the network.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to maintain the schedule 4 compensation mechanism for planned service disruption for operators outside Great British Railways.

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

GBR will be required to have a performance and incentives scheme that covers planned and unplanned disruption to protect all users operating services on the network.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Department and its arm’s length bodies have not incurred any expenditure on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities since 4th July 2024.

Since 4th July 2024, the Department and its arm’s length bodies have spent £221,472.32 on the purchase of electric vehicles. These purchases were made for the Government Car Service (GCS) Ministerial fleet. The GCS services Ministers from across departments.

The Department has not made an estimate of the difference in capital cost between the electric vehicles purchased and comparable petrol or diesel models.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The requested information is not centrally collated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department and its arm’s length bodies have not incurred any expenditure on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities or purchased any electric vehicles since 4 July 2024.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Scotland Office and its associated arm’s length bodies have not incurred any expenditure on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities or purchased any electric vehicles since 4 July 2024.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to the public purse for NHS of treating (a) congenital and (b) genetic disorders arising from consanguineous unions.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any NHS trusts (a) collect and (b) are required to collect data on (i) child and infant mortality, (ii) congenital anomalies and (iii) other health outcomes attributable to parental consanguinity.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The responsibility to collect and report child deaths is held by the commissioning authority and local authorities’ Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs), not National Health Service trusts. The Child Death Review statutory guidance requires NHS trusts to provide CDOPs with information to review a child’s death. This is done on an individual basis from the child's medical records and not from centrally held data within the NHS trust.

CDOPs and the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) cannot comment on “other health outcomes attributable to parental consanguinity” because the CDOP process only applies to live born children who die before their 18th birthday.

The NCMD are preparing a thematic review of deaths to be published in 2026, which will report on the percentage of child death reviews that are attributed to chromosomal, genetic, and congenital anomalies, identifying consanguinity as a contributing factor.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has (a) commissioned and (b) plans to commission studies using (i) genomic datasets, (ii) UK Biobank and (iii) Genomics England to estimate levels of (A) inbreeding and (B) runs of homozygosity and F coefficients across UK populations.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not, and has no plans to, commission such research via Genomics England, UK Biobank, Our Future Health, or the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the incidence of (a) genetic and (b) congenital disorders associated with parental consanguinity in England and Wales since 1997; if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of incidence on public health; and if he will publish that assessment.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England is directed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to collect data and report on the prevalence of cancer, and congenital and rare conditions in England, and this includes genomic data where available. NDRS publishes official national statistics on the birth prevalence of congenital conditions in England, presented by geographical region and stratified by the presence or absence of a known genomic cause. Parental consanguinity is a data item within the NDRS congenital conditions dataset, but reporting remains incomplete across many data providers. As a result, the data is insufficient to support routine reporting on the birth prevalence of congenital conditions in consanguineous families. NDRS is working with hospital trusts to continually improve the quality and completeness of data. Other relevant initiatives include the Born in Bradford study, which provides valuable insights into congenital conditions and associated risk factors, including consanguinity, in a defined population. Further information on the NDRS is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) improve data collection and (b) integrate indicators related to (i) parental consanguinity and (ii) genetic risk into future (A) public health strategy and (B) NHS resource allocation frameworks.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England is directed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to collect data and report on the prevalence of cancer, and congenital and rare conditions in England, and this includes genomic data where available. NDRS publishes official national statistics on the birth prevalence of congenital conditions in England, presented by geographical region and stratified by the presence or absence of a known genomic cause. Parental consanguinity is a data item within the NDRS congenital conditions dataset, but reporting remains incomplete across many data providers. As a result, the data is insufficient to support routine reporting on the birth prevalence of congenital conditions in consanguineous families. NDRS is working with hospital trusts to continually improve the quality and completeness of data. Other relevant initiatives include the Born in Bradford study, which provides valuable insights into congenital conditions and associated risk factors, including consanguinity, in a defined population. Further information on the NDRS is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/