Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is considering mandating the TechSafe framework as a national safety, competence and assurance framework to support implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act and related vehicle technology regulation.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is currently running a public Call for Evidence in support of the regulatory framework for automated vehicles. Responses to this Call for Evidence will inform a public consultation on the proposed regulations later in the year. The Department encourages those with views or evidence on frameworks such as TechSafe to respond to the Call for Evidence.
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 19 January 2026 to Question 105894, what estimate the Department has made of the proportion of efficiency savings attributed to regulated settlements that arise from funding constraints imposed by the Office of Rail and Road rather than from operational productivity improvements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in Question 105894, the Office for Rail and Road do not set funding constraints as these are determined via the overall funding settlement.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2026 to Question 110095, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the absence of route-level ferry fare modelling risks on consumer price impacts for ferry-dependent communities.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has not undertaken route level ferry fare modelling for the UK ETS domestic maritime expansion. This is because, as we set out in the Impact Assessment, operators’ commercial decisions, vessel utilisation and fare structures vary widely. The qualitative assessment indicates that any passthrough to consumers is likely to be modest.
The Government will review the maritime element of the UK ETS in 2028 with further consideration of regional or distributional impacts.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Motor Insurance Taskforce examined motorcycle insurance as part of its work leading to the Final Report published on 10 December 2025.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The taskforce was given a strategic remit to set the direction for government policy, in order to identify short- and long-term actions that may stabilise or reduce motor insurance premiums, but not the cost of motorcycle insurance specifically. The scope of the taskforce was agreed by ministers at the Department for Transport and HM Treasury, as the co-chairing departments.
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 4 December 2025 to Question 95968, for what reason there is a difference between the estimates of the fiscal cost of freezing rail fares (a) as set out in that Answer and (b) the figures published in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The difference is due to a difference in rounding. The estimates provided in the Department’s previous response were sourced from the published Budget document, where numbers are rounded to the nearest £5m. The OBR choose to round figures to the nearest £1m in their own publications, including their Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in November 2025.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how paragraph 3.9.2 of the draft National Policy Statement for Ports will be applied by decision-makers when considering development consent for port infrastructure.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are currently considering the views received from consultation on, and Parliamentary scrutiny of, the draft revised National Policy Statement for Ports, and will lay a final text in Parliament in due course.
In line with the recommendation of the Transport Select Committee, we are considering further guidance on how developers assess carbon emissions as part of Environmental Impact Assessments.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Memorandums of Understanding the UK has signed since 5 July 2025, broken down by (a) the countries with which countries they were signed and (b) the policy areas covered by each agreement.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Department has signed a range of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) since 5 July 2025 to help drive economic growth. However, these are not routinely published or notified to Parliament in line with HMG policy on non-legally binding instruments and in some cases to respect the confidentiality requirements of partner countries. It is, therefore, not possible to provide a full list of MoUs by country and subject area as requested.
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 4 February 2026 to Question 107165, in which month the final text of the National Policy Statement for Ports is expected to be published.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I expect the final text to be laid in March 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has she made of requiring (a) regulatory and (b) policy frameworks to be in place before the Heathrow third runway project can proceed to its next phase.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as the independent economic regulator, is currently considering options for the future regulatory framework for Heathrow, including how costs are controlled and risks are allocated, with a decision on a preferred regulatory model for expansion expected in the summer. The government is aware of the need for a clear direction of travel to enable investment.
In parallel, the Government launched a review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) on 22 October which is the policy framework that any future development consent order for expansion at Heathrow will be examined against. The Government expects to consult on any proposed amendments to the ANPS by the summer, alongside Parliamentary scrutiny in line with statutory processes.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108796, where the portrait of William Shakespeare formerly displayed in the Pillared Room at 10 Downing Street is located.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Art Collection (GAC) is a working collection, used across government buildings in the UK and the global estate, which means that artworks may change their display location from time to time. The GAC removed this portrait from the Pillared Drawing Room at No.10 to install a refreshed display of artworks celebrating 125 years of the Government Art Collection, planned prior to the General Election in July 2024. Locations of artworks in the collection can be found on the GAC’s website.