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 the adequacy of Heathrow Airport's current economic regulatory framework to provide incentives for investment in infrastructure resilience.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Civil Aviation Authority is the independent economic regulator of Heathrow Airport and is responsible for establishing the regulatory framework within which Heathrow operates. The framework is intended to provide incentives for efficient investment, including investment that supports the resilience of airport infrastructure, while protecting the interests of consumers. The Government continues to engage with the CAA on aviation resilience whilst respecting its operational and regulatory independence.
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 1 July 2026 to Question 12229 on Railways: Infrastructure, what the total number is of rail infrastructure projects in England with an anticipated capital cost of less than £50 million that are currently delivering on site; and what proportion of those projects are forecasting completion after their original baseline completion date.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Of the rail infrastructure projects in England currently delivering on site with an anticipated capital cost of less than £50 million, 144 projects are forecasting completion after their original baseline completion date, out of a total of approximately 500 projects.
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 June 2026 to Question 4161 on Government departments: marketing, how much has been spent on branded goods and merchandise by the Department since the Government Chief Commercial Officer letter was sent; on what items, and at what cost.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Spend data for this category of cost is not held and the requested data could only be collated and verified at disproportionate cost. Senior managers are aware of the revised guidance and their responsibilities relating to branded goods and merchandise. The Department has implemented processes to ensure compliance and continues to review and adapt these as needed.
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 6 July 2026 to Question 16056 on Government Communication Service: Staff, how many headcount staff in her Department are (a) members of the Government Communication Service and (b) are embedded communicators but are not counted as members of the Government Communication Service.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
For the 2026 Government Communication Service annual data collection return, the central Department for Transport reported 80.83 full-time equivalent staff headcount who are members of the Government Communication Service.
All embedded communicators are members of the Government Communication Service.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many scheduled passenger services operated by each train operating company were formed of fewer carriages than planned in each month since June 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department monitors short formations based on the passenger capacity of the trains rather than the number of carriages. Attached is data for the number of short - formed services and the percentage based on what is monitored for each operator. Please note that the percentages are not comparable and do not represent the total number of services for each operator.
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 1 July 2026 to Question 12032, excluding flights relating to national security or those provided via the Integrated Security Fund, what the total expenditure by her Department has been on flights for people who are not staff members and are not UK nationals since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT funds travel where there is a clear business need, with controls to ensure all spend delivers value for money. The Department does not routinely record or retain information on the nationality of individuals within the records used to manage and account for travel expenditure. As a result, it is not possible to identify the number of flights taken by non-UK nationals through a simple search of existing records since 4 July 2024.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average daily percentage of rolling stock available for passenger service was for each train operating company in each month since June 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department expects train operators to provide appropriate capacity to meet anticipated passenger demand, including through the effective deployment and maintenance of rolling stock. However, the Department is keen to ensure that the causes of short-formed services are understood and that plans are in place at all train operating companies to address these and improve performance, and the Department regularly engages DfT Operator to monitor the effectiveness of measures being implemented.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department and its arm's-length bodies have spent on (a) advertising, (b) public relations, (c) advertising on their announcement regarding changes to rail fares in England for the 2025-26 year.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not identified any external expenditure on advertising, marketing, external public relations or other communications activity specifically in relation to the announcement of regulated rail fares for 2025-26. Any routine communications activity associated with this announcement has been delivered using existing departmental and arm’s length body resources and budgets, and costs are not held separately.
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 29 June 2026 to Question 12582 on Railways, how many recommendations from train operating companies to reduce services in the planned timetable have been (a) approved and (b) declined by her Department since 5 July 2024, broken down by train operating company.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold this information centrally. The Department expects all operators to plan and deliver services that respond to evolving passenger demand in a way that provides value for money for taxpayers. This may involve reduced services, or station calls where demand is expected to be lower but equally enhanced services at times and places that demand is higher.
The Department expects operators to publish such changes in the planned timetable. Such changes may be part of a package of wider changes to improve the overall service provided, for example London Northeastern Railway’s December 2025 timetable changes, or in response to expected seasonal demand reductions for example the temporary reductions to some Avanti West Coast services during the summer holidays when fewer people are expected to be travelling on those trains. Changes to train services may also be driven through the Network Rail-managed industry timetable development process, where Network Rail may need to amend train operator plans to best meet the service aspirations of all operators. This process is independent of Government.
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 June 2026, to Question 3822, on Department for Transport: Public Relations, if she will name the public affairs firms or contractors who have been used since July 2024 by Office for Rail and Road, and the associated cost to the public purse.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since July 2024, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have spent £15,940 on external public affairs firms or for supporting its public affairs work with external expertise. The details are:
£1,660 to Field Consulting
£14,280 to Savanta
The ORR Board keeps the use of external support under review to ensure it provides appropriate value for money, follows civil service procurement rules, and aligns with ORR’s priorities.