Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen supply chain resilience by supporting the use of British natural stone in public building projects.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Government Property Agency Capital projects will use tools such as Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCA) to analyse the cost and carbon impact of materials and products used during construction. This would favour local materials that naturally have a lower carbon footprint. The GPA would also factor in maintenance and replacement considerations on the choice and sourcing of material.
The Government Property Agency aims to utilise and support British businesses throughout our supply chain and in line with the principles of the Procurement Act 2023, which aims to support smaller local businesses and embeds social value into our contract delivery model.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to chapter 7 and recommendation 11 of Baroness Casey's independent report entitled National audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, published on 16 June 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers operating outside of the local authority in which they are licensed on the level of risk of child sexual exploitation; what steps her Department has taken to tackle taxi and private hire vehicle drivers operating outside of the local authority in which they are licensed; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent taxi and private hire vehicle drivers from operating predominantly outside of the local authority in which they are licensed.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department has been actively looking at safeguarding and regulatory reform in relation to taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs). Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse added valuable evidence to this ongoing work.
The English Devolution White Paper, published in December last year, committed to consult on making all Local Transport Authorities, including Strategic Authorities, responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering taxi and PHV licensing over larger areas could increase consistency and efficiency in taxi and PHV licensing across England, reduce out-of-area working and better match licensing revenue and compliance and enforcement burdens. The consultation will be launched soon.
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit committed to legislate to address the important issues raised, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing.
On Tuesday 18 November, the Government tabled an amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to seek a power for the Secretary of State to set in regulations national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. These standards would be subject to consultation and would be primarily focused on passenger safety and accessibility. This would mean that wherever the public live or travel any taxi or PHV service they use would be subject to robust standards. The power was approved by the Commons at Report Stage and the Bill will now move to the Lords.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to Question 88884, how much income has been collected by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by providing vehicle registered keeper details in 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the income received in the calendar year 2025 and financial year 2025/26.
| Income collected from the release of keeper details |
Calendar year 1 January to 31 October 2025 | £36,694,204.23 |
Financial year 25/26 1 April to 31 October 2025 | £27,536,357.11 |
The £2.50 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 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency reviews its fees regularly to ensure that fees are set to recover the costs of providing the service.
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 potential impact of i) timetable planning, ii) signalling and iii) freight pathing margins on barrier down-times at level crossings; and how Network Rail monitors and reports performance experienced by road users at level crossings.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail is responsible for assessing the impact of timetable changes, freight paths and upgrades to signalling on level crossing down-time, as part of its overall management of level crossings on the rail network. These arrangements are kept under review, to ensure crossings remain safe for all users while minimising the impact on communities where practicable.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what performance indicators her Department uses to assess level-crossing down-time; whether she plans to introduce maximum permitted barrier down-time standards; and if she will publish annual statistics on average barrier down-times at level crossings.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department does not use performance indicators to assess down-time at level crossings, nor does it plan to publish annual statistics on these. These decisions are the responsibility of Network Rail, which has a statutory duty to ensure the safe management of Britain’s railway infrastructure, and reflect the specific conditions at each level crossing.
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 holds information on a) the average barrier down-time at each public highway level crossing in England, b) the five crossings with the longest average down-times in the most recent year, and c) the frequency with which barriers remain down for more than ten minutes at any location.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not hold this information.
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 17 November 2025 to Question 90060 on Railway Network: Environment Protection, whether she plans to make changes to the size of the rail network under Great British Railways.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This government will continue to deliver high impact projects and enhancements to the railway that improve connectivity and capacity for passengers and freight to support unlocking economic growth. Schemes such as the Transpennine Route Upgrade, East West Rail and Midlands Rail Hub, which are expected to deliver after Great British Railways (GBR) has been established, will expand the capacity of the network and allow more services to be run. The government expects to work with GBR to continue to consider the appropriate size of rail network and deliver plans to support that.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Venezuelan Government concerning the journalist Carlos Correa.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65220.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain requirements on the cost of non completed strategic road network improvement projects since the implementation of the relevant legislation, by schemes within Road Investment Strategy (a) two and (b) three.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Mandatory biodiversity net gain requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will apply from May 2026. The 16 National Highways road enhancement schemes that already have development consent, along with one scheme awaiting a decision expected in February 2026, are not therefore within scope of mandatory biodiversity net gain.
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 13 November 2025 to Question 88882 on Great British Railways, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of establishing and operating the regulatory oversight functions set out in the Railways Bill, including the Office of Rail and Road’s new statutory consultee role and its expanded appeals and enforcement powers over GBR’s access, contracting and pricing decisions.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Railways Bill gives ORR a statutory power to levy a fee, providing stable and predictable funding to support its independence and effective operation. ORR's own analysis has been reflected in the SR settlement for 2026–27 to 2028–29. Final funding levels will depend on how ORR implements its new role and will remain subject to Spending Review outcomes.