Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) transport funding and (b) infrastructure investment are allocated equitably to cities that are not part of a mayoral combined authority or city region, including Leicester.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is providing local leaders in England with £21bn of local transport funding until 2029/30, through consolidated, multi-year settlements, including £9.6bn in non-mayoral areas, which they can use to deliver their local transport priorities, including transport infrastructure. The majority of local transport funding is allocated by formula to give a fair share of funding for all areas.
Leicester City Council has been awarded £148 million transport funding to invest in their local transport priorities.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2026 to Question 16287 on Parking: Private Sector, how many of the (a) 157 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency statements of control audits and (b) 203 Government Internal Audit Agency evidence-based transactional audits identified non-compliance by private parking companies; and what action was taken in each case.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Of the 157 Statement of Control audits of private parking companies carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), 156 presented a low risk in respect of the handling, storage and processing of vehicle keeper data, demonstrating that appropriate controls were in place and consistently applied.
One audit identified a medium level of risk, indicating a limited level of concern. The DVLA worked directly with the company concerned to address the areas of non-compliance and ensure that appropriate remedial action was taken to reduce and mitigate the identified risks.
Of the 203 Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) evidence-based transactional audits undertaken, 65 identified areas of non-compliance with DVLA requirements.
GIAA audit findings represent a point-in-time assessment based on the information and evidence available during the audit. In many cases, evidence that was not available at the time of the audit will subsequently be provided to the DVLA demonstrating compliance with requirements.
Where non-compliance is identified, companies are required to provide appropriate assurances and evidence demonstrating that corrective and remedial actions have been implemented before the matter is considered resolved.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, at which railway stations live facial recognition technology has been deployed in each of the last five years; on what dates it was deployed at each station; for what purpose; and how many individuals were (a) matched to watchlists, (b) stopped by police and (c) arrested following its use.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the resources of British Transport Police to maintain a permanent policing presence at major rail interchange stations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has modelled the potential impact of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate on the number of passengers beginning journeys from overseas airports.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2026 to Question 13039 on Aviation: Antisocial Behaviour, whether her Department holds information on the number of passengers who have been (a) refused carriage and (b) banned from future travel by UK airlines due to disruptive or unruly behaviour in each of the last five years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not collect or hold data on the number of passengers who have been refused carriage and banned from future travel by UK airlines due to disruptive or unruly behaviour.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2026 to Question 10561 on Department for Transport: Public Relations, which PR firms have been hired since July 2024; on what campaigns and topics; and at what cost.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since July 2024, Department for Transport have hired the following PR firms:
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 121192 on Network Rail: Assets, when Network Rail's next Delivery Plan update is expected to be published.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail expects to publish the Delivery Plan update document for 2026/27 in July 2026.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the expenditure by Network Rail has been on (a) transitioning 25 per cent of its car fleet to ultra-low emissions vehicles and (b) installing electric vehicle charging facilities across 10 per cent of passenger parking bays since 2020; and what estimate her Department has made of the projected capital cost required to transition 100 per cent of Network Rail’s car and van fleet to zero-emissions vehicles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail’s ‘Our ambition for a low-emission railway’, published in 2020, committed Network Rail to change 25 per cent of its car fleet to ultra-low emissions vehicles (ULEV) by 2022.
The table below shows the operational expenditure for transitioning 25 per cent of the Network Rail car fleet to ultra-low emissions vehicles. The figures represent the uplift in leasing costs from a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle to a ULEV model. It is important to note that the uplift in leasing costs is not just due to ULEV vehicles being more expensive than a traditional ICE, but also that they will be newer vehicles so representing inflationary changes in vehicle costs over a number of years.
| 4-weekly rail period additional leasing costs | Annual additional leasing costs |
25% of car fleet | £85,365 | £1,109,745 |
The 25 per cent target was achieved and ULEVs currently equate to 37 per cent of the Network Rail car fleet.
Network Rail aims to achieve a 100% zero emission fleet. In order to achieve that, investment is needed in charging infrastructure. The data below, broken down according to regional and functional level, shows the capital costs for the associated infrastructure being installed for a full battery-electric vehicle fleet; the figures run only to 2027, starting from 2023.
EV Rollout Funding (£m) |
|
| Capex |
Eastern | 11.7 |
North West & Central | 17 |
Southern | 20 |
Wales & Western | 20.1 |
Scotland | 16.2 |
Route Services | 11.8 |
Total | 96.8 |
The total spend so far on installing electric vehicle charging facilities across 10 per cent of passenger parking bays is £19,772,448 (Capex). This has delivered EV charging facilities across 7.8% of the total NR passenger parking bays so far.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department requires independent verification of baseline cycling and pedestrian counts used to support applications for Active Travel England funding.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following publication of the Devolution White Paper in 2024, the Government has consolidated most local transport funding streams into a single flexible fund that enables local areas to align investment with priorities and reduce burdens on accessing the funding. Authorities no longer apply for funding and independent verification of baseline counts are not a requirement of consolidated funding for any transport mode. Authorities instead provide delivery plans to set out their investment priorities.