Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on trends in the incidence of mobile phone use while driving since it was prohibited.

In 2014, 1.6% of drivers in England and Scotland were observed using a mobile phone whilst driving. This is similar to the 1.4% of drivers observed using a hand held mobile phone in England in 2009, when the previous survey was carried out. In this context, we have recently consulted on proposals for increased penalties for this dangerous behaviour.