Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2025 to Question 66780 on Transport: Disability, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting access panels to create a national network.

The Sustrans Transforming Mobility Report recommends that local leaders, who best understand their communities, use access panels to engage disabled people in shaping, reviewing, and monitoring transport policies and projects. Paid access panels are one potential method for ensuring meaningful involvement.

The government recognises that accessibility improvements require collaboration across national and local authorities, transport operators, and industry. Central to this effort is the voice of disabled people. For nearly 40 years, the Department for Transport has led by example, being advised by the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, which mandates that at least half its members are disabled.

More broadly, the government is committed to making public transport more inclusive, enabling disabled people to travel safely, confidently, and with dignity. As part of this commitment, it is working with disabled people’s organisations, service providers, and stakeholders to develop an Accessible Transport Charter. This charter will set out clear, shared commitments based on the principles of accessible and inclusive travel.