Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2026 to Question 12280 on Electric Vehicles, whether her Department intends to publish a summary of the evidence and views received during discussions with stakeholders on the review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has a long-standing commitment to publish a review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate to ensure we are taking a pragmatic and balanced approach to the zero-emission transition. We intend to conclude the review, which will include a public consultation, in the next six months. We will welcome views from the automotive and chargepoint sectors during this process and publish the Government response to the consultation in the normal way.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings, roundtables or other formal engagements she, Ministers in her Department and officials in her Department have had with representatives of environmental organisations, consumer groups and non-governmental organisations in the last three months regarding electric vehicles or the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government maintains ongoing engagement across a wide range of stakeholders including the automotive and electric vehicle charging sectors, industry bodies, environmental organisations, consumer groups, and NGOs regarding electric vehicles and the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings, roundtables or other formal engagements she, Ministers in her Department and officials in her Department have had with representatives of vehicle manufacturers and automotive industry bodies in the last three months on electric vehicles or the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government maintains ongoing engagement across a wide range of stakeholders including the automotive and electric vehicle charging sectors, industry bodies, environmental organisations, consumer groups, and NGOs regarding electric vehicles and the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks to the UK economy arising from the rapid growth of investment in AI technologies.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that rapid growth in AI investment presents both opportunities and risks for the UK economy.
The Government closely monitors trends in investment, including through the AI Sector Study. We will continue to assess potential impacts of that investment on productivity, skills, competition, infrastructure and economic resilience. Our approach is to support AI adoption and investment that drives growth and innovation.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help ensure passenger travel times from Yeovil constituency are not negatively impacted by any changes to the West of England Line timetable.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department recognises that reliability and punctuality affect passenger benefits, journey times and wider economic outcomes, and these factors are considered when assessing any timetable changes.
Soil moisture deficit (SMD) caused significant and prolonged disruption to Southwestern Railway's West of England Line in 2025. Exceptionally dry conditions led to substantial shrinkage of clay embankments between Salisbury and Exeter, resulting in track movement and the imposition of multiple 40mph speed restrictions across long single-track sections.
Whilst other parts of the UK Rail Network also suffer from these issues, the unique nature of the West of England Line with long single-track sections and limited passing points means that the base timetable is unable to accommodate delays resulting from speed restrictions. Despite mitigation work, further record-breaking dry weather means SMD is again highly likely to affect the route this year.
During Autumn, seasonal conditions prevent trains on the predominantly single line track between Salisbury and Exeter from passing each other at their planned times. The single line track means that even small delays can make the timetable unworkable and lead to wider disruption. Removing some station stops with lower demand reduces the time spent in the single lines sections and reduces delays.
Where timetable changes are necessary, operators are expected to consider the effect on passenger travel times and seek to reduce disruption while ensuring services continue to operate safely and reliably.
The Department works with Network Rail and train operators to consider the impacts of timetable changes on passengers and local communities, including when temporary service alterations are required to maintain a safe and reliable railway.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed West of England Line timetable changes on stations in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department recognises that reliability and punctuality affect passenger benefits, journey times and wider economic outcomes, and these factors are considered when assessing any timetable changes.
Soil moisture deficit (SMD) caused significant and prolonged disruption to Southwestern Railway's West of England Line in 2025. Exceptionally dry conditions led to substantial shrinkage of clay embankments between Salisbury and Exeter, resulting in track movement and the imposition of multiple 40mph speed restrictions across long single-track sections.
Whilst other parts of the UK Rail Network also suffer from these issues, the unique nature of the West of England Line with long single-track sections and limited passing points means that the base timetable is unable to accommodate delays resulting from speed restrictions. Despite mitigation work, further record-breaking dry weather means SMD is again highly likely to affect the route this year.
During Autumn, seasonal conditions prevent trains on the predominantly single line track between Salisbury and Exeter from passing each other at their planned times. The single line track means that even small delays can make the timetable unworkable and lead to wider disruption. Removing some station stops with lower demand reduces the time spent in the single lines sections and reduces delays.
Where timetable changes are necessary, operators are expected to consider the effect on passenger travel times and seek to reduce disruption while ensuring services continue to operate safely and reliably.
The Department works with Network Rail and train operators to consider the impacts of timetable changes on passengers and local communities, including when temporary service alterations are required to maintain a safe and reliable railway.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the transfer of passenger services into public ownership on passenger revenue, fare yield and net subsidy.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department assesses the impacts of a variety of factors when forecasting passenger revenue and the cost of operating the railway, including the direct cost savings from public ownership through removing fees paid to private-sector operators, and the benefits, projects and programmes that the creation of Great British Railways (GBR) enables. Fare yield is one of the measures of passenger revenue that GBR will monitor; changes in yield are driven by various factors including average journey length, annual fares policy, and railcard use.
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 14823 on Railways: Standards, what the average (a) 'Time to 3' performance and (b) cancellations rate for passenger rail services in Great Britain was in April to June of (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In April to June 2025, the average 'Time to 3' punctuality was 86.3 percent and the cancellations score was 3.2 percent in Great Britain. Rail performance statistics have not yet been released for the equivalent period in 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what mechanisms are available to passengers to report breaches of maximum passenger numbers on public transport services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Passengers who believe that maximum passenger numbers, crowding standards or other passenger welfare obligations have been breached can raise concerns directly with the relevant transport operator through its complaints process. If they are dissatisfied with the operator's response, rail passengers may escalate complaints to the Rail Ombudsman, while safety concerns relating to crowding can also be reported to the Office of Rail and Road. [orr.gov.uk], [nationalrail.co.uk], [railombudsman.org].
Complaints from passengers about a bus or coach operator should be made directly to the operator in the first instance. If the bus or coach operator has not responded to a complaint within 14 working days, or if the passenger is not happy with the response received, they can raise their complaint with Bus Users UK, an organisation that represents the interests of bus and coach users.
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.