Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve road safety for children near schools.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department recognises the importance of safety for children near schools and the Road Safety Strategy (published January 2026) sets a goal of reducing the number of children under 16 killed or seriously injured on roads by 70% by 2035 in Great Britain.
Active travel is a devolved matter for national governments. In England, the Department for Transport uses Active Travel England (ATE) to support authorities to develop a wide range walking and cycling schemes. ATE have developed and published specific guidance on how to improve safety around schools through implementation of School Streets.
The Government is providing £626 million to local authorities in England for walking and cycling schemes for 2026/27 onwards across the spending review period, which may also be used for safety measures around schools amongst a range of other measures.
More information on School Streets, the road safety strategy, and available funding can be found at the following links:
The Road Safety Strategy, published earlier this year, has also committed to publishing a new edition of the best practice guidance Setting local speed limits - GOV.UK which gives local authorities clearer, more up‑to‑date best‑practice standards.
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 16 February 2026 to Question 111456, what mechanisms are available to airports to meet surface access environmental targets.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In order to meet surface access environmental targets, airport operators and their local stakeholders are responsible for determining the specific interventions that are best-suited to their unique operational contexts taking into account local infrastructure, planning considerations and obligations, and regional transport policies.
The Government welcomes the significant investments airports are making in sustainable surface transport options for staff and passengers, from zero-emission bus fleets to improved cycling facilities, which are vital to balancing aviation sector growth with our environmental commitments.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including walking, wheeling, and cycling in policy HC1 of the draft National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Proposed draft policy HC1 already makes clear that development plans should, at the most appropriate level, identify wider opportunities to promote good health, prevent ill-health and support social interaction through their spatial strategy and land allocations, including through policies locating development where it will support walking and cycling.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report entitled Walking and Cycling Index: UK, published by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust on 17 March 2026, what steps she is taking to support councils to lower speed limits.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Local authorities are responsible for managing the roads under their jurisdiction, drawing on their knowledge of local conditions and the needs of their communities. This includes the power to set local speed limits. Authorities may introduce 20mph limits in areas where people and traffic mix, such as outside schools, and they may also apply enforceable part‑time 20mph limits during specific periods, including school drop‑off and pick‑up times.
Authorities will have our full backing when implementing measures that respond to the concerns of local people.
As set out in the Road Safety Strategy the Government will be reviewing and updating its guidance, including ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ and the ‘guidance on the use of speed and red‑light cameras’, to further support local authorities in making well‑informed decisions about managing speed on their networks.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report entitled Walking and Cycling Index: UK, published by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust on 17 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential economic benefits of increased investment in walking, wheeling and cycling facilities; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Active Travel England published research on the benefits of active travel investment in February this year. This research can be viewed at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluating-the-impact-of-active-travel-investment.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the level of take up of cycling proficiency programmes in schools in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In 2024/25, schools in the Lincolnshire County Council area booked 6,867 Bikeability training places, of which 6,168 were attended. This included 5,116 children receiving level 2 on-road training; equivalent to 60% of year 6 pupils in that area.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to address the Disability Transport Gap, as described in the December 2023 report entitled Are we there yet, from Transport for All.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department continues to work closely with disabled people and representative organisations, like Transport for All, to ensure their voices are heard, that the challenges are understood and that we are actively working together to drive the change to make transport and travel increasingly accessible and barrier-free.
We recognise the challenges and issues identified in Transport for All’s report both in terms of transport-mode specific issues as well as the cross-cutting themes of financial burden, information provision and inability to take up green transport options due to accessibility barriers.
Collectively, the Department is committed to a transport network that puts disabled passengers at its heart, removing barriers and promoting opportunity. Recent measures to deliver this include improving accessibility and personal safety at bus stops and stations through the Bus Services Act, publishing the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group’s recommendations, and launching the Rail Accessibility Roadmap.
To specifically drive strategic and legislative change, accessibility will be a core theme of the forthcoming Integrated National Transport Strategy. We will also shortly be publishing an Accessible Transport Vision to set out the key priorities for accessible travel for this Government. Later this year, we will publish an Accessible Travel Charter. The Charter will set clear expectations for transport providers to implement accessibility best practice - not as another layer of regulation, but as a clear articulation of the commitments for accessible transport that every operator should meet.
The department is also continuing its work to build accessibility into electric vehicle charging points and the future provision of connected and autonomous vehicles. We will also be publishing the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy and are consulting upon changes to mobility device legislation recognising the importance of personal mobility specifically and as part of the end-to end journeys that disabled people want and need to make.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, what plans they have to carry out an awareness campaign of the Highway Code for cyclists, in light of the sentencing on 11 March of an e-bike rider following the death of a pedestrian.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Like other road users, cyclists are required to comply with road traffic law in the interest of their own safety and that of other road users. Cycling on the pavement and on footpaths is an offence under Section 72 of the Highway Act 1835, other than in designated areas such as on bridleways and shared use routes.
Rule 64 of The Highway Code states that you must not cycle on a pavement.
As set out in the Road Safety Strategy published on 7 January, more work is needed to raise overall awareness of the Highway Code. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 116791, whether engagement with organisations representing disabled people in relation to the guidance entitled Floating Bus Stops: Provision and Design was undertaken by (a) officials in her Department, (b) Active Travel England and (c) an external organisation.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The statutory guidance on the provision and design of floating bus stops is a joint publication between the Department and Active Travel England (ATE). Stakeholder engagement on the development of the guidance was undertaken by officials from both organisations. As part of this process, an external body Transport for All was commissioned to run workshops with a range of disability and road user groups and individuals with lived experience of disability to ensure the recommendations reflect their needs. The groups represented included:
The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee were consulted. The Department and ATE also sought feedback from the Urban Transport Group, Living Streets, Guide Dogs, RNIB, Transport for London, and ATE’s Technical Oversight and Advisory Group.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 116791, which organisations representing disabled people were engaged in relation to the guidance entitled Floating Bus Stops: Provision and Design; on what dates that engagement began and concluded; and what form that engagement took.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Three workshops were held on the floating bus stop guidance, one in-person (17 November 2025) and two online (18 and 24 November 2025). All three workshops were facilitated by Transport for All and attended by officials from the Department and ATE. They consisted of facilitated discussions about the draft guidance.
The groups attending and representing the interests of disabled people were Guide Dogs, Mencap, Motability Foundation, Transport for All and Wheels for Wellbeing. Age UK represented issues affecting older people, including mobility and accessibility. Seventeen disabled people with lived experience attended, representing eight different impairment types and using 12 types of mobility aids. Other groups represented included the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling and Walking, Bikeability Trust, Campaign for Better Transport, Confederation of Passenger Transport, Cycling UK, Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, Policy Connect, and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust.
Officials from the department held meetings online to discuss the guidance with representatives from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) on 9 June 2025 and 19 January 2026, with Guide Dogs on 17 October 2025, and with Living Streets on 22 October 2025.
All of the above organisations and the Royal National Institute of Blind People, were asked to comment on the draft guidance, circulated via email, from 26 November to 2 December 2025. The department and ATE also sought feedback from the Urban Transport Group, Transport for London, and ATE’s Technical Oversight and Advisory Group.
A full list of those involved in the consultation process is included in the guidance: www.gov.uk/government/publications/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design/floating-bus-stops-provision-and-design#consultation-requirements.