Written questions by Robertson.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122116, whether the Government has plans to establish a targeted national relief scheme specifically for disruption arising from roadworks.

The Government has no plans to establish a targeted national relief scheme specifically for disruption arising from roadworks. Local authorities are responsible for managing and mitigating the impacts of roadworks in their areas. The Government’s focus is on minimising disruption through stronger coordination, enforcement, and tools such as permit schemes and lane rental.

A) what the failure-to-attend rate for practical car driving tests was in each month since January 2026 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.

The table below shows failure-to-attends (FTA) as a percentage of the total number of bookings for each month since January 2026.Month% FTAFebruary3March3 The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency monitors failure to attend rates and consider potential causes of those rates changing, together with potential interventions to reduce such rates, on an ongoing basis.

How many additional practical car driving tests were delivered by DVSA in each month since February 2026 compared with the same months in the previous year; of those additional tests, how many were delivered by (i) examiners working overtime, (ii) warrant card holders temporarily deployed from other DVSA roles and (iii) newly recruited examiners; and during which months warrant card holders from non-examiner roles were deployed to conduct practical driving tests.

www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/driving-test-and-theory-test-data-cars shows the number of car practical driving tests conducted up to March 2026. The below table shows the number of overtime tests since February 2026. Further information is not available. MonthNumber of Overtime testsFeb-2627,141Mar-2631,929

With reference to the flights listed to the Dominican Republic in WPQ 120039, what the purpose was of each such visit; which Ministers or senior officials approved each visit; how many officials travelled on each occasion and at what grade; what the total cost was of each visit; and what assessment was made of whether those engagements could be conducted remotely or combined with other travel.

On one occasion, a Grade 7 travelled to the Dominican Republic at a cost of £1,123.42, in line with departmental policy, to attend and present at a regional event on management of airspace over or nearby to conflict zones. The event covered North America, South America and Caribbean regions and was arranged by the UN aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), with key input from the UK, Canada and Spain. The event achieved its primary high-level goal of assisting delivery of an awareness session in each region globally, while also delivering a clear security benefit. Participation in this activity supports the strengthening of international airspace management standards, promotes the consistent application of agreed airspace and risk management best practice, and contributes directly to safer and more secure global aviation operations. UK expertise is significant in this area and is highly valued by international partners, strengthening international capability to mitigate risks, including those potentially faced by UK airlines or citizens. On a separate occasion, the Department for Transport’s International Aviation Negotiations Team attended the International Civil Aviation Negotiation Event (ICAN) hosted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). ICAN 2025 was hosted in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Dominican Republic and therefore held in the Dominican Republic. Officials met with foreign governments to update and further liberalise the UK’s portfolio of air service agreements - the treaties that underpin the legal basis for flights to and from the UK. ICAN provides a central forum to conduct bilateral air services negotiations and consultations with other ICAO member states over the course of a week. The event was attended by six officials, including a Grade 6, a Grade 7, three SEOs and an EO. Six officials allowed for multiple bilateral negotiations to happen concurrently, resulting in meetings with 30 countries. ICAN is a primarily in-person event, with delegations from over 80 ICAO member states in attendance. The total cost of the flights was £6,277.10 and was approved by Ian Elston, Deputy Director in the Department for Transport, in line with departmental policy. An assessment was made that the benefits to the UK economy through this work outweighed the cost of the sending a delegation to the event. There is an additional entry in the spreadsheet from WPQ 120039, relating to one Grade 6’s travel. This has been mis-recorded and is a duplication of previously stated travel.

What the average processing time was for driving licence applications in each month since December 2025 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.

The table below shows the average number of working days taken to process driving licence applications made both online and not onlinefrom January 2026 to date for both group 1 (cars and motorcycle) and group 2 (lorry and bus) applications. Group 1Group 2DateOnline ApplicationsNon-Online ApplicationsOnline ApplicationsNon-Online ApplicationsJan-261.34.81.03.2Feb-261.26.21.04.5Mar-261.27.01.05.1Apr-26 (to 14/04)1.27.31.06.4

With reference to the Transport Development Fund, if she will publish (a) the projects and programmes funded and (b) the amount allocated to each.

The Transport Development Fund referred to in the 2015 Spending Review was a time-limited fund under the previous government.

What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to help facilitate the installation of pavement gullies for at home EV charging.

The Department ran a consultation between November 2025 and January 2026, seeking views on changes to permitted development rights for cross-pavement charging solutions. The Department will publish its response shortly. This expands on the £25m grant funding for local authorities, supporting the installation of cross-pavement channels.

Pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 122545 on the Vehicle Certification Agency, whether her Department has set a target date for the Vehicle Certification Agency to eliminate its deficit.

The VCA is currently analysing responses to its recent consultation on increasing certain fees, which would support deficit reduction. If taken forward, any fee changes require the consent of this House through a fee order. We are therefore unable to set out a specific timeframe for elimination of the deficit at this stage. As is the standard practice, I will update the House in due course.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of social media, email alerts and in-centre advertising for driving examiner roles by conversion to (a) completed applications and (b) successful hires.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer to Question 122595, 30 March 2026.

What the total duration in hours was of (a) partial and (b) full closures as a result of the M6 Lune Gorge project.

Between 1 September 2025 and 14 April 2026, all recorded closures associated with preparatory works were partial closures only, affecting a single northbound or southbound carriageway, or lane closures. There were 18 overnight carriageway closures, each operating within a standard nine hour window (8pm – 5am), giving up to 162 hours of partial closures. In addition, lane closures from January 2026 total up to 270 hours. There were no full closures affecting both directions simultaneously during this period.

What estimate she has made of the maximum number of vehicles that could be subsidised under the Zero Emission Truck and Van, which her Department announced on 25 March 2026, at the highest grant rates, and the corresponding total cost to the Exchequer.

The schemes have been designed so that grant funding is sufficient to fully support businesses to transition to zero emission vehicles, consistent with the Government’s plan to meet legally binding carbon budget targets. By 2030, within the current funding envelope we estimate that the schemes could award 250,000 zero emission vans grants, 20,000 zero emission trucks grants, and nearly 25,000 chargers under the depot charging scheme, although projecting this is highly uncertain. The total cost to the Exchequer is capped based on the announced budget of £877 million. Given the existence of the budget cap, we have not separately tried to estimate the maximum number of grants that could be delivered using the highest grant rates.

What forecast has been made of uptake rates for (a) zero emission trucks, (b) vans and (c) depot charging grants under the Zero Emission Truck and Van funding package, announced 25 March 2026.

The schemes have been designed so that grant funding is sufficient to fully support businesses to transition to zero emission vehicles, consistent with the Government’s plan to meet legally binding carbon budget targets. By 2030, within the current funding envelope we estimate that the schemes could award 250,000 zero emission vans grants, 20,000 zero emission trucks grants, and nearly 25,000 chargers under the depot charging scheme, although projecting this is highly uncertain. The total cost to the Exchequer is capped based on the announced budget of £877 million. Given the existence of the budget cap, we have not separately tried to estimate the maximum number of grants that could be delivered using the highest grant rates.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2026 to Question 119471 on the Vehicle Certification Agency: Fees and Charges, whether there is a timeline to eliminate the Agency’s financial deficit; and what steps her Department is taking to monitor the delivery of deficit reduction.

The VCA is currently analysing responses to the consultation on increasing certain fees, which closed earlier this month. If taken forward, the fee increase would require secondary legislation before it can be implemented (subject to Parliamentary approval). We are therefore unable to set out a specific timeframe for elimination of the deficit at this stage. Work on efficiencies is ongoing and reduction of the VCA’s deficit is regularly monitored and reported on via the VCA and Department for Transport’s internal governance processes. It is also reported annually as part of the VCA’s Annual Reporting and Accounts, which are published on their website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118043, what steps the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is taking to improve its ability to evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment activity for driving examiner roles.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including: monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaignsaverage times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date. The performance in these areas have improved in the past 12 months. For example, before November 2025, the average time DVSA took to advertise and onboard potential driving examiners (DE) into training was 16 weeks. In December 2025, DVSA improved its recruitment process and the average time DVSA now takes to onboard potential DEs is 13 weeks. Further proposals should see this reduce by another 2-3 weeks for future campaigns.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120007 on High Speed 2 Line: Finance, whether the Department expects any reduction in the maximum speed of High Speed Two trains to contribute to meeting the Department’s capital expenditure limits set out in the Spending Review.

The Spending Review settlement for the current period is not dependent on the outcome of the Strategic Speed Study.

In which month she expects East West Rail services to commence from Oxford Parkway to Bicester.

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, and driver training will need to have been completed. Winslow station also needs to be fully handed over, and future staffing arrangements also remain to be agreed. Appointment of Chiltern Railways as operator was delayed by the General Election in July 2024, and consequently they were not appointed until March 2025.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government Fleet Commitment in increasing the proportion of zero emission vehicles in departmental vehicle hire fleets, in the context of the proportion of electric vehicles rented by departments.

Data on vehicles used by Government departments, including vehicles hired for 6 days or more, can be found online at Greening Government Commitments April 2021 to March 2024 report - GOV.UK. However, the data does not break down owned fleet and hired vehicles. The Government Fleet Commitment was included in the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) framework for the period between April 2021 to March 2025. The GGCs are currently under review to ensure that they remain aligned with Government priorities. Departments are expected to continue to take action to reduce their impact on the environment, including for example working with lease operators and hire companies to minimise the carbon intensity of their fleets and rental vehicles.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118042, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Government Recruitment Service applicant tracking system on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's ability to access applicant referral source data.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) uses the Government Recruitment Service's applicant tracking system, but this does not provide information on how applicants learned about vacancies.DVSA advertises all driving examiner vacancies on Civil Service Jobs(opens in a new tab) on GOV.UK. DVSA also uses posters in driving test centres and external online job sites to reach a wider pool of applicants.For campaigns up to November 2025, DVSA used the data available from the Civil Service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information is limited and does not give 100% coverage.In December 2025, DVSA introduced a DVSA specific survey. This is sent to everyone who is offered an interview. This is then followed by another survey sent to anyone who successfully moves onto training. The data will be crossed referenced, however DVSA currently only has data for one complete and one ongoing campaign. For DVSA social media advertising, the current click through rate as of February 2026 was 1.4%. For DVSA direct communications that have been sent to subscribers of jobs at DVSA over the last 12 months, the average click through rate was 4%. It is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed applications.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118043, what assessment the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has made of the effectiveness of different recruitment channels used to attract applicants for driving examiner vacancies.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) uses the Government Recruitment Service's applicant tracking system, but this does not provide information on how applicants learned about vacancies.DVSA advertises all driving examiner vacancies on Civil Service Jobs(opens in a new tab) on GOV.UK. DVSA also uses posters in driving test centres and external online job sites to reach a wider pool of applicants.For campaigns up to November 2025, DVSA used the data available from the Civil Service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information is limited and does not give 100% coverage.In December 2025, DVSA introduced a DVSA specific survey. This is sent to everyone who is offered an interview. This is then followed by another survey sent to anyone who successfully moves onto training. The data will be crossed referenced, however DVSA currently only has data for one complete and one ongoing campaign. For DVSA social media advertising, the current click through rate as of February 2026 was 1.4%. For DVSA direct communications that have been sent to subscribers of jobs at DVSA over the last 12 months, the average click through rate was 4%. It is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed applications.

Pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120007, how much of the average annual real-terms reduction in HS2 capital spending between 2025-26 and 2029-30 will be achieved through (a) efficiency savings, (b) reprofiling of expenditure, (c) changes to project scope and (d) changes to the delivery timetable.

The HS2 Spending Review settlement reflects the scope of work that the HS2 programme plans to deliver over the period 2026/27 to 2029/30. The average annual real-terms growth rate of -7.9% detailed in the Spending Review report reflects changes in annual spend over this period, based on the expenditure profiles HS2 Ltd agreed with the Department for Transport to deliver Phase 1 scope. It reflects the stages of the programme and supports the reset of the programme Mark Wild is conducting.