Written questions by Robertson.

Pursuant to the Answers of 22 January 2026 to Question 105752 and 20 January 2026 to Question 104846, what proportion of the £199 million efficiency saving projected from corporate initiatives in 2028–29 is expected to arise specifically from AI-enabled processes.

None of the £199m in efficiency savings from corporate initiatives have been specifically identified as arising from AI-enabled processes. As part of a test and learn approach, we are assessing the impact and potential benefits of implementing AI and digital tools on a case-by-case basis as we develop our alignment across the DfT family on AI initiatives.

What the average waiting time was for a practical car driving test at Swindon Test Centre in the most recent month for which data is available.

For January 2026, the average waiting time for a car practical driving test at Swindon driving test centre was 18.8 weeks.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2026 to Question 105753, what assessment the Department has made of which specific budget lines will reduce as a result of the £199 million corporate initiatives efficiencies described as cash releasing.

A breakdown of the forecasted £199m in corporate initiative efficiencies published in the Departmental Efficiency Plan described as cash releasing are included below by budget line as published in the departmental Supply Estimate.Budget Line28/29 Cashable EfficienciesCentral Administration£0.234mSupport for Rail Passenger Services£199mTotal corporate initiative cash releasing efficiencies:£199.234m Beyond the efficiencies set out in the Departmental Efficiency Plan, the department has also made a commitment to reduce our administration budget over this period in line with the government’s overall aim to reduce administration costs by 15% by the end of the decade.

Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the eligibility criteria and application details for the Richer Young Lives Fund; and how she will help ensure that rural and island communities are able to access this funding.

The Richer Young Lives Fund will invest over £60 million over the next three years, enabling organisations to deliver high-quality youth work and activities.The Fund will be targeted at underserved areas and focus on making activities easier to access for disadvantaged young people. Young people will be involved in designing the fund and making decisions on how the funding is spent. More information on the eligibility criteria and application details, including location eligibility, will be shared in due course.The Fund will launch in the financial year 2026/27.

Media and Sport, what criteria is being used to determine the locations of Young Futures Hubs.

The first eight early adopter Young Futures Hubs were located where they will have the most impact, using data on knife crime and anti-social behaviour.The Government’s aim is to set up an additional 42 Young Futures Hubs over the next four years. The locations for the remaining 42 hubs will be determined using learnings from the eight early adopter hubs, alongside appropriate metrics to ensure hubs help those young people with greatest need.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 105434 on Retail Trade: Business Rates, what proportion of ratepayers expected to see no bill increases in business rates are from the retail sector.

Data on the change in the rateable value of non-domestic properties as a result of the 2026 revaluation, including for the retail sector, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2025-to-2026 Bills will be issued in due course by local councils.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 105434 on Retail Trade: Business Rates, how many retail businesses will be impacted by transitional relief measures.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government publishes data on the number of properties receiving business rates relief. This data can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2025-to-2026

Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Government unveils ambitious plan to tackle youth isolation crisis and deliver real life opportunities, published on 10 December 2025, what proportion of the £500 million funding will be allocated to (a) sustaining and (b) expanding existing youth services.

The Government recognises that high-quality youth services are vital for the health, wellbeing, and development of young people. The £500 million investment announced on 10 December 2025 as part of the National Youth Strategy represents a significant commitment to transforming the youth sector.Some of the first funded steps to work towards the strategy include over £60 million for the Richer Young Lives Fund, nearly £70 million to improve local youth offers, over £22 million towards school-based enrichment opportunities and £15 million to support youth workers, volunteers and wider trusted adults. Meanwhile the £350 million Better Youth Spaces fund is specifically designed to expand the reach and quality of the youth estate.The precise proportion of funding allocated to the maintenance of current services and the creation of new capacity will be determined during the detailed programme design phase. The Department will share further information on these allocations in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 202 to Question 105434 on Retail Trade: Business Rates, what proportion of the 23% of ratepayers expected to see a reduction in business rates are from the retail sector.

Data on the change in the rateable value of non-domestic properties as a result of the 2026 revaluation, including for the retail sector, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2025-to-2026Bills will be issued in due course by local councils.

Media and Sport, whether the Isle of Wight will be eligible for funding under the National Youth Strategy; and what steps are being taken to ensure that the Island is supported thought the national funding criteria.

‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ is a 10 year plan to ensure every young person across the country has somewhere to go, someone who cares for them and a community they feel part of.This is backed by over £500 million of new youth funding over the next 3 years from DCMS, which complements a range of funding committed by other departments. The majority of the funding underpinning the first steps of the Strategy will be available from next the financial year 2026/27. We will share more information as our plans develop, including details on the eligible areas for funding.

Media and Sport, how the schools identified to receive support through the National Youth Strategy will be selected; and whether schools on the Isle of Wight will receive support.

The Government's National Youth Strategy is a 10-year plan designed to ensure that every young person nationwide has somewhere to go, someone who cares for them, and a community they feel a part of. Schools are key to implementing the strategy including through enrichment activities, especially for disadvantaged youth.DCMS, in partnership with DfE, will invest £22.5 million over 3 years to enable up to 400 schools across England to deliver a youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer. This funding will help schools meet the Enrichment Framework benchmarks and ensure disadvantaged pupils have access to good enrichment activities, supporting their wellbeing, personal development, and life skills.The programme is currently in the design phase, and we will share the selection criteria in due course.

Whether the reference in the answer of 14 January 2026 to question 103614 to “all other cases” in which common law perpetuity rules apply is intended to include commercial land instruments, including commercial options, rights of pre-emption, and easements; and, if so, which perpetuity regime the Department considers applicable to such instruments.

The reference in the Government’s response to Question 103614 “in all other cases, only the common law rules apply” refers to all instruments not captured by the regimes established by the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009, the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964 and the Law of Property Act 1925. As set out in the answer to Question 103614 this is a complex and technical area of law, and there will be a lot of fact specific issues in each case. Individuals should seek independent legal advice on what regime applies to their circumstances.

Whether publicly funded works on the Lower Thames Crossing will commence after a Full Business Case has been produced and approved.

Publicly funded construction enabling works have already commenced north and south of the River Thames. These include ground works to create haul roads, construction of site compounds, utility works, ecological and archaeological works and extensive pre-construction surveys are ongoing. The project continues to progress through the required assurance and governance processes and the full business case will follow ahead of private sector investment.

What the average waiting time was for a practical car driving test at Swindon Test Centre in the most recent month for which data is available.

For January 2026, the average waiting time for a car practical driving test at Swindon driving test centre was 18.8 weeks.

What discussions she has had with the Rail Delivery Group on recent updates to fare search limits for passengers and rail retailers.

The Department regularly engages with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on a range of issues relating to the rail retail market, recognising RDG's important role in managing systems and services upon which train operators, retailers and passengers rely. This will continue as we progress towards the establishment of Great British Railways.

What the cost was of the DfT Operator Group Parliamentary Reception on 19 January 2026; and what proportion of that cost was met by the public purse by funding source.

The cost for the Department for Transport Operator Group’s (DFTO) parliamentary reception on 19 January 2026 was £5,470.87, with those costs met by DFTO. The event was held to provide parliamentarians and parliamentary staff with an opportunity to engage with publicly-owned train operators and to hear about the improvements that are being made. It continued functions of the same kind previously carried out by private sector operators for the same reasons and similarly represented a good use of modest public expenditure. It also provided a forum for Members of Parliament to discuss matters of interest to their constituents and to discuss progress being made under the Railway Passenger Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 as well as wider industry developments.

What assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of capacity pressures in secondary care, particularly at hospital front doors, including staffing levels and bed availability.

We continue to monitor the impact of winter pressures on the National Health Service over the winter months. The NHS has been preparing for winter this year with the development and thorough testing of winter plans. This includes the surge capacity and escalation plans in place across all NHS and urgent care services.While pressure has remained high on acute hospitals, performance has been better than in previous years. Accident and emergency four-hour performance was 73.8% in December 2025, an improvement of 2.7% from 71.1%. Provisional data for December 2025 indicates that there were 101,200 General and Acute beds open for all acute trusts, 93,177 of which were occupied, a 92.1% occupancy rate.There were 431,000 more accident and emergency attendances in year-to-date to December in 2025/26 compared to the same period in 2024/25, a growth rate of 2.1%. This is lower than the average annual growth rate of 3.9% seen between 2021/22 and 2024/25 but still represents an increase in pressure on accident and emergency departments. Growth in attendances at consultant-led type 1 accident and emergency departments was 1.8% in the year to date to December in 2025/26, greater than the average annual growth rate of 1.3% between 2021/22 and 2024/25.The 10-Year Health Plan aims to expand urgent care capacity through Neighbourhood Health Services and virtual wards, enabling patients to receive care closer to home where clinically appropriate and easing pressure on hospitals.The responsibility for staffing levels should remain with clinical and other leaders at a local level, responding to local needs, supported by guidelines by national and professional bodies, and overseen and regulated in England by the Care Quality Commission.

How much additional funding has been allocated in the current financial year to expand secondary care capacity, including staffing and bed numbers.

The Spending Review 2025 has prioritised health, with an increase by £29 billion in real terms by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24, including investment in urgent and emergency care and electives services to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan. The plan includes the shift from hospital to community to bring care closer to home, launching a new neighbourhood health service with easier and more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps, open 12 hours a day, six days a week.Integrated care board (ICB) revenue allocations for 2025/26 include a total of circa £5.3 billion elective recovery funding to allow the National Health Service to continue to deliver the high levels of elective activity performance seen last year, and to deliver our Plan for Change commitments including care closer to the community. This figure includes funding for cancer services.Over £6 billion in additional capital will be invested in diagnostic, elective, and urgent and emergency capacity in the NHS over five years, including £1.65 billion in 2025/26 to deliver new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners and beds to increase capacity for elective and emergency care.Decisions on staffing and bed numbers are for individual NHS organisations to decide when developing their operational plans in response to the Medium Term Planning Framework 2026/27 to 2028/29.

What proportion of the annual efficiency savings projected for 2028–29 depends on efficiencies from National Highways’ Road Investment Strategy 3 which have not yet been finalised.

The forecasted efficiencies for 28/29 set out in the Departmental Efficiency Plan do not currently assume any efficiency savings from National Highways. National Highways’ efficiency target for the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS) will be confirmed when the RIS is published in March 2026.

How much of the efficiency savings attributed to executive agency reform will be permanent.

The Department for Transport efficiencies quoted in the Departmental Efficiency Plan are in line with the Government Efficiency Framework. In particular, the Government Efficiency Framework states that efficiencies “… should be sustainable (recurring)” and “exist in the year they are realised and remain in all subsequent years at equal or greater value.”