Written questions by Smith.

With reference to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 118920, whether she has plans to undertake a BCR assessment for the dualling of single sections of the Clitheroe to Manchester Victoria line.

The most recent appraisal was undertaken in 2014 as part of the Blackburn to Manchester Rail Scheme, which assessed options to double the single-track sections between Blackburn and Bolton. The preferred option was to extend the Darwen passing loop, which presented a core BCR of 1.67. The £13.8 million scheme was funded by Blackburn & Darwen Council and the Local Growth Fund. It was delivered by Network Rail in 2015 and the half hourly rail service between Blackburn and Manchester Victoria commenced in December 2017. The Department has no plans to undertake further economic analysis or development work on this corridor, but would welcome discussions with Lancashire County Combined Authority, should they wish to prioritise any such analysis locally.

Pursuant to the announcement of 25 March 2026 entitled £1 billion to cut costs for businesses, drive growth and clean up UK roads, a) how much funding has been allocated to the Depot Charging Scheme in each financial year covered by the announcement, b) what estimate her Department has made of the number of (i) electric vans and (ii) zero emission HGVs expected to be supported by the funding, and (c) how much of this funding is expected to be made available to (i) SMEs and (ii) large businesses.

£171 million has been allocated to the Depot Charging Scheme for financial year 2026/27 out to Financial Year 2029/30, with £28 million confirmed for the 2026/27 Financial Year and £38 million for 2027/28. Grant rates and future application windows will be confirmed in due course. The Zero Emission Van Grant and the Zero Emission Truck Grant are demand led and the number of grants offered will be dependent on the needs of SMEs and large businesses across the UK.

What expenditure has the Northern Lighthouse Board undertaken on public affairs companies, and for what purposes, since 4 July 2024.

Awaiting answer.

What plans she has to ensure a) her Department, b) local authorities and c) regional transport bodies take account of duties under the Armed Forces Covenant when expanded.

The Department is committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and to supporting members of the Armed Forces community in accessing the transport system. The Department has not identified specific disadvantages for members of the Armed Forces community in transport usage as a distinct group beyond those reflected in wider accessibility and transport disadvantage analysis. We recognise that individuals within the Armed Forces community may face particular challenges linked to mobility, relocation and access to local transport services. The Department engages with the Armed Forces community and relevant stakeholders and will consider opportunities for co-production where appropriate, including in the development of transport policy tools and related interventions. Support is provided through the HM Forces Railcard, and the Veterans Railcard. Disabled military personnel may also be eligible for the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme where they meet the statutory disability criteria. Departmental guidance to local authorities recommends automatic eligibility for applicants in receipt of the War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement. The Ministry of Defence has engaged with Department for Transport officials on the expansion of the Armed Forces Covenant legal duty to include transport and the extension of the duty to UK Government departments. As part of this engagement, the Department reviewed draft statutory guidance relating to the Covenant duty, including the application of the “due regard” obligation in transport policy and the treatment of military evidence of disability in relation to transport concession schemes. The Department’s views informed development of the final guidance. Local authorities and regional transport bodies are expected to have due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant when exercising their transport functions. The Department will continue to support implementation of these duties.

With reference to her Department's press release entitled Nationwide plans announced to design safer streets as 9 in 10 women report feeling unsafe walking at night, published 25 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the biggest barriers to the installation of lighting on walking, wheeling and cycling routes.

Barriers to the installation of appropriate lighting include a lack of energy infrastructure, higher scheme cost for upfront work, the impact on nature and wildlife, the long-term revenue budget required for the ongoing maintenance of lighting installation, and the balance between these factors that is part of scheme development. The forthcoming guidance from ATE will include the importance of implementing better-designed lighting. ATE’s Route Check Tool includes specific metrics relating to lighting coverage, visibility, user safety, and minimising light pollution, helping authorities to plan routes that meet modern safety and design standards.

What the total value of public funding committed to electric vehicle uptake and charging infrastructure is across all schemes since 2024.

Since 2024, the Government has allocated the following funding to electric vehicle uptake and charging infrastructure:Autumn Budget 2024: £0.3 billionSpending review 2025: £1.8 billionAutumn Budget 2025: £1.5 billionTotal: £3.6 billion funding out to 2030.

In which month will the first East West Rail services operate from Winslow to Bletchley.

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 Central via Winslow. 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.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118042, whether the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has set any key performance indicators for recruitment campaigns 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. 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.

With reference to the paragraph entitled East West Rail lease write-offs on page 9 of the National Audit Office’s Department for Transport Overview 2024–25, which states that £2.6 million in lease costs for East West Rail rolling stock were written off following delays to testing, whether (a) East West Rail Company Ltd, or (b) her Department, has written off any such lease costs; and if she will provide a breakdown of those costs.

The published Department for Transport annual report and accounts 2024/2025 included the £2.6m lease cost write-off. The breakdown comprised of approximately £900k in 2023/2024 and approximately £1.7m in 2024/2025. The costs were for rolling stock contracted payments to the Rolling Stock Company (ROSCO).

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of returning the Railway Inspectorate to the Health and Safety Executive.

His Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) was transferred from the Health and Safety Executive to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in 2006 to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of railway safety regulation. Housing HMRI within ORR allows safety oversight to sit alongside the wider regulatory and economic functions for the rail industry, supporting a more integrated and streamlined approach to enforcing railway safety legislation. The Government considers the current framework to be effective. As such, no assessment has been made of returning HMRI to the Health and Safety Executive, and there are no plans to do so.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of rail decarbonisation policies on costs to consumers.

The impact of rail decarbonisation policies on consumers is very minimal, as measures such as electrification of track and train are implemented over multi-year infrastructure investment cycles, and are not passed through to consumers in full via ticket prices. As such, the department has not made an estimate. Rail is also already a comparatively low-carbon mode of travel.

What consideration her Department has given to the potential impact of wage inflation on the availability of skilled labour in rail infrastructure, maintenance, and engineering roles.

The railway depends on a thriving and competitive supply chain that supports economic growth and invests in its workforce and the skills required to enable a functioning railway. The Department for Transport monitors capacity within the rail sector through the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) Periodic Review process, which assesses the resources and capability required for Network Rail to deliver its obligations safely and efficiently across each five year control period.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of moving to a ten-year rail funding settlement to support long-term planning, value for money, and whole-life asset management.

We have considered the appropriate length of rail funding settlements as part of rail reform and the establishment of Great British Railways. Five-years of infrastructure funding, resulting in a five-year delivery plan, has been established as the appropriate balance between supporting long-term planning and reflecting the realities of a changing operational environment. Five-year funding will be informed by the Long-Term Rail Strategy to ensure there is long-term planning that supports the funding settlement. Whilst we will continue to fund passenger services through the Spending Review process and timelines, legislation does retain future flexibility for passenger services budgets to be set over a five-year period.

What assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of emergency track and asset renewals on the rail network over the last ten years.

Analysis of trends in asset failures form part of Network Rail’s assurance processes. Whilst it has identified that track asset ‘used life’ has been increasing over ten years, its data shows that the ‘performance risk’ for rail and track geometry defects is less than 40 per cent of the levels seen 25 years ago.

With reference to the oral evidence to the Transport Committee on Wednesday 7 January 2026 on the Railways Bill, how structural separation between retail functions and cross-industry management functions of Great British Railway will operate, including governance, accounting, decision-making and information-sharing arrangements; where this separation will be formally set out; and when she plans to publish further details.

To ensure fair and open competition when Great British Railways (GBR) has a dual role as a retailer and provider of wider retail industry management functions, the government has announced a robust package of safeguards. These are a Code of Practice, with the force of a GBR licence condition; separation of decision-making between GBR’s retailer and its cross-industry systems and services; and ORR monitoring and enforcement of GBR’s adherence with the Code of Practice. The retail Code of Practice will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR should interact with all market participants. There will be full consultation on the Code of Practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course.

What her planned sequencing and timetable is for (a) publication of the draft Great British Railways licence for parliamentary scrutiny and formal consultation, (b) consultation led by the Office of Rail and Road on the Retail Code of Practice and (c) finalisation of those documents; and whether Parliament will be able to scrutinise the draft licence before the passage of the Railways Bill.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided to Question 88358 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament Further information on the GBR licence can be found in the Railways Bill factsheet: holding Great British Railways to accountThere will also be a full consultation on the retail code of practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course. Further information on the code of practice can be found at Railways Bill factsheet: tickets and retail.

What estimate she has made of the development, operating and upgrade costs of the proposed Great British Railways retail app and website; how she plans to assess value for money; and when final information on those costs will be published.

Officials continue to develop the proposition for the Great British Railways app and website. We are engaging with industry on this project and will provide updates in due course.

Whether the principle of economic parity between Great British Railways’ retail operations and third-party retailers will be included in the Great British Railways Licence.

To ensure fair and open competition when Great British Railways (GBR) has a dual role as a retailer and provider of wider retail industry management functions, the government has announced a robust package of safeguards. These are a Code of Practice, with the force of a GBR licence condition; separation of decision-making between GBR’s retailer and its cross-industry systems and services; and ORR monitoring and enforcement of GBR’s adherence with the Code of Practice. The retail Code of Practice will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR should interact with all market participants. There will be full consultation on the Code of Practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course.

What safeguards will be included in the Great British Railways licence to manage conflicts of interest arising from Great British Railways’ dual role as system operator and rail retailer.

To ensure fair and open competition when Great British Railways (GBR) has a dual role as a retailer and provider of wider retail industry management functions, the government has announced a robust package of safeguards. These are a Code of Practice, with the force of a GBR licence condition; separation of decision-making between GBR’s retailer and its cross-industry systems and services; and ORR monitoring and enforcement of GBR’s adherence with the Code of Practice. The retail Code of Practice will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR should interact with all market participants. There will be full consultation on the Code of Practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that the withdrawal of Class 43 HST trains from service in the South West does not affect scheduled services.

The Department is committed to maintaining a reliable timetable in the South West as the High Speed Train (HST) fleet, including Class 43 power cars, is withdrawn. The remaining three units are being withdrawn at the end of the Summer 2025 timetable and there are plans in place to replace them with existing fleet including the Class 175s when they re-enter passenger services.