Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82998 on HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Grant Scheme, what plans she has for (a) unspent and (b) returned grant funding; and whether those monies will be (i) retained for driver welfare improvements and (ii) reallocated elsewhere within her Department’s budget.

As set out in my response to Question 85923, underspent specific budgets are reallocated to other priorities within DfT where possible. Any departmental underspend at the end of the financial year is returned to HMT. Under the terms of the Lorry Parking and Driver Welfare Matched Funding Grant Scheme there is no provision for returned funding from operators. The Department issues payment for the monies operators claim only once the Department has reviewed appropriate evidence of the completed stages of works.

What the net Government funding of the rail sector was per passenger, per journey in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year; and what estimate her Department has made of the net Government funding of the rail sector was per passenger, per journey in each financial year between 2025-26 and 2029-30.

The Department for Transport's support for the 14 contracted operators and Network Rail was £9.60 per passenger journey in 2023/24 and £8.47 in 2024/25.  It is currently estimated that this will steadily decrease to circa £7.40 in 2028/29, primarily driven by a declining rail passenger services subsidy as passenger ridership and revenue continue to recover post COVID-19 and efficiencies and savings are made through public ownership.

Whether she plans to require MOT tests to check that (a) front windows and (b) windscreens comply with legal light transmission limits.

Driver visibility is an important safety consideration at the MOT, with the tester required to check the driver’s field of vision for obstructions. This includes inspecting the windscreen and front side windows for excessive tinting and discolouration. The MOT tester will fail the vehicle if the windscreen or window are excessively tinted and visibility through the swept area of the windscreen, or of an obligatory external mirror, is seriously affected. This approach aligns with legal light transmission levels that are intended to ensure the driver has good visibility of the road for safety purposes.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82992 on Railways: Freight, which schemes set out in the Spending Review were identified as having potential for increasing the capacity for freight on the routes; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those schemes on freight network performance.

The government recognises that the economic and environmental potential of rail freight is significant and that is why we are committed to supporting its growth. The Spending Review confirmed a number of infrastructure schemes across the country to help support the economy, housing and jobs. These include £3.5 billion for the TransPennine Route Upgrade and £2.5 billion for the continued delivery of East-West Rail between Oxford and Cambridge. Both projects will deliver benefits for rail freight, as well as passenger services. Options are currently being developed for the Transpennine Route Upgrade to provide increased capacity for rail freight from east and west coast ports to inland terminals.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82733 on Mobility Scooters: Pedestrian Areas, when her Department plans to commence the powered mobility device review; and what its objectives will be.

The powered mobility device review is already underway, and we intend to consult with the public before the end of the year, to ensure regulations are designed with, not for, disabled people. The consultation will also gather views on the Department’s proposed objectives for the review. We will work with a wide range of stakeholders once the consultation is published to ensure it reaches everyone who would like to contribute.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77156 on Rolling Stock: Leasing, whether any of the train operating companies transferred into public ownership since July 2024 have seen rolling stock leasing arrangements novated unchanged to the new public sector operator; and what the total annual cost to the public purse is of those unchanged existing agreements.

We are transferring currently franchised services into public ownership as current contracts expire, after they reach their contractual break point or if the contractual right to terminate is met - avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators for early termination. The services of three train operating companies have transferred into public ownership since July 2024, South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia. The leasing arrangements for both c2c and Greater Anglia were novated on their existing terms. The Government had already been covering the costs of these since the pandemic. The annual cost of rolling stock to operators is published on an annual basis by the Office for Rail and Road.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83389 on Transport: Exhaust Emissions, what estimate she has made of (a) total transport-sector emissions between 2025 and 2050 and (b) emissions from (i) cars and vans, (ii) shipping, (iii) aviation, and (iv) rail, (c) total emissions savings from UK Government interventions in those sectors over that period (A) in megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, (B) as a percentage of total projected emissions and (d) the total estimated cost of those interventions to (1) the public purse and (2) consumers.

The Government’s annual publication titled ‘Energy and Emissions Projections’ (EEP) provides estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions out to 2050 after accounting for policies that have been implemented and planned policies where the level of funding has been agreed, and the policy design is near final. For transport, this includes GHG emissions estimates for domestic transport and international aviation and shipping. The latest publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-and-emissions-projections-2023-to-2050. The Government’s Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan (CBGDP) was published on 29 October 2025. EEP estimates provided the basis for the emissions baseline in the CBGDP, but some modelling adjustments were made to better align the EEP with sectoral modelling. This approach is explained in the CBGDP Technical Annex, at paragraphs 20 to 21: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6901dfae71b575684c3cf78a/carbon-budget-and-growth-delivery-plan-technical-annex.pdf The CBGDP published estimates of the impact of transport policies and proposals on GHG emissions between now and the end of the Carbon Budget 6 period in 2037. This includes transport policies captured in the EEP, and modelled proposals and policies. Estimates of transport policies’ impact on GHG emissions are included in Table 3 and Table 4 of the CBGDP: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6901d0c2a6048928d3fc2b55/carbon-budget-and-growth-delivery-plan-report.pdf

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84700 on Road Traffic Control: Oxford, whether her Department holds information on the level of income the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has received from Oxfordshire County Council for access to vehicle registration data in each year since 2020.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has not directly provided vehicle keeper data to or received income directly from Oxfordshire County Council in the time frame specified.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82735 on Great British Railways, how much her Department expects the rail passenger services subsidy to reduce by in each year over the period covered by the Spending Review 2025.

Rail passenger services subsidy is expected to reduce by over 50 per cent from £2.4 billion in 2024-25 over the period of the Spending Review.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83382 on Railways: Safety, what proportion of the campaign’s (a) production and (b) promotion costs were borne by train operating companies (i) owned and (ii) controlled by her Department; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of that rebrand once the operators’ expenditure is included.

The production costs, referenced in the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83382 on Railways: Safety, were all borne by the Department for Transport. To minimise implementation costs, train operating companies (including those under public ownership) will gradually phase out the current See It. Say It. Sorted. campaign materials and are only required to introduce the new posters or announcements when these would usually be replaced through business-as-usual rotation of materials. Campaign posters, both digital and physical, are required to be displayed only at locations which train operating companies already retain for public messaging campaigns or for their own content, and which are not otherwise used for commercial purposes, in order to avoid any loss of advertising revenue. We have not asked train operating companies to provide detailed production or implementation costs as we anticipate them being minimal on this basis.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 82745 on Roads: Freight, if she will publish all substantive written representations her Department has received from the road haulage industry on road user charges since 4 July 2024; and if she will publish her Department's responses to those representations.

The Department has received no written representations on road user charges from the road haulage industry since July 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83387 on Large Goods Vehicles: Electric Vehicles, how much underspend has been identified to date; and what the revised total forecast spend for the programme is in (a) 2024–25 and (b) 2025–26.

The Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (R&D) programme had a total programme funding spend of approximately £106 million in the 2024-25 financial year. We are unable to confirm the spend for 2025-26 as the financial year is still in progress with projects placing orders for final zero emission HGVs and infrastructure sites.

With reference to her written statement of 4 December 2024 on Railway Passenger Services, HCWS281, which working practices she intends to reform as part of the Department's plans to modernise the railways; and if she will publish (a) a list of the practices under review and the (b) potential impact of changes to those practices on (i) staff, (ii) service reliability and (iii) costs to the public purse.

Reforms to working practices are taking place via the usual processes, i.e. led by train operators locally, in partnership with trade unions.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84697 on Railways: Fares, what estimate her Department has made of the number and proportion of passengers who will pay a higher fare; and if she will publish the (a) calculations and (b) methodology that inform this estimate.

Future passenger fares under GBR are subject to ministerial decisions not yet made. Estimates therefore cannot be provided at this time.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84695 on Bus Services: Fares, when her Department expects to complete its evaluation of the £3 single bus fare cap scheme; and whether she plans to publish that evaluation in full once it is finalised.

The Department for Transport is currently undertaking an evaluation of the £3 single bus fare cap and its impacts, with the full report expected to be published next year.

What her timetable is for publishing the next Rail network enhancements pipeline.

This Government recognises the need to develop stable, long-term pipelines for investment and to give communities, investors and the supply chain visibility and certainty about those pipelines. The Secretary of State set out the rail enhancement schemes across the country that are funded as part of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline over the Spending Review period in July. We continue to make announcements on schemes as they progress or are added to the pipeline, such as the recent announcement of the Cowley Branch Line Upgrade on 23 October. Rail enhancements schemes are also set out in the UK Infrastructure pipeline published by NISTA 11 July, which government has committed to update regularly. This provides a level of transparency on the rail enhancements portfolio that has not been seen since October 2019 and the last RNEP update.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2025 to Question 77637 on Rail Strikes, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of using powers under the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 in the context of industrial action on the transport network since 4 July 2024.

Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) legislation was brought in under the Conservative Government and the Labour Government is repealing it. MSLs do not support a positive and productive relationship between employers, employees, and their trade unions. The implementation of MSLs legislation only exacerbated the national rail disputes, which led to two years of widespread strikes under the last Government. There has been no such industrial action since the General Election.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82409 on Railways: Public Ownership, whether her Department plans to draw on best practice from (a) devolved operators such as Transport for London, Merseyrail, ScotRail and Transport for Wales and (b) private sector train operating companies in developing guidance for publicly-owned operators.

We expect DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) to draw on best practice from across the rail sector, and other relevant sectors, for its operators.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84697 on Railways: Fares, what definition her Department uses for the right fare within the Great British Railways ticketing model; whether that definition requires passengers to be offered the lowest available fare for the train they travel on; and whether the fare simplification reforms will apply to open access operators.

What constitutes the right fare differs depending on passenger needs. For example, some passengers may require more flexibility to travel at an earlier or later time than others. Open access operators will remain able to set their own fare structures in the future, but the government supports all efforts to make the system easier for passengers to navigate.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82986 on Aviation: Alternative Fuels, how many UK-based sustainable aviation fuel production facilities have (a) commenced construction and (b) reached final investment decision.

The only commercial scale SAF producer in the UK is P66’s Humberside Refinery. Through the Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) we have awarded over £198m to 21 UK SAF projects. Information on these projects is published on gov.uk.There are a wide range of SAF projects across the UK using different technologies and at different stages of development. However, much of the information on the development of fuel projects that DfT holds is commercially sensitive. Our policies are both ambitious and pragmatic to the realities of the SAF industry. The SAF Mandate entered into force on 1 January 2025. In its first year, the mandate requires that SAF constitute 2% of total fossil jet fuel supplied, increasing to 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040. Provisional data suggests the UK was already on track, with SAF accounting for approximately 2% of aviation fuel supplied in 2024.On the supply side, we are creating the right environment to support the future construction of UK SAF production plants through measures such as the UK’s pioneering SAF Clearing House, AFF, and legislation to provide investor confidence via a Revenue Certainty Mechanism.