Written questions by Holden.

When she plans to respond to Question 122529 from the Rt Hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay.

Question 122529 was answered on 2 April 2026.

When the decision was first taken to withdraw Class 455 units from the South Western Railway network; and how many such units were withdrawn in each month from the date that decision was taken until the final unit was removed from passenger service.

As part of the 2017 South Western refranchising competition, First MTR announced on 20 June 2017 that it would procure a new fleet of Aventra trains to operate on the Waterloo suburban routes over which Class 455 units operated. The Class 455 units were originally intended to be returned to their owner by December 2020, however delays to the introduction of the replacement units under SWR’s previous ownership meant that withdrawals commenced later than planned with the first Class 455 being returned in May 2022 and the final unit being returned in March 2026. In the intervening period, units were returned progressively to their owner on a flexible basis as new Class 701 units were introduced.

When her Department will respond to the consultation entitled Changes to various permitted development rights for 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 and equipment housing. The Department will publish its response shortly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2026 to Question 120940, on what date the update to the road freight values of time in the Transport Analysis Guidance will be published.

We are planning to publish the road freight value of travel time updates as definitive changes to the Transport Analysis Guidance on 28th May.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 122959 on Unadopted Roads: Research, what was the cost to the public purse of the research study her Department commissioned from Ipsos UK on the operation of sections 37 and 38 of the Highways Act 1980 and whether the current road adoption system remains fit for purpose since 4 July 2024.

Ipsos UK has been commissioned by the Department for Transport to conduct research into the operation of sections 37 and 38 of the Highways Act 1980 and to assess whether the current road adoption system remains fit for purpose. The total cost to the public purse of this research was £90,390.

When he plans to respond to Question 106942 from the Hon. Member for Widnes and Halewood.

A response has been issued.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 116574, what minimum number of public electric vehicle chargepoints her Department considers necessary by 2030 to meet anticipated demand; and how she will determine whether delivery is on track in the absence of a defined benchmark.

An estimate of potential future demand for chargers was originally published in the 2022 “Taking Charge: The National Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy” and was updated in 2024 to a range of 250,000 to 550,000 in 2030. Both the 2024 NAO ‘public chargepoints for electric vehicles’ report, and the Climate Change Committee 2025 Progress report, concluded that charge point rollout is on track.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122445, what further proposals the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has developed to reduce the time taken to onboard driving examiner recruits; and if she will publish the (a) expected impact of each proposal on recruitment timelines and (b) planned implementation timetable.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to review its recruitment processes to improve the onboarding experience of new entrants. DVSA has streamlined its processes, which should see applicants move through the recruitment process more quickly. Alongside this DVSA is also seeking to further increase its training capacity to allow successful candidates to move more quickly from campaign candidate lists onto training courses for new entrant driving examiners.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact on a) drivers of extending the electric car grant; and b) motorcyclists of the planned cessation of the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant.

The £2 billion Electric Car Grant has been extended to 2030 to support drivers to purchase electric vehicles by reducing upfront costs. More than 90,000 people have already benefited from grants of up to £3,750 across 45 models. In February 2025, we announced the decision to close the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant, which closed at the end of the 2025/26 financial year. Ending the £500 Plug-in Motorcycle Grant is not expected to have a significant impact on uptake of zero emission motorcycles or on riders. The Government, working with industry, will continue to monitor the development of the zero emission motorcycle market and the need for any further interventions on an ongoing basis.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 121180 on Network Rail: Assets, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decline in the Composite Sustainability Index for rail assets on long-term network resilience; and what steps her Department is taking to address the deterioration in underlying rail infrastructure condition.

The Government is clear that Network Rail must ensure that network resilience is either maintained or improved during the current Control Period to an extent that is reasonable.Network Rail assesses the resilience of the railway network on a continuing basis, under the oversight of the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road and has had a Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation strategy in place since 2017.Objectives for Great British Railways (GBR) in the next Funding Period regarding the condition of railway infrastructure will be a key element of Government’s considerations during the coming Funding Period Review. The impact of rail infrastructure condition on its resilience will be a part of this work. The condition of the network as assessed via the composite sustainability index metric does not necessarily correlate directly with levels of resilience.

With reference to her Department's report entitled Department for Transport annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, what expenditure is included under the category entitled Science, research and support functions, and if she will provide a breakdown of this spending by programme, activity, and delivery body for each year listed.

‘Science, Research and Support Functions’ is an Estimate Line descriptor shown in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply within the 2024-25 Annual Report & Accounts. All costs recorded on this Estimate line are incurred by the Core department. A breakdown of the spending recorded in this Estimate Line for 2024-25 and 2023-24 is provided below.Spending in 2024-25 Resource DELCapital DELBusiness area Amount £mAmount £mPublic Transport & Local Group1111Road Transport Group164Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group04TOTAL2719 Individual programmes incurring more than £5m spending in 2024-25, were:Bus Open Data Service (£11m, Capital DEL). This is the Department for Transport’s national digital platform that enables bus operators and certain local authorities to meet their legal obligations to publish bus service data. https://www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/Road statistics survey and collection (£7m, Resource DEL) https://roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk/National Travel survey (£5m, Resource DEL) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-survey-statistics Spending in 2023-24 Resource DELCapital DELBusiness area Amount £mAmount £mRoads and Local Group2213Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group66Rail Strategy and Services Group30TOTAL3119 Individual programmes incurring more than £5m spending in 2023-24, were:Bus Open Data Service (£13m Capital DEL).Road statistics survey and collection (£7m Resource DEL).National Travel Survey (£5m, Resource DEL).

How many people are currently engaged by her Department in roles providing political advice or support to Ministers; and how many such individuals are classified as (a) special advisers and (b) ministerial or other political appointees outside the special adviser classification, including those not formally designated as special advisers but undertaking equivalent functions.

The Department currently has (a) 5 special advisers, and (b) no ministerial or other political appointees.

What manual paper-based processes are in operation at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

The vast majority of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main processes are digitised. Where any paper-based elements remain, DVSA continues to look to digitise these where possible. In a small number of cases, paper is used as part of processes where legislation requires or where digital is not practical for all users. Examples of paper-based elements include:Pass certificates for all categories of driving testApplications to provide approved motorcycle training coursesEvidence of a potential driving instructor’s (PDI) completed training and supervision, and declaration from sponsorPotential driving instructor (PDI) trainee licence and approved driving instructor (ADI) certificate of registrationOut of pocket expense claims for a cancelled theory test or driving test.

On what date her Department will publish its annual report and accounts for the financial year 2025 to 2026.

The Department plans to publish its 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts ahead of the Parliamentary summer recess.

With reference to page 21 of her Department's report entitled Department for Transport annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, if she will provide a breakdown of the £644 million expenditure on Sustainable travel, including (a) the projects and programmes funded and (b) the amount allocated to each.

Page 21 of the Annual Report & Accounts is the ‘Financial Overview’ report, which presents total departmental spending by Estimate Line. ‘Sustainable Travel’ is an Estimate Line descriptor shown in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply within the 2024-25 Annual Report & Accounts. This Estimate Line records spending incurred by the Core department and Active Travel England. A breakdown of the spending incurred in 2024-25 is provided in the table below. Capital DELResource DELBusiness area Amount £mAmount £mActive Travel England5482Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy Group39837Rail Strategy and Services Group1915Road Transport Group1722Sub-total488156Overall total644

Pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2026 to WPQ 121808, what proportion of the Customer and Communities Designated Fund within the Road Investment Strategy 3 is allocated to (a) HGV parking capacity and (b) driver welfare facilities; and what targets have been set for delivery of additional HGV parking spaces over the RIS3 period.

Further detail on RIS3 funding allocations will be set out by National Highways in its Delivery Plan.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2026 to Question 122888 on High Speed 2 Line: Crewe, when her Department expects to complete the work required to develop plans for a North-South new line between Birmingham and Manchester.

The Northern Growth Strategy set out the Government’s intention to ultimately deliver a full North-South new line between Birmingham and Manchester. We expect the delivery timelines for this line to follow the completion of HS2 and NPR.

When she plans to respond to Question 123167 from the Hon. Member for Maidstone and Malling.

I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer given on 31 March 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 123517 on Electric Vehicles: Costs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of introducing requirements for standardised battery state of health information on the (a) regulatory burden on (i) manufacturers and (ii) sellers and (b) used electric vehicle prices.

On 13 April 2026, the Department launched a public consultation on updating the minimum emission standards for new road vehicles to Euro 7. Assessment of the impact of introducing these requirements will be included within the regulatory impact assessment accompanying any proposed legislation. Responses to the public consultation will be taken into account when completing this assessment.

When her Department will publish updated guidance to local authorities on (a) setting local speed limits and (b) the deployment of speed and red-light cameras; and whether a timetable has been set for implementation.

As previously stated, the Department will begin work on updating the Setting Local Speed Limits and Red Light and Speed Camera guidance shortly.