Written questions by Holden.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of business rates increases at airports on i.) passenger ticket prices and ii.) airline route planning.

The government is committed to enabling investment so that airports can play their full role in the growth mission. Properties seeing large bill increases as a result of the business rates revaluation - including airports - will benefit from a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion over the next 3 years. At Budget 2025, the government also published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment. It will explore the concerns that airports and a small number of other ratepayers have raised around the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ valuation methodology and its impacts on long-term, high value investments. The government is seeking to address issues raised ahead of the 2029 revaluation, aiming to conclude this work in sufficient time before pre-list discussion commences.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2025 to Question 93219 on Roads: Biodiversity, whether those schemes undertaking biodiversity net gain requirements are on a voluntary basis.

All Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects which are already delivering biodiversity net gain (BNG) are doing so on a voluntary basis. This will remain the case until the legal requirement applies to schemes that submit development consent applications after May 2026. National Highways is already committed to delivering BNG for those Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects starting construction in the third Road Period (2026/27 to 2030/31).

How many a) neurologists with specialist training in Parkinson’s, b) geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s, and c) specialist Parkinson’s nurses are currently practising in the NHS.

While the Department does not hold data specifically on the number of Parkinson’s specialist staff in England, we do hold data on the number of doctors working in the wider specialities of neurology and geriatric medicine. As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.These figures are based on NHS Digital’s workforce data and reflect staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. They do not include doctors working in private practice or outside NHS organisations.The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards as part of neurology and movement disorder services.NHS England has published a service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which includes Parkinson’s disease as part of its scope. This specification sets out requirements for multidisciplinary care, including access to Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, consultant neurologists, and allied health professionals.NHS England is also implementing initiatives such as the Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aim to improve access to specialist care, reduce variation, and develop integrated models of service delivery for conditions including Parkinson’s disease. These programmes align with the National Institute for Care Excellence guidance on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, which recommends that people with Parkinson’s have regular access to specialist staff with expertise in the condition.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92671 on Congenital Abnormalities, if he will publish the guidance issued by NHS England on submitting consanguinity and pregnancy data to the Maternity Services Dataset.

NHS England has published guidance on how to submit data about consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset (MSDS). The guidance is publicly available on NHS Digital’s website under “MSDS Consanguinity Data Quality Guidance”.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2025 to Question 93226 on Level Crossings, for what reason responsibility for assessing and managing level-crossing down-time rests solely with Network Rail rather than being shared with local authorities or National Highways.

Level crossings form part of the rail estate and legal responsibility for their safe operation falls to the relevant infrastructure manager, such as Network Rail. Infrastructure managers must operate level crossings in line with their statutory duties but they work closely with local authorities, highways agencies and users to understand the impacts of barrier downtime. Effective co-operation and collaboration between these parties is critical and each has an important role to play.

How many environmental assessments relating to HS2 have been carried out since 4 July 2024; in which months those assessments took place; and what the cost was of each assessment.

Assessments published by HS2 since 4 July 2024 include an Environmental Sustainability Progress Report, Supplementary Environmental Information reports and reports on Noise & Vibration and Air Quality. These are all made publicly available on gov.uk.

What (a) number and (b) proportion of rail journeys were made using (i) advance purchase, (ii) off-peak and (iii) anytime tickets in in each month since and including July 2024 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.

The Office for Road and Rail publish quarterly data on rail journeys by ticket type. The most recent quarter available is April 2025 to June 2025 and the quarterly breakdown can be found athttps://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/passenger-rail-usage/table-1222-passenger-journeys-by-ticket-type/

What information his Department holds on the number of people who were employed in the automotive manufacturing sector in each month since July 2024 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 2nd of December is attached.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of additional dedicated cross-Pennine rail freight capacity to support ports (a) in the Humber Estuary and (b) on the east coast of England, including Immingham.

Analysis undertaken to develop the TransPennine Route Upgrade suggests there could be strong potential for new rail freight capacity from both east and west coast ports to inland terminals. Work to develop options for investment, in conjunction with the rail freight sector, is on-going. Such freight flows could lead to environmental and social benefits, such as reducing carbon emissions and road congestion by removing the requirement for large numbers of lorries on cross-Pennine roads. Decisions will be taken in time to allow integration of any suitable projects into the existing TransPennine Route Upgrade programme.

How many pubs in England have closed in each month since 4 July 2024, broken down by (a) tied pubs, (b) managed houses and (c) freehold or free-of-tie pubs.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 2nd December is attached.

What comparative estimate his Department has made of (a) electricity prices for energy-intensive industries in (i) the UK and (ii) France and Germany and (b) grid and network charges in the UK and those countries.

The requested comparative estimates can be found in the Quarterly Energy Prices statistical publication published on GOV.UK. The most recent comparisons with EU countries are found in the June 2025 edition. Further comparative estimates including a discussion of the breakdown of network charging can be found in the consultation outcome relating to: The proposed uplift to the Network Charging Compensation Scheme for energy intensive industries published by the Department for Business and Trade in October of this year, and available here: Energy intensive industries (EIIs): consultation on the proposed uplift to the Network Charging Compensation Scheme for energy intensive industries - GOV.UK Estimates were also set out in the "international price gap" section of the consultation on the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, published on 24th November 2025. This consultation will be open for responses until 19th January 2026, and is available here: British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme: consultation on scheme eligibility and approach - GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 89642 on High Speed 2 Line, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the deferral of works on the Handsacre link on (a) journey times from the North West of England to London and (b) the economy during the four year deferral period.

As set out in my response of 20 November 2025 to question 89642, the deferral of work at Handsacre is not expected to have any impact on journey times for services from the North West of England to London once the delivery of HS2 is complete. The Department and HS2 Ltd are currently undertaking a full reset of the programme. As part of this reset the department will provide an update on the economic impact of the programme in a revised business case.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of air traffic controller recruitment and training capacity; and what steps she is taking to ensure adequate air traffic controller staffing for regional airports.

Air Traffic Control services in the UK operate in the private sector and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) who provide these services must ensure that they have adequate resources in place to safely operate. The pipeline for training new Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) is robust, with UK training centres currently operating at capacity. However, my department has just introduced secondary legislation giving the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) powers to recognise the previous training of third country and military ATCO’s towards meeting the requirements needed to achieve a UK civil ATCO licence. This will reduce the time it takes these individuals to become a civil ATCO in the UK and increase resilience across the sector.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s digital systems on the finances of legal aid firms; how many providers have received (a) partial and (b) emergency contingency payments since that incident; and what additional financial support he plans to provide to firms undertaking legal aid work without payment.

We acknowledge and appreciate the constructive way that providers have worked with us following the serious criminal attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) digital systems. They have continued to do vital work in challenging circumstances.From the outset the LAA has consulted with providers and provider representative bodies to understand their concerns. These consultations confirmed that maintaining cash flow was a key priority and we immediately took steps to ensure that providers had the cash flow that they needed.For some types of legal aid this meant adjusting the way in which providers submitted their claim for payment to the LAA. From 19 May, providers have been able to claim their usual payments for Legal Help, Crime Lower & Mediation work via a contingency process. Due to previous investment, the criminal legal aid systems were more modern, and internal access was restored more quickly. This enabled the LAA to resume paying Crown Court bills from early June.It was necessary to agree a payment contingency for Civil Representation work with HM Treasury. This led to the implementation of the Average Payment Scheme on 27 May. The Average Payment Scheme enables providers to opt in to receive a temporary average payment for Civil Representation work that would otherwise be due. Payments are made on a weekly basis. The weekly average payment is based on previous payments made to that provider over the preceding 3-month period.  Some providers have not opted in to receive payment, but it is there should they need it.As of 30 November, 2,045 advocates, and 1,206 legal aid provider offices have received payment through the Average Payment Scheme. As payments are calculated as a weekly average there is no scope or need to make a ‘partial’ or ‘emergency’ payment. However, there is, in addition, a simple escalation process in place to enable providers to request a payment in excess of the average amount offered to meet specific expenditure.We are satisfied that providers have been able to access payment for work carried out whilst systems have been offline.

Pursuant to the Answer to WPQ 94294, what is the (a) number (b) proportion of fares per week that will not be the same price or cheaper than the former super off-peak fare on the routes covered.

Although London North Eastern Railway voluntarily publish the proportion of Semi flexible fares sold that track against the adjusted price for the former super off-peak fare, as that fare no longer formally exists, the passenger assurances that are being tested in place of fares regulation are instead based upon a percentage of the price of the fully flexible ticket which remains available. The assurances are: There is a maximum price: prices cannot rise above the fully flexible price. A large selection of cheap seats: at least 2/3 of all fixed tickets sold are priced at 50 per cent or less than the price of the fully flexible ticket. A maximum of 10 per cent of all fixed tickets can be sold at 80 per cent or more of the fully flexible price. London North Eastern Railway has reported that only 10.1 per cent of standard advance fares were sold at over half the price of the fully flexible ticket as of July 2025.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of regional airlines and air links in the last five years on regional communities; and what steps she is taking to support the retention of regional air services.

The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector and it is for airports to invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines deliver services by responding to demand for different routes. The Aviation Council was established earlier this year as a strategic platform for Government and industry to work collaboratively on the long-term challenges and opportunities facing the UK aviation sector. The Council is co-chaired by myself, the Minister for Aviation, and Ken O’Toole, the CEO of Manchester Airport Group (MAG). The Council has formed five working groups to look at priority areas, including a Regional Connectivity working group to understand the factors that have influenced UK regional aviation connectivity, so recommendations can be made that would encourage growth. The Government continues to provide support for existing domestic air routes which are in danger of being lost through the use of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) regulations. The Department for Transport currently joint-funds three PSO air routes into London from Newquay, Dundee and Derry/Londonderry.

If he will take steps to reduce the rate of pub closures.

The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs and we are providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.We've introduced permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million annually, benefitting over 750,000 properties. The new relief rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap so all qualifying properties will benefit.The Chancellor announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of her budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.We're also investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services.

Pursuant to WPQ 93460, which roads are covered by the four departures from standards that were granted; and when those decisions were made.

The following four schemes were granted departures from standard:- The A1(M) J37-38. The departure was granted on the 2nd of December 2024- The M5 J23-24. The departure was granted on the 24th of April 2024- The M6 J37-38. The departure was granted on the 12th of May 2025- The M4 J13-14. The departure was granted on the 20th of August 2025

What estimate her Department has made of the fiscal cost of Benefit-in-Kind rates for zero-emission company cars, including (a) the cost of the 3 per cent rate in 2025–26, (b) the revenue forgone when the rate was 0 per cent and 2 per cent, and (c) any comparable figures for plug-in hybrid and ultra-low-emission vehicles.

The Government publishes annual statistics on HMRC’s taxable benefits in kind for company cars. These reports document the number of benefit in kind recipients, the CO2 emissions of company cars and their total taxable value. The latest statistics for the tax year 2023-24 were published in June 2025, and are accessible here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefits-in-kind-statistics-june-2025/benefit-in-kind-statistics-commentary-june-2025(opens in a new tab)

Pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2025 to WPQ 91458, how much revenue local authorities made from (a) traffic junction enforcement, (b) clean air zones and (c) congestion charging in 2024-25.

The Department does not hold this information centrally.