Richard Holden MP: written questions 2025
1652 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Office of Rail and RoadDepartment for TransportTabled 11 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76652More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Office of Rail and Road will (a) remain independent of Government and (b) retain oversight over Great British Railways’ decisions on (i) funding, (ii) licensing and (iii) track access.
Answer: The Government is committed to delivering a simpler, more accountable railway with clear responsibilities. The design of the new system and the creation of Great British Railways will ensure that decisions are clear, robust and transparent. Key sector bod...
Answered 19 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordBuses: DrivingDepartment for TransportTabled 11 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76651More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of removing the 50km restriction for 18- to 20-year-old bus and coach drivers on the (a) number of available drivers and (b) quality of (i) rural
Answer: The previous government launched a consultation on amending licensing restrictions to allow 18 to 20-year-olds to drive a bus and coach for distances exceeding 50km when driving a regular service. The previous government did not publish a response to its ...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordBuses and Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Young PeopleDepartment for TransportTabled 11 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76650More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Department has made of the effectiveness of minimum age requirements for (a) articulated lorry drivers and (b) bus and coach drivers; and whether she plans to remove the 50km restriction for
Answer: The previous government launched a consultation on amending licensing restrictions to allow 18 to 20-year-olds to drive a bus and coach for distances exceeding 50km when driving a regular service. The previous government did not publish a response to its ...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordBuses and Large Goods Vehicles: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 11 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76649More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 71238 on Buses and Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing, when her Department plans to publish a response.
Answer: The previous government launched a consultation on amending licensing restrictions to allow 18 to 20-year-olds to drive a bus and coach for distances exceeding 50km when driving a regular service. The previous government did not publish a response to its ...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSouth Western Railway: Personnel ManagementDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76344More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to ensure there is adequate payroll and human resources capacity within the Department to manage the employees of the newly nationalised South Western Railway operating compa
Answer: South Western Railway (SWR) has been responsible for the provision of its own payroll and human resources services both before and after being taken into public ownership. The public ownership programme sees train operating companies transition into the D...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76343More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to (a) allow fast-track approval routes, (b) introduce parliamentary sign-off and (c) implement other reforms to the judicial review process to help ensure nationally significant ro
Answer: The Department for Transport is committed to ensuring that nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), including major road schemes, are delivered efficiently and without unnecessary delay.The Department is actively exploring options to stream...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76342More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of judicial review challenges on the construction (a) timelines and (b) costs of nationally significant road infrastructure projects.
Answer: Judicial review is an important legal process that allows democratic challenge to the lawfulness of a decision. While it plays a vital role in upholding accountability and transparency, the Department has assessed that in some cases judicial reviews can h...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTaxis: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76341More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her oral contribution of 26 June 2025, Official Report, column 1241, whether her Department plans to restrict the practice of drivers obtaining (a) taxi and (b) private hire licences in one lo
Answer: All taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England have advised the Department that for drivers they require the highest level of vetting available, an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and a check of both the children’s and ad...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTaxis: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76340More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicle drivers obtaining licenses in areas known to have a weaker vetting on risks to passenger safety.
Answer: All taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England have advised the Department that for drivers they require the highest level of vetting available, an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and a check of both the children’s and ad...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTaxis: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76339More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to allow local licensing authorities to (a) inspect, (b) suspend and (c) revoke (i) taxi and (ii) private hire licences issued by other authorities for vehicles operating in their area.
Answer: All taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England have advised the Department that for drivers they require the highest level of vetting available, an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and a check of both the children’s and ad...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTaxis: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her oral answer to the hon. Member for Tipton and Wednesbury of 26 June 2025, Official Report, col 1241, what progress she has made on closing the loopholes in the taxi licensing regime.
Answer: All taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England have advised the Department that for drivers they require the highest level of vetting available, an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and a check of both the children’s and ad...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving: QualificationsDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to review the rules for recognising overseas driving tests as equivalent to those in Great Britain.
Answer: My department does not have any current plans to review the rules for recognising overseas driving tests.
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving Licences: Foreign NationalsDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76336More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the consultation outcome entitled Exchange of car driving licences issued in Moldova, published on 9 July 2025, whether her Department plans to review the 12-month period during which drivers
Answer: My department does not currently have any plans to review the 12-month exchange period during which drivers from non-EU, or non-EEA countries may drive in Great Britain without exchanging their licence.
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: Capital InvestmentDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76335More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Draft Road Investment Strategy 3, published on 26 August 2025, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing a revised list of Strategic Road Network enhancement projects that
Answer: The final Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3) document will confirm the enhancement projects being taken forward for delivery in the period from 2026/27 to 2030/31, and those in the pipeline being developed to be considered for possible delivery beyond 2031...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving Licences: MoldovaDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76334More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the consultation outcome entitled Exchange of car driving licences issued in Moldova, published on 9 July 2025, on what evidential basis the (a) DVLA and (b) DVSA assessed the Moldovan theory
Answer: Current driver licensing and testing standards in Moldova have been assessed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). The technical evaluation looks at the following, including: the minimum tes...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: Capital InvestmentDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76333More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Draft Road Investment Strategy 3, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) construction inflation and (b) other cost pressures on the (i) scope and (ii) deliv
Answer: Following the publication of the Draft Road Investment Strategy (RIS), National Highways has produced a draft Strategic Business Plan setting out how it intends to deliver the Government’s objectives within the proposed funding available, which the Office...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: Capital InvestmentDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76332More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Draft Road Investment Strategy 3, what proportion of funding originally allocated to enhancement schemes has been reallocated to (a) road renewals, (b) maintenance, (c) safety upgrades and
Answer: The Final Road Investment Strategy 3 document (RIS3), and National Highways’s subsequent final Delivery Plan for RIS3, will set out in detail matters such as the amount of funding allocated to operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancements as well as ...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: Capital InvestmentDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76331More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Draft Road Investment Strategy 3, published on 26 August 2025, which enhancement projects included in the Draft Road Investment Strategy 2 have been (a) cancelled, (b) paused and (c) desco
Answer: In any portfolio of this size, there will always be schemes that have feasibility or value for money issues that appear through the course of development, and there will always be a need to spend money on schemes to develop them to a certain stage to make...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: Capital InvestmentDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76330More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Draft Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3), published on 26 August 2025, whether she plans to publish the final RIS3 by March 2026.
Answer: As set out in the draft RIS3 document published on 26 August 2025, the Department does indeed intend to publish the final Road Investment Strategy 3 by March 2026.
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: Capital InvestmentDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76329More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Draft Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3), published on 26 August 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changing costs o
Answer: The Draft Road Investment Strategy provided the first public indication of the likely size, shape and priorities for RIS3 over the period 2026/27 to 2030/31. National Highways has produced a draft Strategic Business Plan setting out how it intends to deli...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Works: Fees and ChargesDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76328More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department’s guidance entitled Lane rental schemes: guidance for English highway authorities, updated on 3 April 2025, whether she has implemented the proposal to allow overrun charges und
Answer: Following consultation, the Government announced its intention to double fixed penalty notices, extend overrun charges to apply on bank holidays and weekends, and permit highway authorities to allocate 50% of surplus funds from lane rental schemes towards...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Works: Fixed PenaltiesDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76327More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department’s guidance entitled Lane rental schemes: guidance for English highway authorities, updated on 3 April 2025, whether she has implemented the proposal to double the level of fixed
Answer: Following consultation, the Government announced its intention to double fixed penalty notices, extend overrun charges to apply on bank holidays and weekends, and permit highway authorities to allocate 50% of surplus funds from lane rental schemes towards...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Works: Fees and ChargesDepartment for TransportTabled 10 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76326More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department’s guidance entitled Lane rental schemes: guidance for English highway authorities, updated on 3 April 2025, whether she has implemented the requirement for highway authorities t
Answer: Following consultation, the Government announced its intention to double fixed penalty notices, extend overrun charges to apply on bank holidays and weekends, and permit highway authorities to allocate 50% of surplus funds from lane rental schemes towards...
Answered 18 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAviation: FaresDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76051More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 71270 on Aviation: Fares, what her Department's policy is on airlines using (a) individualized and (b) surveillance pricing when setting air fares.
Answer: The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector. The cost of air fares is therefore determined by airlines, but airlines must always be compliant with competition and consumer protection laws when setting fares.
Answered 17 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordLobbying: Official HospitalityCabinet OfficeTabled 9 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76050More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 71219 on Lobbying: Official Hospitality, if she will publish the relevant guidance on holding departmental receptions at the offices of consultant lobbying
Answer: The Ministerial Code is published on GOV.UK. Guidance from the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is published on the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists’ website.
Answered 23 Sept 2025
Original Parliament record
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