theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Jo Platt:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Resilience Review has incorporated input from the voluntary and community sector; and what steps he plans to take to facilitate ongoing collaboration in resilience planning and response. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office recognises the valuable role that the voluntary and community sector can play in all aspects of resilience. The Cabinet Office has ensured that contributions from a range of Voluntary, Community, and Faith sector representatives have been able to inform the resilience review, specifically to inform the understanding of disproportionate impacts to at-risk groups in emergencies. The Cabinet Office has ongoing engagement with the sector. The Head of Resilience in the Cabinet Office chairs the Voluntary and Community Sector Strategic Discussion Forum every six months. The Forum brings together senior leaders from national voluntary sector organisations and central government. We will continue to explore opportunities to further strengthen voluntary, community and faith sector engagement to build national resilience as part of the resilience review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Jo Platt:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to ensure that the findings of the Government's Resilience Review (a) reflect the specific needs of and (b) engage with (i) people on low incomes, (ii) people who face discrimination and (iii) other disproportionately impacted communities. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Disproportionate impacts and vulnerability is a key focus of the Cabinet Office-led review of our approach to resilience. We are engaging with charitable, faith and other representative organisations to understand how the reduction and prevention of disproportionate impacts to at-risk groups and persons can be better considered in resilience planning and policy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Jo Platt:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on long-term funding and resource allocations for cross-government resilience work; and how these agreements will support the delivery of the Government's Resilience Review recommendations. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Spending Review will set resource or day-to-day departmental budgets until 2028-29 and capital departmental budgets until 2029-30. I and my Cabinet Office officials engage regularly with HM Treasury to support the Spending Review, the outcomes of which will inform the delivery of the Resilience Review. The resilience review is considering established practices and policies to support UK resilience against the full spectrum of risks we face. It is evidence based and is identifying what should be kept, changed or improved to ensure we are best prepared now and into the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26089 on Ministers and Public Appointments, whether that legal advice was sought. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 30 January in response to PQ 26089.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on a UK-EU youth mobility scheme. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Government set out clear priorities for the reset with the EU in the manifesto. There are no plans for a Youth Mobility Scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's transparency data entitled Cabinet Office spend approvals: July to September 2024, published on 17 December 2024, who the payment with reference HMGP7103 is to; what the purpose is; and what period of time it covers. \p Georgia Gould: The payment is to the landlord of offices occupied by government at 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ. The purpose is for payment of rent. It covers the time period of June 2024 to June 2025
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to regulate the cost of Office for National Statistics surveys. \p Georgia Gould: The Office of National Statistics is part of the UK Statistics Authority, a Non Ministerial Department which is directly accountable to the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly. Its budget is awarded directly from HM Treasury.

As per the Code of Practice for Statistics (including as referenced in the Ministerial Code), the UN’s Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the broader Nolan principles of propriety in public life, Ministers have no role in the decision making of the Authority Board or day-to-day management decisions of the Office of National Statistics.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what purposes HM Courts and Tribunals Service has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Sarah Sackman: Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

Work to date has involved early-stage testing of solutions including productivity tools like Microsoft Co-pilot, intelligent document processing, knowledge management and transcription, to help our staff operate effectively and efficiently. However, we currently have no live AI systems in use across our operations and front-line services.

A small number of staff are trialling the use of Microsoft 365 Co-pilot as part of a Ministry of Justice wide pilot, looking to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks.

HMCTS can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Ethics Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were awaiting a crown court date on (a) 4 July 2024 and (b) 28 January 2025. \p Sarah Sackman: The information requested for January is a subset of future official accredited statistics on the Crown Court open caseload due to be published according to a pre-announced quarterly timetable as part of the Criminal Court statistics publication. It is not possible to provide the data requested for July, as such information comes from a live operational database which is updated monthly, with the previous month overwritten each month as new cases enter the system, and existing cases progress.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the (a) maximum amount of possible court time and (b) actual court time used for each Crown Court in each of the last 12 months. \p Sarah Sackman: The information requested can be found in the table attached which provides a monthly breakdown per Crown Court location showing the maximum available court time (verified session hours) and the actual court time (hours used). A ‘session’ represents the time that a court/hearing room space is available, with up to two sessions (AM and PM) available each sitting day.

The data provided is for the period 12 months to June 2024, as the Crown Court source of data relating to used sessions changed on 1 July 2024. Data since July 2024 is being quality assured for accuracy.

It is important to note that there are various reasons why courts will in practice never be able to utilise 100% of their available session hours. For example: lost time in transition between different hearings when one set of parties leaves a courtroom and another then must enter, pausing proceedings to allow counsel to seek instructions from lay clients, allowing respective legal teams to discuss unforeseen developments in a trial, delays caused by witness non-attendance or prisoner production, and courtroom maintenance or technology problems. However, the independent judiciary, supported by HM Courts and Tribunals Service staff, will always seek to mitigate any down time by bringing on alternative work to fill gaps and maximise courtroom utilisation as far as possible within the boundaries of allocated funding.

These data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics and subject to data quality issues inherent in any large-scale manual system. The data provided is the most recent available and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information. Explanations of the specific data provided are set out at the foot of the table where appropriate.

Table (xlsx, 31.0KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Liz Saville Roberts:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people resident in England prior to entering custody were being held in prison in (a) England and (b) Wales broken down by local authority area in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (ii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.

Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.

This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

Table (xlsx, 710.3KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the value for money of rehabilitation of foreign national offenders. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: We provide rehabilitation services to offenders given community sentences and those sent to prison. All Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) given custodial sentences are referred to the Home Office to consider deportation.

HMPPS manages the risks and rehabilitation of FNOs, including any subject to deportation orders, to reduce risk and keep the public safe. During this time, practitioners will have access to a full range of risk management interventions until the FNO is deported and no longer under HMPPS’ jurisdiction or statutory oversight.

As per the approach of the previous Government, we conduct evaluations and assessments of the effectiveness of rehabilitative services, but we have not made any specific assessment of the value for money in relation to FNOs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to expedite the judicial process for those charged with domestic abuse offences. \p Alex Davies-Jones: As part of our landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, we are committed to strengthening the justice system’s response to domestic abuse.

Decisions on case listing are a matter for the independent judiciary, who do, where possible, look to prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, such as victims of domestic abuse.

Most domestic abuse cases are heard in Magistrates’ Courts where cases move more swiftly than at the Crown Court. Despite this, we recognise that some cases are taking longer to work through the system.  We are actively exploring the merits of specialist court models and have committed to fast-track rape cases through the Crown Court.

In November, we launched the Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO) pilot to provide more protection for victims and we have also committed to introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to tackle first cousin marriage. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The new Government will consider existing marriage law, including the Law Commission’s 2022 wedding report, before publicly setting out a position on this important issue.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Shivani Raja:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure bodies of deceased individuals are released promptly to families from minority religious communities. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Since 9 September 2024, all deaths in any health setting that are not investigated by a coroner will be reviewed by NHS medical examiners. NHS England has published the National Medical Examiner’s guidance which stipulates that arrangements at each medical examiner office should reflect local health priorities and the needs of communities, particularly if there is regular demand for urgent release of bodies at weekends and public holidays. Urgent release may be required to facilitate organ and tissue donation, or to fulfil religious practices and other needs of local communities.

The Royal College of Pathologists provides mandatory face-to-face training for medical examiners, which includes contributions from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Gardens of Peace in which they explain the importance of rapid scrutiny to facilitate burial as soon as possible. The e-learning modules for medical examiners also include faith considerations.

For deaths which are investigated by the coroner, the Chief Coroner has issued a suite of Guidance to assist coroners with the law and their legal duties, and to provide advice on policy and practice. The Chief Coroner’s Guidance No.28 on Decision Making and Expedited Decisions is intended to be a practical guide to assist coroners in situations where a bereaved family has made a request to the coroner for urgent consideration of the death of a loved one and/or early release of their body; or where the coroner or coroner’s officers otherwise become aware of features of a particular death which may justify treating it as especially urgent.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) transparency of private companies that provide public services for her department and (b) protection of their commercially sensitive data. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice recognises the importance of the Government’s transparency obligations on public spending and routinely publishes relevant information in accordance with the legal and policy framework that governs public sector procurement. This includes publication of a contract award notice and a copy of the redacted contract (where appropriate), where the Ministry of Justice has awarded a contract to a private company to provide public services. There are specific thresholds and timescales in place which determine the publication obligations to be applied.

In complying with these transparency obligations, the Ministry of Justice ensures it also follows the requirements set out under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), to establish whether there are any permitted exemptions or redactions on commercial sensitivity grounds.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the cost-effectiveness of her Department's Arm's Length Bodies. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) play a critical role in the delivery of the Department’s priorities and statutory responsibilities. ALB budgets are agreed through the Department’s spending review and allocations process. Their efficiency, effectiveness and performance are scrutinised through regular, robust oversight and assurance activities, in line with the ALB Sponsorship Code of Good Practice, and through their inclusion in the Cabinet Office’s Public Bodies Review Programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what purposes His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

Staff in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation service are part of a controlled pilot that is testing the use of Microsoft 365 Copilot.

All use of artificial intelligence in the Ministry of Justice is undertaken in line with the Ministry’s AI Ethics Framework and aligned with the Generative AI Framework for government and the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21413, Prisons: Procurement, what recent estimate she has made of the potential savings to the public purse of awarding prison maintenance contracts to the public sector. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Government is committed to ensuring professional Facility Management services across its prison estate and has initiated a programme of work that will put in place new contracts for the provision of maintenance services for prisons. These are being competitively tendered. As the procurement process is currently live, information regarding potential savings is commercially and market sensitive and therefore not able to be disclosed at the current time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prison places were built between (a) May 1997-May 2010 and (b) May 2010 and July 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Available records do not provide a complete breakdown of how many new prison places were built between May 1997 and May 2010. However, during this timeframe, the total operational capacity of the prison system increased from 61,927 to 89,757, a net increase of 27,830 places. This figure reflects the overall change in capacity, which includes newly built places. It also accounts for places removed from use across the period.

Between May 2010 and July 2024, the total operational capacity of the prison system increased from 89,757 to 90,212, a net increase of 455 places.

Our recently announced 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy outlines a target of 14,000 new prison places by 2031, supported by £2.3 billion in funding for prison builds over the next two years.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps to improve the mental health of HGV drivers. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Health and Safety Executive launched their Working Minds campaign in the transport sector, partnered with the Road Haulage Association. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the legal duty to prevent work-related stress and provides support and resources including risk assessment templates, examples and practical toolkits.

The Department regularly engages with stakeholders to discuss matters of concern to the industry, including those relating to driver wellbeing.

To improve the working conditions of HGV drivers while on the road, the department and industry are jointly investing up to £43.5 million to upgrade truckstops across England. This is on top of up to £26 million joint investment by National Highways and industry in lorry parking facilities along the strategic roads network.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department holds information on the percentage of truck stops on the Strategic Road Network which have free toilet facilities. \p Lilian Greenwood: The department does not maintain records on the number of toilet facilities across its network. These facilities are operated commercially by private entities, who are responsible for ensuring they comply with legislative requirements and meet customer needs.

All Motorway Service Areas, Motorway Rest Areas, All-Purpose Trunk Road Service Areas, Motorway Truck Stops, Truck Stops on All-Purpose Trunk Roads and Truck Stops which benefit from signs from the strategic road network must provide free parking for a minimum of 2 hours for all vehicles permitted to use the facility and free-to-use toilets with hand washing facilities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many electric vehicle pilots were administered by Highways England in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was per pilot. \p Lilian Greenwood: National Highways has an electric vehicle pilot working group. It has undertaken 3 electric vehicle trials as follows:

2023 – present: £337,382.83

2024 – present: £453,487.40

2024 – present: £16,206.05

The first two pilot projects listed were supported via the National Highways designated funds programme to support its commitment to progress towards a zero-emission fleet.

The third pilot was provided as a business demonstrator, provided on a loan basis by the vehicle manufacturer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will list all (a) start and (b) end dates for lease agreements held by Highways England for their vehicle fleet. \p Lilian Greenwood: National Highways does not currently have any lease agreements for vehicles in place for its vehicle fleet.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of lighting on (a) motorways and (b) A roads has been replaced with LEDs in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was of this work. \p Lilian Greenwood: The answer could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Office of Road and Rail on reducing decision making times on the introduction of new rail routes (a) to and from London, (b) between London and Wales and (c) between Shropshire and London. \p Simon Lightwood: Access to the rail network is a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its capacity as independent regulator for the rail industry. The Department works closely with both ORR and Network Rail to ensure that information to inform access decisions is provided in as timely a manner as possible, however it is important that decisions are fully considered and potential impacts to taxpayers, the efficient operation of the network, and to other operators are properly assessed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) average, (b) shortest and (c) longest wait was for determination of an application for a new rail line by a private operator for each year that records are available. \p Simon Lightwood: Access to the rail network is a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its capacity as independent regulator for the rail industry.

ORR have advised that since 2020, it has determined four applications for wholly new open access services. ORR rejected one and approved three. The time taken to go through the industry processes and reach a decision on these applications was as follows:

- Grand Union Trains (London – Stirling): 126 days

- Grand Union Trains Application 1 (London – Carmarthen): 281 days

- Grand Union Trains Application 2 (London – Carmarthen): 163 days

- Go-op: 783 days

The Go-op process involved significant changes to the application from the applicant over the course of two years. For all of these applications, ORR took decisions within 6 weeks of receiving all relevant information from the parties.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the expansion of Heathrow Airport on (a) noise pollution, (b) air quality and (c) carbon targets. \p Mike Kane: The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer.

Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the expansion of Heathrow Airport on levels of air pollution in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Mike Kane: The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer.

Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to support the expansion of Southend Airport. \p Mike Kane: The Government recognises a role for, and is supportive of, airport expansion where it provides economic growth and is compatible with our net zero targets and strict environmental standards.

Should Southend Airport submit a planning application to expand the airport, it would be considered in line with the relevant planning process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a third runway at Heathrow on carbon emissions. \p Mike Kane: The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer.

Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Lower Thames Crossing on residents of (a) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency and (b) other surrounding areas. \p Lilian Greenwood: The deadline for the decision on the application for a Development Consent Order by National Highways for the Lower Thames Crossing is 23 May 2025. The impacts of the Lower Thames Crossing, including the concerns of local residents, will be fully considered before a decision on the Development Consent Order is made. Given this is a live planning application to be determined by my Department, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much and what proportion of the Lower Thames Crossing is expected to be funded using public money. \p Lilian Greenwood: Officials and National Highways are exploring all funding options for the Lower Thames Crossing, including private finance. As with all capital projects, spending decisions will be subject to the upcoming spending review and business case process.

The assured cost estimate in line with the 2023 baseline for the project is £8.95bn, but it is important to recognise that there is a normal level of uncertainty at this early stage of the development of a project of the size and complexity of the Lower Thames Crossing.

Over £800m has been spent on the project to date. This includes the technical surveys and investigations, land purchasing costs, as well as the Development Consent Order application and the three contracts to deliver the project.

Following the announcement of the preferred route in April 2017, the subsequent statutory consultation in 2018 reported that the cost of developing and constructing the project was between £5.3-£6.8 billion. Prolongation and inflationary costs along with continued development of the project have resulted in the updated estimate.

There is a robust framework to ensure that projects such as the Lower Thames Crossing continue to be assessed at all stages of the project. The project adheres to the Departmental governance framework as a Tier 1 project – this represents the Department’s projects that are either one or a combination of the largest, highest risk, novel and/or contentious. The project is assessed against several factors, including the scheme objectives and value for money.

It also continues to follow the HM Treasury approval process for programmes and projects, as well as the Green Book and the Department for Transport’s Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what low carbon (a) materials and (b) methods are used by Highways England in road (i) maintenance and (ii) construction. \p Lilian Greenwood: National Highways use a wide range of low carbon materials and methods such as using bio-binders and recycled materials in asphalt, stipulating lower carbon concrete mixes in construction contracts, and investing in research and development into low-carbon materials. National Highways also follow lean construction practices and the principles of the circular economy to embed approaches that minimise emissions, including updating their standards - the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) - to include use of recycled materials. Additional information on National Highways, ambitious programme for putting roads at the heart of Britain’s net zero future can be found online (see: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/netzerohighways/) and within their ‘Net zero highways Our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan’.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_46

Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points across (a) Heywood and Middleton North constituency and (b) Greater Manchester. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). As of January 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 73,334 publicly available charging devices, up 37% on this time last year.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which includes Heywood and Middleton North constituency, has been allocated almost £17.6m capital and resource funding through the Local EV Infrastructure Fund to increase the number of local public chargepoints across the area.

In December we also announced new initiatives to support and speed up chargepoint infrastructure delivery across the country. This included measures to make it easier for industry to install chargepoints, new guidance for local authorities, and publishing the outcome of a review on improving the grid connection process for EV charging infrastructure.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_47
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_47

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse for Highways England to decarbonise (a) internal operations by 2030, (b) road maintenance and construction by 2040, and (c) travel on roads by 2050. \p Lilian Greenwood: The draft third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), which will cover five years from April 2026 to March 2031, will be published in due course. This will set out the Government’s objectives for the Strategic Road Network and the funding available. This includes in relation to National Highways’ climate obligations and commitments.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_48
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_48

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of Highways England vehicles that were (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hydrogen, (d) hybrid, (e) plug-in hybrid and (f) fully electric in each year between 2014 and 2024. \p Lilian Greenwood: National Highways keeps records of the vehicles that make up its fleet; the breakdown of vehicle fuel type between 2014 and 2024 can be found in the table below.

Vehicle Type

Year

Petrol

Diesel

Hydrogen

Hybrid

Plug-in Hybrid

Fully Electric

2014

0

685

0

0

0

0

2015

0

717

0

0

0

0

2016

0

730

0

0

0

1

2017

0

755

0

0

0

1

2018

0

784

0

0

0

1

2019

0

826

0

0

35

1

2020

0

833

0

0

312

19

2021

0

833

0

0

440

20

2022

0

762

0

0

616

39

2023

0

597

0

0

811

57

2024

0

460

0

0

883

132

National Highways have an ambitious plan for their non-traffic officer vehicles to be 100% electric by 2027, with traffic officer vehicles to be 100% electric by 2030 (as laid out in their Net zero highways: our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan).
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_49
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Highways England and (b) Distribution Network Operators on steps to accelerate the upgrades to substations near charging points on (i) motorways and (ii) A roads. \p Lilian Greenwood: Government is committed to accelerating the rollout of EV charging infrastructure to support long journeys in line with ambitions for a zero emission car, van and HGV fleet. Access to a comprehensive ultra-rapid chargepoint network will enable more consumers to confidently purchase electric vehicles.

There has been good progress on chargepoints on our Strategic Road Network (SRN), covering motorways and major A Roads in England. There are now over 4,500 rapid and ultra rapid chargers within one mile of the strategic road network, a major increase since January 2022 (Zapmap). Within this, there are over 1,100 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints (industry data) at motorway service areas in England, which is an over 40% increase in the last year.

Government is taking a range of actions to support improvements in charging infrastructure on the SRN, including to address gaps in the network, and has been engaging closely with industry, including distribution network operators (DNOs).

This includes working with Ofgem and distribution network operators to develop a new, more affordable, approach so power capacity use at charging sites can be increased over time in line with demand, and on the Green Recovery Scheme, a £300m scheme to accelerate network investment. Government has worked with National Highways to deliver a joint Energy Storage Systems (ESS) project (£11m) to fund batteries, and on a £70m pilot scheme to part-fund grid upgrades, both to support charging at motorway sites.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_50
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_50

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what purposes the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Mike Kane: MCA are using Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is a Generative AI tool for productivity. This tool is being trialled by a selected number of users. Copilot has been used to undertake tasks such as summarising documents, minute taking, report writing and document comparisons.

AI is not currently in use within the MCA systems or for any citizen services.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_51
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_51

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many claims have been successful for vehicles that have been damaged by potholes in the last year. \p Lilian Greenwood: On England’s Strategic Road Network, compensation claims of this sort are a matter for National Highways, and their website provides further details of how claims are dealt with. Between 1 January and 31 December 2024, National Highways received 1552 claims for vehicle damage due to potholes, of which 717 (or 46%) have been successful.

On local roads, compensation claims of this sort are a matter for the relevant local highway authority and the Department does not collect data on it.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_52
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_52

Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rural road safety. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Government recognises that the majority of road fatalities (according to the latest statistics) occurred on rural roads (60%) with fewer fatalities on urban roads (35%) and motorways (5%).

The Department has awarded local authorities £185.8 million of funding between 2017 and 2024 through the Safer Roads Fund to improve the safety of England's most high risk 'A' roads. To date, it has funded 445.3 miles of rural roads which make up 62.4% of all funded routes.

The Department is developing a road safety strategy, the first in over ten years, and we will set out more details in due course.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_53
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_53

Sojan Joseph:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the provision of bus services in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent. \p Simon Lightwood: The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in Kent. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Kent County Council has been allocated over £23 million of this funding. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_54
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_54

Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve public transport connections in (a) South Derbyshire constituency and (b) the East Midlands. \p Simon Lightwood: The government knows that a modern public transport network is vital to providing access to services and keeping communities connected. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders. In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. East Midlands Combined County Authority have been allocated £40.5 million of this funding, helping to improve bus services across the area, including South Derbyshire. In total, Local Transport Authorities across the East Midlands have been allocated £81 million of this funding.

The government also launched its plan to develop an Integrated National Transport Strategy which will set the long-term vision for transport in England to better serve all people who use it, including those in South Derbyshire and across the East Midlands.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_55
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_55

Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from aviation. \p Mike Kane: The Government is supporting a wide range of measures to decarbonise aviation. In January, we implemented a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) mandate to generate demand and have committed to introduce a Revenue Certainty Mechanism to spur investment in UK SAF production.

In addition, the Government is committed to delivering a fully modernised UK airspace, resulting in journeys that are cleaner, quicker and quieter. We are also supporting the development of new low and zero carbon emission aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme, with nearly £1bn of additional funding announced in October.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_56
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_56

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23517 on Crime: Westminster Bridge, which public bodies are responsible for law enforcement in relation to (a) unlawful gambling, (b) unlawful street vendors, (c) red line parking and (d) unlicensed pedicabs on Westminster Bridge. \p Simon Lightwood: Localised incidents of illegal gambling are the responsibility of the relevant licensing authority and relevant police force. In the case of Westminster Bridge, this is Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police. The police are able to ask street vendors to show their licence. Westminster Bridge is on the Transport for London Road Network and enforcement action against illegally parked vehicles there is a matter for Transport for London (TfL). The Pedicabs (London) Act 2024 conferred powers onto TfL to regulate London’s pedicab industry for the first time, and TfL has now begun the process of consulting on the proposed regulations.
wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_57
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-05 conversation_57

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trees have been planted by Highways England in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was of this work. \p Lilian Greenwood: National Highways (NH) does not keep a central record of the number of trees they have planted across England in any given year. However, as outlined in their ‘Net zero highways: our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan’, NH aims to plant at least 3 million trees by 2030 (in addition to the trees planted as ‘essential mitigation’ for projects).