Responsibility for light rail is devolved in England, where each local authority owns and is responsible for the operations and financial sustainability of its own network. This includes any potential extensions to existing systems.

As such, local authorities are best placed to identify possible opportunities and the potential benefits of such schemes.

The Government recognises that mass transit systems, including trams, are among the most complex of local transport interventions, which is why an independent Mass Transit Taskforce has been established to help city regions deliver mass transit schemes faster, at lower cost, and with greater confidence.

The Government set out a comprehensive package of measures in April 2025 to tackle long waiting times, aiming to deliver around 10,000 additional tests per month.

A key step was reintroducing overtime incentives. At Nottingham (Chilwell) driving test centre (DTC), 423 additional overtime tests were delivered between June 2025 and May 2026 when compared to the previous year. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme the agency introduced in June 2025.

As well as this, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continuing with recruitment campaigns and going further to make the booking system fairer. These are practical steps to increase supply, protect access to tests, and bring waiting times down.

From recent recruitment at Nottingham (Chilwell) driving test centre (DTC), DVSA has had 4 new driving examiners (DE) start in the last 12 months. There is also 3 potential new DEs currently undergoing employment checks with another 2 currently in training and booked on a future training course respectively. If all are successful this would mean Nottingham (Chilwell) DTC would be fully resourced, however, DVSA will be regularly reviewing the situation in line with modelling and recruitment needs.

DVSA has published more detailed data-sets so learners can get better understanding of the booking system. More information and waiting time data, including Nottingham (Chilwell) DTC and other DTCs serving the area, can be found on GOV.UK.

Economic growth is the number one mission of this Government. The Department for Transport is playing a key role in this, as we recognise the potential for transport investment to have a significant impact on local economic development across the country, including for Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham.

My Department is currently developing an Integrated National Transport Strategy, which will set the high-level direction for how transport should be designed, built and operated in England over the next 10 years. It will set out a single national vision that will put people who use transport and their needs at its heart and empower local leaders to deliver integrated transport solutions that meet the needs of their local communities.

In December, the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a zero-based Spending Review, to ensure every line of spending – including the transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers. We expect the Spending Review, which includes consideration of previously unfunded schemes such as Coventry-Leicester-Nottingham connectivity, to conclude by June 2025.

The scope for increased frequency is limited by current infrastructure which is being considered as part of the proposed Midlands Rail Hub project. In terms of capacity, CrossCountry has recently declassified First Class accommodation on services from Birmingham to Cardiff, Nottingham and Stansted Airport to provide a number of additional seats for all ticket holders.

The Department has funded 12 cascaded Voyager trains for CrossCountry Inter-city routes to provide additional capacity for passengers, including on routes that overlap with Birmingham to Nottingham services, thereby spreading demand across more carriages. Three of these trains are already in service, the rest will start in May.

East Midlands Railway is replacing its diesel-only Class 222 trains with bi-mode Class 810s as part of the East Midlands franchise award. These new bi-mode trains will gradually be introduced into service starting in early 2025 and are anticipated to significantly reduce air pollution emissions at Nottingham station and in the surrounding areas. The impact of these changes will be monitored by the Department for Transport's £4.5 million Air Quality Monitoring Network, which measures air pollution at selected stations across Great Britain, including Nottingham Station.

Work is already underway to electrify the Midland Main Line (MML) with progress being made to install overhead line equipment between Kettering and Wigston, as well as upgrades south of Bedford to be completed in 2025. During 2024 Network Rail are continuing currently funded design and pre-construction between Wigston Junction north towards Trent Junction, a further 28.4 miles (45.7 route kilometres) of electrification on the MML. Recent plans from Network Rail indicate that electrification of the Midlands Main Line route to Sheffield and Nottingham could be completed in the early 2030s.

The Government provides annual grant funding worth a total of approximately £7m to twelve Mobility Centres in England. The Mobility Centres of England promote equality of opportunity for disabled and older people by finding solutions to enable more people to keep driving or retain mobility.

Mobility Centres funded by the Department for Transport must be fully accredited by the umbrella charity Driving Mobility to receive funding. Nottingham’s Mobility Centre is not funded by the Government because it is not accredited by Driving Mobility, and therefore is not eligible for additional funding.

Less than 20 miles away from Nottingham, Derby DrivAbility is accredited by Driving Mobility and receives grant funding from the Department for Transport, including an additional allocation of funding for the Hubs Mobility Service.

Under the extension to the Bus Recovery Grant and £2 Bus Fare Cap, up to £155m in additional funding has been made available to the bus sector. Funding is paid to both commercial bus operators and Local Transport Authorities. The majority of funding in both schemes is paid to commercial operators, and the amount each individual operator receives is commercially sensitive.

Funding allocations provided to Local Transport Authorities under both of these grants will be confirmed to them in due course. Once these allocations have been confirmed, Local Transport Authorities are free to publish this information.

Nottingham City Council and Nottingham County Council have been paid over £5.5m and almost £3m respectively in additional funding since March 2020 to support services through the pandemic, and then into the recovery phase.

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The £2 bus fare cap is not only innovative in helping people save money on their regular transport costs, but helping to take 2 million car journeys off our roads. There are 4,600 routes across England in the scheme, including the 44 bus from Nottingham and the 53 and 39 buses. I look forward to visiting my hon. Friend very soon.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting Nottingham City Transport to discuss the new £2 single bus fare. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that—coupled with the recent £11.4 million grant to Nottingham to support bus services, including the Lime Line services and 53 and 39 buses that run through my constituency—there is no better time for Gedling residents to take the bus for work and leisure?

Although unable to discuss individual projects at this time, the Government is now focusing our investment on rail infrastructure in the Midlands and the North. This will help deliver on the Government’s ambition to grow and level up the economy and provide equality of opportunity.

We remain committed to publishing the RNEP update, which has been delayed by the need to take account of the impacts of the pandemic and the Spending Review. We want to provide as much clarity and certainty as possible on rail enhancements and will set out our plans shortly.

Midlands Connect produced an SOBC in May 2021 for this scheme, which examines the impacts of the proposed scheme on these areas.

We remain committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Programme update, which has been delayed by the need to take account of the impacts of the pandemic and the Spending Review.

Midlands Connect produced an SOBC in May 2021 for this scheme, which examines the impacts of the proposed scheme on these areas.

We remain committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Programme update, which has been delayed by the need to take account of the impacts of the pandemic and the Spending Review.

Midlands Connect produced an SOBC in May 2021 which provides a high-level summary of the environmental implications of this scheme.

We remain committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Programme update, which has been delayed by the need to take account of the impacts of the pandemic and the Spending Review.

We want to provide as much clarity and certainty as possible on rail enhancements and will set out our plans shortly.

I met with the CEO of Warwick District Council yesterday to discuss their priorities for rail infrastructure in the region, and welcome their continued efforts to provide informed insight into local transport needs.

The Government has committed to the largest ever single investment in Britain’s railways with the £96bn Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands. We will construct a new high speed line from the West Midlands to the East Midlands which will directly serve Nottingham and Derby and allow interchange at East Midlands Parkway.

In addition, we will complete electrification of the Midland Main Line, including Leicester whilst progressing options for Midlands Rail Hub, focusing on improving links across the Midlands, including Hereford, Worcester and Coventry.

We remain committed to publishing the RNEP update, which has been delayed by the need to take account of the impacts of the pandemic and the Spending Review. We want to provide as much clarity and certainty as possible on rail enhancements and will set out our plans shortly.

Midlands Connect produced an SOBC for this scheme in May 2021, which refers to potential uses that this proposal could have for rail freight.

Although unable to discuss individual projects at this time the Government is now focusing our investment on rail infrastructure in the Midlands and the North. This will help deliver on the Government’s ambition to grow and level up the economy and provide equality of opportunity.

We remain committed to publishing the RNEP update, which has been delayed by the need to take account of the impacts of the pandemic and the Spending Review. We want to provide as much clarity and certainty as possible on rail enhancements and will set out our plans shortly.

Although unable to discuss individual projects at this time the Government is focusing our investment on rail infrastructure in the Midlands and the North.