Let me thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. Air quality in relation to both pilot and passenger safety is of real concern to the Department for Transport. We undertake work constantly to monitor the impact of cabin air quality on those affected groups, and I would be glad to have a further conversation with him to take that work further.

In my capacity as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cabin air quality, I recently met pilots and cabin crew about the impact of fume events and the lifelong consequences that they can have for them. What steps are the Government taking to investigate, research, regulate and mitigate those issues?

The Government's national transport strategy, Better Connected, published on 2 April 2026, committed to updating the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions. The proposed changes include the introduction of side road zebra crossings in England, supporting safer, more accessible and convenient crossing facilities for people walking and wheeling.

In developing these changes the Department will be considering all relevant evidence.

The Department for Transport’s research report titled ‘Disabled people’s experiences of rail: qualitative research findings’ cost £102,000 and was commissioned to update the evidence base on disabled people’s experiences of rail which directly informs accessibility policy.

Transport Focus supports the Government’s 2050 Net Zero target by ensuring that its passenger advocacy and research activities recognise the need for a more sustainable transport system. This includes incorporating questions on environmental priorities and decarbonisation into its passenger surveys, using evidence from research to inform advice to the Department and the transport industry on how passenger behaviour and expectations can support modal shift, and engaging with operators and policymakers on the passenger implications of decarbonisation measures.

Transport Focus does not have a separate programme or ring‑fenced budget specifically for Net Zero activity. This work is undertaken as part of its core statutory functions and is funded from its existing grant‑in‑aid from the Department for Transport. As such, there are no additional or separately identifiable costs to the public purse arising from this activity.

Our priority is always the safety of passengers and crew, and we continue to work with industry and regulators to drive improvements in safety standards. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has investigated fume events on aircraft, including research into the sources of fumes and their potential effects, and raised safety recommendations to address the issue of potential incapacitation of flight crew from such fume events.

Fume and smoke events must be reported as part of the UK Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Regulation. Such reports are analysed by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) airworthiness department specialists to inform policy and the scientific literature on toxicology of fume events is under continuous review by colleagues in the CAA’s Medical Department.

The CAA website includes a detailed overview of the research that has been undertaken on the topic and the conclusions of a recent study commissioned by my department and undertaken by the Committee on Toxicity (COT). This found that the levels of chemical contaminants reviewed in aircraft cabin air are unlikely to cause adverse health effects following acute or long-term exposures. The CAA continues to monitor developments and remains receptive to any new peer-reviewed published research or technological innovation.

The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) research and development programme funds a range of interventions that develop clean maritime technologies across the Technological Readiness Level scale. In September 2025 this Government announced it would invest a further £448 million between 2026-2030 into clean maritime technologies.

In March 2026 this Government launched the £121 million Round 7 of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) and £150 million Round 2 of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition. We also allocated £1.25m from the UK SHORE programme to another round of Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) which UK SHORE is supporting with £1.25 million this financial year. We intend to launch two further rounds of CMDC ahead of 2030. This on top of the over £270 million invested between 2021 to 2025. Roughly £169 million went towards six Rounds of CMDC, £93 million to the first Round of ZEVI, £7.7 million to the Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund, £1.5 million to support the TRIG, and £3.7 million to the Clean Maritime Research Hub.

The research report on unadopted roads is currently being finalised. The Government intends to publish the report later this year.

The research that has been commissioned on floating bus stops (FBS) seeks to assess if, where and when FBS designs are appropriate in different contexts. The research has a focus on safety, accessibility and user experience and aims to improve the evidence base for FBS as well as informing future national guidance.

ATE has appointed Costain, as lead of a multi‑disciplinary consortium, to deliver the research.

The consortium includes a range of organisations with expertise in relevant fields across transport, road safety, and research. Accessibility experts are also embedded within the team. The research includes structured engagement with a wide range of users, including disabled people, through a Disability Advisory Group, ethnographic research and user testing to ensure different accessibility needs are considered throughout.

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is currently leading a research project, 'Cost Benefit Analysis of Noise Mitigation on the Rail Network', to support the Government's Noise Action Plans and development of future rail noise policy. There are no plans at the current time to commission research specifically on the impact of noise pollution from passenger information announcements.

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

‘Science, Research and Support Functions’ is an Estimate Line descriptor shown in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply within the 2024-25 Annual Report & Accounts. All costs recorded on this Estimate line are incurred by the Core department. A breakdown of the spending recorded in this Estimate Line for 2024-25 and 2023-24 is provided below.

Spending in 2024-25

Individual programmes incurring more than £5m spending in 2024-25, were:

• Bus Open Data Service (£11m, Capital DEL). This is the Department for Transport’s national digital platform that enables bus operators and certain local authorities to meet their legal obligations to publish bus service data. https://www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/
• Road statistics survey and collection (£7m, Resource DEL) https://roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk/
• National Travel survey (£5m, Resource DEL)
  https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-survey-statistics

Spending in 2023-24

Individual programmes incurring more than £5m spending in 2023-24, were:

• Bus Open Data Service (£13m Capital DEL).
• Road statistics survey and collection (£7m Resource DEL).
• National Travel Survey (£5m, Resource DEL).

Ipsos UK has been commissioned by the Department for Transport to conduct research into the operation of sections 37 and 38 of the Highways Act 1980 and to assess whether the current road adoption system remains fit for purpose. As part of this work, Ipsos are engaging a range of organisations, including house builders of varying sizes, local highway and planning authorities, councillors, and residents.

Residents have been sampled from areas including Cambridge, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Northumberland, Barnsley, Cheshire East, Gloucestershire and Milton Keynes. Interviews have also been conducted with several local authorities including Warwickshire, Barnsley, Cambridge, Cheshire East, Leicestershire, Kent and Shropshire.

Ipsos UK was commissioned to deliver anonymous qualitative interviews. To honour the confidentiality promised to participants, Ipsos has not shared the detailed list of individual housebuilders with the Department, and therefore DfT does not hold this information.

The Department is continuing its dedicated research into the decline in road adoption rates across England. This includes gathering evidence from local highway authorities and wider stakeholders to understand current challenges and assess options to improve and streamline the adoption process. The findings from this work will inform any future policy or legislative considerations. We expect to publish the findings later this year.

The safety of all road users remains important to the Department, and we work with partners to reduce motorcycle casualties through safer riding, better training and a safer road environment while considering motorcyclists’ needs in improving safety on the Strategic Road Network. The current requirements for road restraint systems are reflected in the updated standards within the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, published in February 2026:

https://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/search/ef2e5866-3fb9-4e99-81aa-95a41adff4e7

National Highways has commissioned research from TRL Limited on the safety of motorcyclists and roadside barriers (including wire rope systems), which has been published at: https://www.trl.co.uk/uploads/trl/documents/PPR2051-Motorcyclists-and-Barriers-on-the-SRN.pdf.

The Department commissioned ground-breaking independent research into headlamp glare in 2024, which was published in November 2025. This provided an important first step and a second phase of research is being developed to identify the vehicle design factors that may be responsible. Officials are currently engaging with relevant stakeholders to inform the programme of work, and we expect to procure and commission this next phase in the spring.

The research report on ‘Factors influencing multi-modal public transport use’ was published on 29 January 2026. The work was conducted in full by the external research contractor, Verian (previously Kantar) and was commissioned as part of the ‘TROO0282 - Qualitative Research Call Off’ contract, details of which can be found on the GOV.UK Contract Finder. The project was funded under the Department’s Science, Research and Support budget, as presented in the 2024/25 financial estimates.

In recognition of their established carbon reduction benefits the Government supports the use of low carbon fuels in surface transport vehicles through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme. Under the scheme the supply of synthetic fuels and biofuels produced from renewable inputs is eligible for support, where these low carbon fuels meet stringent sustainability criteria.

Whilst my Department does not generally undertake its own research into developing alternative vehicle fuels, it does periodically fund specific research studies to inform policy development and the deployment of such fuels. A recent example is a study on higher bio content fuel deployment in heavy-duty transport, the outputs of which were published online in August 2025.

Additionally, the Department provides funding for latter stage development and deployment of hydrogen, a synthetic fuel, through the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) and the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programmes.

Feasibility studies are a routine part of the Department’s approach to assessing potential transport projects, and the associated costs are managed within individual programme budgets rather than held in a single collated dataset. These studies are conducted across a wide range of programmes, and where work does not lead to a project progressing, the expenditure remains part of normal project development activity. Producing a total figure for feasibility studies undertaken over the past five years for projects that did not proceed would therefore require a disproportionate manual review of programme‑level records.

High soil moisture deficit levels within earthworks arise when the earth has become dried out following prolonged dry hot weather, leading to the soil shrinking and cracks developing within. If this is followed by a period of extreme or prolonged rainfall, water entering these cracks can lead to rapid failure of the earthworks.

Network Rail has commissioned an active nationwide monitoring regime using remote sensors, modelling and geotechnical assessments to monitor slope stability across the network. It has also supported academic research, such as the ACHILLES programme, to further industry understanding on the loss of material strength from repeated cycles of wetting and drying. Intelligence from such research is fed into strategic whole life costing modelling to inform future renewal and maintenance activities. At the same time, Network Rail is engaging in proactive measures to reinforce embankments in high-risk areas and reduce water retention and erosion.

Together, these measures should reduce the risk of earthworks failure and improve the long-term resilience of these assets despite the increasing number of extreme weather events that are expected due to climate change.

I am aware that this issue has been particularly problematic on the West of England Line. I am assured by Network Rail that conditions are improving and that it plans to restore a full timetable from 29th November.