Department for Transport

This article is about the UK Department for Transport. For equivalent ministries in other countries, see Ministry of Transport.

"DfT" redirects here. For other uses, see DFT.

Department for Transport

Department overview
Formed	29 May 2002 (2002-05-29)
Jurisdiction	Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters	Great Minster House, Horseferry Road, London
Annual budget	£2.9 billion; 2019–20
Secretary of State responsible	Louise Haigh MP, Secretary of State for Transport
Department executives	Dame Bernadette Kelly, Permanent Secretary Jo Shanmugalingam, Second Permanent Secretary
Child agencies	Active Travel England; Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency; Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency; Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Vehicle Certification Agency
Website	www.gov.uk/dft

The Department for Transport (DfT) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport, currently (since 5 July 2024) Louise Haigh.

The expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department of Transport are scrutinised by the Transport Committee.

Responsibilities

The Department for Transport has six strategic objectives:

• Support the creation of a stronger, cleaner, more productive economy
• Help to connect people and places, balancing investment across the country
• Make journeys easier, modern and reliable
• Make sure transport is safe, secure and sustainable
• Prepare the transport system for technological progress and a prosperous future outside the EU
• Promote a culture of efficiency and productivity in everything it does

The department "creates the strategic framework" for transport services, which are delivered through a wide range of public and private sector bodies including its own executive agencies.

The DfT sponsors the following public bodies:

Non-ministerial departments

• Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

Executive agencies

• Active Travel England (ATE)
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
• Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
• Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
• Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)

Non-departmental public bodies

• British Transport Police Authority
• Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
• Northern Lighthouse Board
• Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain
• Transport Focus
• Trinity House Lighthouse Service

Public corporations

• Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
• Crossrail International
• DfT OLR Holdings
• East West Railway Company
• Great British Railways (GBR)
• High Speed 2 (HS2)
• London and Continental Railways (LCR)
• National Highways (formerly Highways England and the Highways Agency)
• Network Rail

Other bodies

• Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB)
• Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB)
• Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB)

Transport publications and data

DfT publications include the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges and Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG, formerly WebTAG).

The DfT maintains datasets including the National Trip End Model and traffic counts on major roads.

Devolution

The devolution of transport policy varies around the UK; most aspects in Great Britain are decided at Westminster. Key reserved transport matters (i.e., not devolved) are as follows:

Scotland Reserved matters:

• Air transport
• Marine transport
• Navigation (including merchant shipping)
• Driving and vehicle certification
• Railways (cross-border)
• Road Numbering

Scotland's comparability factor (the proportion of spending in this area devolved to the Scottish Government) was 91.7% for 2021/22.

Northern Ireland Reserved matters:

• Civil aviation
• Navigation (including merchant shipping)

The department's devolved counterparts in Northern Ireland are:

• Department for Infrastructure (general transport policy, ports, roads, and rail)
• Department of the Environment (road safety and the regulation of drivers and vehicles)

Northern Ireland's comparability factor (the proportion of spending in this area devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive) was 95.4% for 2021/22.

Wales Reserved matters:

• Railway Services
• Air transport
• Marine transport including Trust ports and Hovercraft
• Transport security
• Navigation (including merchant shipping)
• Driving and vehicle certification
• Road Numbering

The department's devolved counterpart in Wales is the Minister for Climate Change.

Wales' comparability factor (the proportion of spending in this area devolved to the Welsh Government) was 36.6% for 2021/22. This represents a significant reduction (e.g. it was 80.9% in 2015) due to the controversial classification of HS2 as an 'England and Wales' project.

History

Ministry of Transport Act 1919

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to establish a Ministry of Transport and for purposes connected therewith.
Citation	9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 50
Dates
Royal assent	15 August 1919
Status: Partially repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Ministry of Transport Act 1919 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Ministry of Transport was established by the Ministry of Transport Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 50) which provided for the transfer to the new ministry of powers and duties of any government department in respect of railways, light railways, tramways, canals and inland waterways, roads, bridges and ferries, and vehicles and traffic thereon, harbours, docks and piers.

In September 1919, all the powers of the Road Board, the Ministry of Health, and the Board of Trade in respect of transport, were transferred to the new ministry. Initially, the department was organised to carry out supervisory, development and executive functions, but the end of railway and canal control by 1921, and the settlement of financial agreements relating to the wartime operations of the railways reduced its role. In 1923, the department was reorganised into three major sections: Secretarial, Finance and Roads.

The ministry's functions were exercised initially throughout the United Kingdom. An Irish Branch was established in 1920, but then was taken over by the government of the Irish Free State on the transfer of functions in 1922.

The department took over transport functions of Scottish departments in the same year, though certain functions relating to local government, loan sanction, byelaws and housing were excepted. In May 1937, power to make provisional orders for harbour, pier and ferry works was transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

The growth of road transport increased the responsibilities of the ministry, and in the 1930s, and especially with defence preparations preceding the outbreak of war, government responsibilities for all means of transport increased significantly.

Government control of transport and diverse associated matters has been reorganised a number of times in modern history, being the responsibility of:

• 1919–1941: Ministry of Transport
• 1941–1946: Ministry of War Transport, after absorption of Ministry of Shipping
• 1946–1953: Ministry of Transport
• 1953–1959: Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation
• 1959–1970: Ministry of Transport
• 1970–1976: Department of the Environment
• 1976–1997: Department of Transport
• 1997–2001: Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
• 2001–2002: Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
• 2002–present: Department for Transport

The name "Ministry of Transport" lives on in the annual MOT test, a test of vehicle safety, roadworthiness, and exhaust emissions, which most vehicles used on public roads in the UK are required to pass annually once they reach three years old (four years for vehicles in Northern Ireland).

The flag of the old Ministry of Transport

2017 judicial review

Following a series of strikes, poor performance, concerns over access for the disabled and commuter protests relating to Govia Thameslink Railway a group of commuters crowdfunded £26,000 to initiate a judicial review into the Department for Transport's management and failure to penalise Govia or remove the management contract. The oral hearing to determine if commuters have standing to bring a judicial review was listed for 29 June 2017 at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The attempted judicial review was not allowed to proceed, and the commuters who brought it had to pay £17,000 in costs to the Department for Transport.

Ministers

The DfT Ministers are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold:

Minister	Portrait	Position	Portfolio
Louise Haigh MP		Secretary of State for Transport	Overall responsibility for the department; oversight of all areas
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill		Minister of State for Rail	Rail transformation and reform; rail infrastructure; High Speed 2 (HS2); Integrated Rail Plan; Northern Powerhouse Rail; international rail; rail passenger services and freight; accessibility
Lilian Greenwood MP		Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Future of Roads	Aviation; transport decarbonisation; air quality; technology, (including autonomous vehicles, drones, e-scooters); space; skills, science and research; corporate (including public appointments); aviation accessibility.
Mike Kane MP		Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Maritime and Security	Primary legislation in the Lords; maritime; security (including Ukraine); civil contingencies; international; union connectivity; secondary legislation (including retained EU law); maritime accessibility.
Simon Lightwood MP		Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Transport	roads maintenance and infrastructure delivery (including National Highways); road safety; motoring agencies (DVLA, DVSA, VCA); local transport including buses, taxis, light rail; active travel (cycling and walking); Kent including BROCK, TAP; EES and borders; haulage; Future of Freight; women’s safety; accessibility (cross-cutting lead as Ministerial Disability Champion).

The Permanent Secretary is Dame Bernadette Kelly.

See also

• Julie, a public information film of the department's "THINK!" campaign
• Transport Research Laboratory (formerly known as the Road Research Laboratory, then the Transport and Road Research Laboratory); now a privatised company
• Urban Traffic Management and Control
• Rail transport in Great Britain

References

•  This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: National Archives (1613–2010). "Records created or inherited by the Transport Ministries, and by related bodies, and by the London Passenger Transport Board". Retrieved 16 February 2021.

External links

• Official website