Department for Transport

Department for Transport
Logo of the Department for Transport
Department overview
Formed 2002
Jurisdiction England
Headquarters London, England
Annual budget £5.3 billion (current) & £7.7 billion (capital) in 2011-12 [1]
Minister responsible The Rt Hon. Justine Greening MP,
Secretary of State for Transport
Website
Department for Transport
United Kingdom

This article is part of the series:
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the United Kingdom


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In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport (or DfT) (Welsh: Adran am Drafnidiaeth) is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved. The department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport, currently Justine Greening (since 14 October 2011).

Contents

History

Government control of transport and diverse associated matters has been reorganised a number of times in modern history,[2] being the responsibility of:

The name "Ministry of Transport" lives on in the annual MOT test, which most vehicles used on public roads in the UK are required to pass once they are three years old (4 years in NI).

Role

The Department for Transport has four strategic objectives:

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. [3]

Ministers

The DfT Ministers are as follows: [3]

Minister Rank Portfolio
The Rt Hon. Justine Greening MP Secretary of State Overall responsibility, transport security, high speed rail
The Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP Minister of State Rail, aviation and London transport
Norman Baker MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Buses and taxis, walking and cycling, parking
Mike Penning MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Roads, freight and maritime
Key Conservative
Liberal Democrat

The Permanent Secretary is Lin Homer.

Executive agencies

Non-departmental public bodies

The DfT sponsors the following public bodies:

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:[4]

Northern Ireland

Reserved matters:[5]

The department's devolved counterparts in Northern Ireland are:

Wales

Under the Welsh devolution settlement, specific policy areas are transferred to the National Assembly for Wales rather than reserved to Westminster.

See also

United Kingdom portal
Transport portal


References

External links