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:
The Department for Transport has six strategic objectives:[3]
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.[4]
Transport decarbonisation; air quality; technology, for example autonomous vehicles, drones, e-scooters; secondary legislation, including retained EU law; space; active travel (cycling and walking); skills, science and research; corporate, including public appointments; accessibility
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local Transport
Roads and motoring, including DVLA, DVSA, VCA; regions and devolution; local transport, including buses, taxis, light rail; union connectivity; haulage; Future of Freight; London (including Crossrail, Transport for London); accessibility (cross-cutting responsibility)
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.[6][7]
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.[8][9]
Northern Ireland's comparability factor (the proportion of spending in this area devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive) was 95.4% for 2021/22.[12]
The department's devolved counterpart in Wales is the Minister for Climate Change.[17]
Wales' comparability factor (the proportion of spending in this area devolved to the Welsh Government) was 36.6% for 2021/22.[12] 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.[18]
Transport Research Laboratory (formerly known as the Road Research Laboratory, then the Transport and Road Research Laboratory); now a privatised company
^Budget 2018(PDF). London: HM Treasury. 2018. p. 24. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^"Role - Transport Committee". parliament.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2022. The Transport Committee is charged by the House of Commons with scrutiny of the Department for Transport. Its formal remit is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Transport and its associated public bodies.
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