Department for Transport
Overview
 
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport (or DfT) is the government department
Departments of the United Kingdom Government
Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of Cabinet ministers who are usually called secretaries of state when they are in charge of Government departments called ministerial departments...

 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
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...

, currently Justine Greening
Justine Greening
Justine Greening is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. She has been the Member of Parliament for Putney since 2005. She was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury in May 2010, and became Secretary of State for Transport on 14 October 2011...

 (since 14 October 2011).
Government control of transport and diverse associated matters has been reorganised a number of times in modern history, being the responsibility of:
  • 2002– Department for Transport
  • 2001–2002: Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
  • 1997–2001: Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
  • 1981–1997: Department of Transport
  • 1979–1981: Ministry of Transport
  • 1976–1979: Department of Transport
  • 1970–1976: Department for the Environment
    Secretary of State for the Environment
    The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...

  • 1959–1970: Ministry of Transport
  • 1953–1959: Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation
  • 1945–1953: Ministry of Transport
  • 1941–1945: Ministry of War Transport - after absorption of Ministry of Shipping
  • 1919–1941: Ministry of Transport


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).
The Department for Transport has four strategic objectives:
  • sustain economic growth and improved productivity through reliable and efficient transport networks;
  • improve the environmental performance of transport;
  • strengthen the safety and security of transport; and
  • enhance access to jobs, services and social networks, including for the most disadvantaged people.


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.
 
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