Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are owed money by HS2 Ltd.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Individual land and property claimants can have multiple active claims at any given time so data in the form requested is not available. HS2 Ltd is strongly committed to paying compensation as quickly as possible, although some compensation claims can be complex and take time to settle in full. Where a property has been acquired under compulsory purchase, a claimant can request an advance payment, and HS2 Ltd is required to pay all valid advance payment claims within three months.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will meet the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to discuss the potential merits of a direct train connection between Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station and Manchester Airport.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
West Midland Trains is working with the industry and stakeholders on a proposal to amend its Stafford to Crewe service including a potential extension to Manchester Airport. The introduction of new services will require a business case that demonstrates value for money, as well as minimising any risk to the performance of existing services.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to increase the number of available driving tests in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire since September 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The agency is intensifying its efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests that will break down barriers to opportunity as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
On the 12 November, the Secretary of State for Transport, updated the Transport Select Committee on the government’s ongoing response to high driving test waiting times.
In the coming months, DVSA will:
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire, to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
DVSA currently has a recruitment campaign underway and has advertised DE vacancies for these areas.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to increase the number of young people in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire using the bikeability scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Bikeability Trust, the national charity that manages the Bikeability programme in England on behalf of Government, provides targeted funding and support to local authorities to address barriers to engagement. Uptake of Bikeability can be limited by a variety of factors including low levels of access to cycles and parents choosing to opt out.
In 2024/5 Staffordshire County Council (SCC) were allocated up to £575,990 funding for Bikeability. Of this available funding, SCC claimed £266,987.
We do not hold information for funding allocations to Newcastle-under-Lyme as local training delivery allocations are managed by Staffordshire County Council.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many children in Newcastle-under-Lyme have used the bikeability scheme in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Bikeability Trust, the national charity that manages the Bikeability programme in England on behalf of Government, provides targeted funding and support to local authorities to address barriers to engagement. Uptake of Bikeability can be limited by a variety of factors including low levels of access to cycles and parents choosing to opt out.
In 2024/5 Staffordshire County Council (SCC) were allocated up to £575,990 funding for Bikeability. Of this available funding, SCC claimed £266,987.
We do not hold information for funding allocations to Newcastle-under-Lyme as local training delivery allocations are managed by Staffordshire County Council.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support is available to people in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire owed money by HS2.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone entitled to compensation, whether in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire or anywhere along the HS2 route, should receive it as soon as possible once it falls due. We will continue to impress upon HS2 Ltd the necessity of working closely with claimants and their agents to ensure that claims are properly evidenced and then paid promptly. Any individual who believes that HS2 Ltd owes them money should contact HS2 Ltd directly where they will receive support from the helpdesk and case officer.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers other than additional funding she has to ensure Staffordshire County Council fills potholes in Newcastle-under-Lyme in a timely and thorough way.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities, such as Staffordshire County Council, have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.
To receive their full share of the Government's £500 million funding uplift for local highways maintenance in 2025/26, local authorities had to publish transparency reports on their website to set out how they will spend the additional funding. As part of this, local authorities were required to demonstrate how they comply with best practice in highways maintenance, including in relation to preventative maintenance which helps to keep roads in good condition for longer and prevents potholes from forming in the first place. These requirements are designed to drive greater adoption of best practice to ensure that this funding is spent as effectively as possible to improve local road conditions.
The transparency report for Staffordshire County Council is available online, at:www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Highways/Managing-the-highway-asset/Local-highways-maintenance-transparency-report.aspx
The Department is also currently updating the Code of Practice for Well Managed Highways Infrastructure. The Code provides guidance to local authorities on the delivery of safe, efficient, and sustainable highway services through a risk‑based, evidence‑led approach to asset management. The Code encourages highways authorities to set repair timescales against defined risk levels, ensuring that safety-critical defects are fixed swiftly to reduce the likelihood of incident or liability. This is available online, at:
https://www.ciht.org.uk/ukrlg-home/code-of-practice
There are occasions where potholes need to be repaired quickly for safety reasons, but the Department encourages local authorities to also focus on long-term preventative maintenance to ensure that roads are fixed properly and potholes prevented from forming in the first place. This is also more cost-effective than the repeated and reactive patching of potholes. The current Code of Practice emphasises that “when determining the balance between preventative and reactive maintenance, authorities should adopt the principle that prevention is better than cure”.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of an off peak return ticket between Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station and London Euston Railway Station was in each of the last 15 years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cost of an off-peak return ticket in each of the last 15 years between Stoke-on-Trent and London Euston was:
2010 | £54.50 |
2011 | £57.70 |
2012 | £61.20 |
2013 | £63.80 |
2014 | £65.80 |
2015 | £67.40 |
2016 | £68.00 |
2017 | £69.20 |
2018 | £71.60 |
2019 | £73.80 |
2020 | £75.90 |
2021 | £77.90 |
2022 | £80.90 |
2023 | £85.70 |
2024 | £89.90 |
2025 | £94.00 |
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to mitigate the impact of increases in rail fares on residents in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have announced that regulated rail fares will be frozen, for a year from March 2026, for the first time in 30 years putting money back in the pockets of hardworking people. Passengers will benefit from savings on over a billion journeys with season tickets, peak return tickets on commuter routes, and off-peak return tickets on longer-distance routes all protected.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of an off peak return ticket between Stafford Railway Station and London Euston Railway Station was in each of the last 15 years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cost of an off-peak return ticket in each of the last 15 years between Stafford and London Euston was:
2010 | £49.90 |
2011 | £52.80 |
2012 | £56.00 |
2013 | £58.40 |
2014 | £60.20 |
2015 | £61.70 |
2016 | £62.30 |
2017 | £63.40 |
2018 | £65.60 |
2019 | £67.60 |
2020 | £69.50 |
2021 | £71.30 |
2022 | £74.00 |
2023 | £78.40 |
2024 | £82.20 |
2025 | £86.00 |